Charles Bukowski On Writing (Edited by Abel Debritto) London, Canongate, 2015 (216 pages).

The title of this recent Bukowski book is somewhat misleading because you would expect now that it is over twenty years since the American writer died to find a wider sampling of his work, including poetry, short stories, excerpts from his novels, letters and perhaps extensive interviews with John Martin and other publishers and friends. In this volume you only get the dregs of Bukowski’s letters not previously published, in particular, in Seamus Cooney’s excellent three volume collection of Selected Letters: Screams From the Balcony 1960-1970, Living On Luck 1960s-1970s and Reach For the Sun 1978-1994.

The editor of this collection, Abel Debritto, who has a PhD in Bukowski studies, mentions in his Afterwood that he searched through “some two thousand pages of unpublished correspondence to find Bukowski’s most insightful letters on writing.” Interestingly, Debritto structures his book of letters in the same way Cooney has in his trilogy. Chapters are recorded in the years the letters were written, followed by whom the letter is addressed to and the date. Minimal explanatory detail is also included if deemed relevant by the editor.

Debritto does uncover some good stuff, notably highly fascinating letters by Bukowski to Henry Miller, John Bennett and John Fante, A.D. Winans, John William Corrington and many others, but admittedly, Seamus Cooney has already published the cream of Bukowski’s letters, especially in Volume 1: Screams From the Balcony. A quick glance reveals that Debritto also printed parts of letters not previously culled by Cooney, including Bukowski's letter to John William Corrington (1 May 1963) and to Steve Richmond (23 July 1965).

The title of the book Charles Bukowski On Writing is used very liberally by Debritto and the letters cover a diversity of topics related to the notion of writing. They include Bukowski’s discussion of his methods of his writing, his role as an artist, censorship, his disdain for writers and teachers of poetry, his view of fame, his solid defence of his often perceived sexist writing, his explanation of his non-political stance and dozens of other insights and rants into his craft and of writers and writing in general.

On Writing provides a goldmine of quotes by the master on a shitpile of topics. If you are a Bukowski novice, stay clear of this book. You are far better off starting with his poetry and short stories, especially if written before his death in 1994.

Update: 12 November 2016

Recommended: Abel Debritto talks about the rationale behind his editing of Bukowski’s On Writing and some of the research he undertook behind it in ‘Literary Hub’. He also offers a few fascinating anecdotes which he later included in his critical study Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground: From Obscurity to Literary Icon (Palgrave MacMillan, New York City, 2013) 

Find the article here: http://lithub.com/lets-not-get-too-holy-editing-bukowski/

From Serbia With Love: Another Bukowski Tattoo Narrative

I recently received an email from an ardent Bukowski fan in Serbia who was keen to show me his Bukowski tattoo. When trawling the net last year for my post The 15 Best Bukowski Tattoos Online, I briefly considered including it: https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/the-15-best-bukowski-tattoos-on-line.html

The three legged tat is a photo realistic representation of Mark Hanauer’s circa 1981 photo of Bukowski. The original photo can be found in Abel Debritto’s article in Jacket Magazine Big Time: Charles Bukowski in Evergreen Review: http://jacketmagazine.com/40/debritto-bukowski.shtml

I asked the Sebian bloke, Predrag Almazan, why the fascination with Bukowski.

His reply, “Well...you know how some things and moments in life help define who you are? I always loved to read, and one day, when I was 15, at my grandmother’s apartment I found a book with an interesting cover picture : It was Ham on Rye by Bukowski.

“I asked what that book was about and my mother said that I was too young for that but my grandmother said that I wasn’t and told me to take it. I read it in three hours, and I was hooked. Then, I discovered his poetry, simply written but beautiful and strong.

“I was writing poetry myself up to that moment for about 2 years, but I followed forms. Then, I discovered that you don't need forms, or rhymes, you have free verse. So, about that time, 1999, puberty, first sexual experiences, alcohol and drug abuse, NATO bombardment of my country (Serbia), I was changing in what I am now in part thanks to him, or you might say, my fascination with him. I have his every novel, and poetry book published here, even his comic - The Day it Snowed in LA, which only came out once in 500 copies in my country.

