I have reread this collection of short stories
twice recently and reckon it contains an incredible variety amongst its 27
stories. South of No North is
sandwiched between two important books in the Bukowski canon, the short story
collection Erections, Ejaculations,
Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (1972) and the poetry
collection Burning In Water Drowning In
Flame (1974). Two of the short stories which appear in the book ‘All the
Assholes in the World and Mine’ (1966) and ‘Confessions of a Man Insane Enough
to Live With Beasts’ (1965) were originally published as chapbooks by Douglas
Blazek. Some of the other short stories were first published in his columns for
the Los Angeles Free Press and in the
underground newspaper NOLA Express.
The story ‘The Way the Dead Love’ contains sections from Bukowski’s abandoned
novel which John Martin of Black Sparrow
Press asked him to write in 1966.
The title, as David Stephen Calonne writes in
his short Critical Lives study Charles
Bukowski “suggests the directionlessness of many of his characters: they
have no way to orient themselves.”
A majority of the stories are written from the
point of view of Henri Chinaski, Bukowski’s alter-ego. Several of the short
stories are auto-biographical, including ‘Bop Bop That Curtain’ (childhood
entertainment in L.A. during the 1930s), ‘Politics’ (Buk’s involvement in
Nazism during his L.A. College days), ‘Remember Pearl Harbour’ (when Buk was
imprisoned during World War 2 and suspected of avoiding military service),
‘This is What Killed Dylan Thomas (about a poetry reading in San Francisco) and
‘All the Assholes in the World and Mine’ which he famously recounts his painful
haemorrhoid operation).
Overall, The writing in this book has a
remarkable spontaneous feel to it, that anything can and will happen in the
crude inventive hands of Bukowski.
Read the book online here: http://yanko.lib.ru/books/lit/bukowski.htm
Here’s my take on the best 10 short stories in SOUTH OF NO NORTH:
(10) Confessions of a Man Insane Enough to Live
With Beasts
Although you can get bored shitless reading
Bukowski’s heavily auto-biographical short stories because of their sameness,
this is a stand-out story in the shaping of the legend. In a series of vignettes,
it takes us through some of the threshold experiences in his life, including
his battle with Acne Vulgaris, how Buk almost bleed to death in the Charity
Ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital in 1954, his work in a variety of
dead-end jobs, his life with crazy women on skid row and his struggle to become
a professional writer.
(9) Something About a Viet Cong Flag
Bukowski was fascinated with criminal behaviour
and in many of his short stories he explored various aspects of crime from
predators to the criminally insane. This story focuses on the rape of a woman
Sally. The matter-of-fact tone is disquieting as seemingly ordinary events turn
sinister.‘ The Killers’, Hit Man’ and to a lesser extent, ‘Maja Thurup’ are other
crime stories you will find in this collection.
(8) You and Your Beer and How Great You Are
This is third person story about Jack
Backenweld, a light-heavyweight boxer and his relationship with women. The
dialogue is highly credible, and like much of Bukowski’s work, drives the
story.
(7) Christ on Rollerskates
This is a satirical sports story. It begins
with the owner and vice-president of the Yellowjackets, a Roller Derby team,
interviewing a star player, Monster Chonjacki. The humour operates on many
levels and centres on the cynical idea that the violence in the sport is faked
and the fans “love to be fooled. ”
(6) The Way the Dead Love
These vignettes from his unpublished novel
graphically represent Bukowsk’s “lost years” on skid-row in L.A. The heavy
drinking, moving from one rooming house to the next and the mad, desperate
characters he meets are credibly described. More importantly, it is the dark days, Chinaski’s reoccurring
nightmares, the black dog contemplation of suicide, the “walking through a sea
of fire” which make this story immortal, particularly in section 6.
(5) Stop Staring at My Tits, Mister
This is a brilliant sexual spoof on the
American Western. Big Bart is the meanest, most misogynistic man in the West.
“There wasn’t a man his age who had killed more Indians or fucked more women or
killed more white men… Even his farts were exceptional.” This is another of
Bukowski’s hyperbolic male fantasies- full-on hilarious with plenty of mad
one-liners.
(4) The Devil Was Hot
This is another outstanding short story
cleverly crafted by Bukowski. The narrator, presumably Chinaski and his partner
Flo arrive at an amusement park where a circus entrepreneur, Ernie Jamestown is
showcasing the Devil in one of his freak shows. This is tight, humorous
writing. Bukowski at his best!
(3) Maja Thurup
This is an unusual direction for Bukowski. It
is about a lady, Hester Adams who returns from South America with a cannibal, Maja
Thurup, who no girl from his village would accept. Apparently “he had torn two
girls to death with his instrument. One had been entered from the front, the
other from the rear. No matter.” What follows is another crazy fling into
Bukowsi’s overhung madness.
(2) Love for $17.50
This is a surreal story about Robert Wilkinson
who falls in love with a mannequin he calls Stella. Despite having a couple of
girlfriends, Robert prefers Stella’s company and falls in love with her.
Bukowski makes a shrewd, highly entertaining commentary on contemporary
relationships between men and women.
( (1) No Way to
Paradise
One of Bukowski’s best ever short stories! Hank
is in a bar and meets Dawn who keeps four three inch people in her purse who
bitch and moan and fuck each other when hot. As they do it they make Dawn and
Hank hot as well. Another satirical, and highly amusing take on the ins and
outs of relationships.
Buy the book here: http://www.amazon.com/South-No-North-Stories-Buried/dp/0876851898