“I still write poetry, though I found my own flow, but I still use free verse, and I still love reading poetry mostly thanks to him. So, as years passed, and I got to know one of the best tattoo artists in Serbia Ivan Sabo "La madre muerta" https://www.facebook.com/lamadremuerta I had to do Buk’s portrait, so I found a black and white picture of him, that not only represented him well but also was a great picture by itself, and got it tattooed.”

The tattoo five years on:
  

Bukowski is either hoisted on a pedestal or maligned for opening up poetry to the masses and encouraging the widespread writing of poetry. There is certainly no curbing of Predrag’s enthusiasm for Buk. His leg is a testament to his love of Bukowski's writing.

Predrag Almazan is presently preparing a book of poetry called Crn Pan (Black Pan). Here are few of his Bukowski inspired poems from Serbia:

ANTIMUZA

Noć je

i Antimuza krklja

dok se smeje

dok dovlači klitoris

do kreveta

u tri do pola devet

zinula je na sva usta

ali su bar ptice umukle

obućari

verovatno

drkaju na njene cipele

U radiju se čuje

lomljenje kostiju

panterovo oko

izgleda kao mesec

ako je ludilo sreća

onda sam srećan

a ako nije

pronaći ću

nešto drugo

neku

srećniju sreću

koja će me veštije ubiti

ANTIMUSE

It is the night

and Antimuse is gurgling

as she is laughing 

while she’s dragging her clitoris

to bed 

at three to half past eight

she gaped with all of her mouths 

but at least the birds have gone quiet

shoemakers are

probably 

jerking off on her shoes

radio is playing 

breaking of the bones

panther's eye

looks like the Moon

if madness is happiness

than I’m happy

if it’s not

I’ll find something else

some happier kind of happiness

that will kill me more cunningly.

 LAŽNO DNO BEZ DANA

Spojeni pljuvačkom ili mislima o njoj

s komšija voajerima ili bez njih

s njenom svetom Vodicom i mojim ejakulacijama

s njenim bolestima

i mojim bolestima;

spojeni pseći

dok ona grči lice u nežnu grimasu

dok nam bog mater psuje

a ona očekuje izbacivanje

mesečne larve-

šake pune krvavog

čijoj sahrani neću prisustvovati jer

kaže: Nisam;

dok je bez dna ovaj bez-dan u koji smo sa dna pali

dok sutrašnjica abortira i baca svoj fetus među nas

dok sveti mučenici svojim životom proslavljaju mazohizam

mogu reći da je

a i ne moram

to ništa neće promeniti

dok spavamo nožu ispod jastuka

dok ona leži pored mene

a besno sunce nam ponovo otima mir

ne bi li ga zamenilo nečim

nazovimo-

Božanskim...

FALSE BOTTOM OF ABYSS

Joined together with saliva or with the thoughts about it
with voyeur neighbors or without them
with her holy Water and my ejaculations
with her illnesses
and my illnesses;

joined like dogs
while she’s convulsing her face in a tender grimace
while god curses our mothers
and she’s expecting an ejection

of her monthly maggot-
a handful of a bloody child
whose funeral I won't be attending ‘cause
she says: I’m not;

while bottomless this abyss is into which from the bottom we have fallen
while tomorrow aborts and throws its fetus between us
while holy martyrs praise the masochism with their lives

I can say it’s…
but I don’t have to

it won’t change a thing

while we're sleeping under the knife’s pillow
while she’s laying by my side,
and the furious sun is taking our peace once again
in order to replace it with something
let's call it-

Divine…

TAČKE

TAČKA 1

Sunce se još tu i tamo snalazi.

Oblaci idu negde drugde.

Adam je donirao rebro.

Jedan i jedan su još uvek.

Ko može i dalje se oduševljava ljudima.

Da me ne mrzi i ja bih bio normalan.

Neko svoje noge naslanja na zid pa tek onda seda.

Mrtvi drugari su popili svoje.

Sanjaju me košmari jednog po jednog.

Nisam još dovoljno sjeban da pišem bolju poeziju,

ali ima vremena.

TAČKA 2

Možda je pišanje po njenoj mokraći izvestan vid ljudavi.

Uključim svetlo - svetlo ti se uključi.

Možda ima nečega u vezama među ljudima.

Antimuza čeka dete,

a ja joj dadoh:

srce na dlanu,

govno u ruci

i bukete cveća

koje je u ćošku sažvakala.

Izvukao sam kućicu i sunce.

Bio je vedar dan.

Srećne su priče bez kraja.

Hajde da ga onda ova ipak ima.

POINTS

POINT 1

Sun is coping now and then.
Clouds are going elsewhere.
Adam donated the rib.
One and one are still.
The one who knows how can still be amazed by people.
If it wasn’t so hard I too would be normal.
Some abuts their legs on the chair before they sit.
Dead friends drank their share.
I turn, I spin, the nightmares dream of me,
one by one.
I’m not yet fucked up enough to write better poetry,
but there’s time.

POINT 2

Maybe peeing on her piss is some sort of love.
I switch on the light – your light switches on.
Maybe there is something about relationships between people.
AntiMuse is expecting a child.
and I gave her:
heart on a palm,

shit in a hand
and bouquets of flowers

which she chewed up

in the corner.
I snorted a small house

and the sun.
It was a beautiful day.
Happy are the stories that have no end.

So let this one have it anyway.

More Upcoming Charles Bukowski Books in 2015

Just when you thought the bottom of the Bukowski barrel had been thoroughly scraped over the last twenty years or so since his death, more juice is soon to be squeezed out of his balls in three new books:

The Bell Tolls for No One (edited with an Introduction by David Stephen Calonne)- City Lights (225 pages)

Release date: 14 July 2015

This is a follow up to Calonne's earlier edited City Lights collections of Bukowski's writing Portions From a Wine-Stained Notebook (2008), Absence of the Hero (2010) and More Notes of a Dirty Old Man (2011). These are excellent previously uncollected works, but descendingly important in value.

From Amazon: The Bell Tolls for No One is a book of previously uncollected short fiction by Bukowski. Beginning with the illustrated, unpublished 1947 story, 'A Kind, Understanding Face,' continuing through his column 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man,' and concluding with his hardboiled contributions to 1980s glossy adult magazines, this volume encompasses the entire range of Buk's talent as a short story writer, from striaght-up genre stories to postmodern blurring of the line between fact and fiction. The book contains an informative introduction by the editor David Stephen Calonne that provides historical context for these seemingly scandalous and chaotic tales, revealing the hidden hand of the master at the top of his form. Also included are several of Bukowski's own illustrations.

On Bukowski.net the editor mentions that the book was delayed because it was difficult to obtain Robert Crumb's permission for his cover illustration.

Update 19 October 2015:

See my review here: http://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/new-release-stories-by-charles-bukowski.html

On Writing (ECCO)- 224 pages  Edited by Abel Debritto

Release date: 27 August 2015

On Writing collects many of the letters Bukowski sent to his publishers, fellow writers and friends about his views on writing.

From Amazon: On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of life- and of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture icon- the 'laureate of American lowlife' (Time)- who stoically recorded society's downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with the central ideal: "Don't try."

On Cats (ECCO)- 128 pages  Edited by Abel Debritto

Release date:13 October 2015

This book is a compilation of previously unpublished Bukowski’s poems on cats. 

See a recent Guardian article about his two upcoming ECCO books:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/24/charles-bukowski-on-cats-book-published

Also by Abel Debritto an expensive critical biography- Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground: From Obscurity to Literary Icon (2013)

Expect many more ECCO compilations to follow in the future: Charles Bukowski On the Race Track, On Women, On Death, On Drinking, On Sex, On Old Age, On Love, On Skid Row…

Update: 11 April 2016

ECCO books has recently released Charles Bukowski On Love, edited by Abel Debritto.

The blurb:
In On Love, we see Charles Bukowski reckoning with the complications of love and desire. Alternating between the tough and the tender, the romantic and the gritty, Bukowski exposes the myriad faces of love in the poems collected here - its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness, its mystery and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance and redemptive power. Whether writing about his daughter, his lover, or his work, Bukowski is fiercely honest and reflective, using love as a prism to look at the world and to view his own vulnerable place in it. Memorably moving and, at times, hilarious, On Love reveals Bukowski at his most candid and affecting.