Book Re:release: Catfish McDaris Prying Refried. Ppigpenn Press, 2018 (32 pages)

This chapbook anthology was originally published in Prying Magazine by FOUR-SEP PUBLICATIONS in 1997 and features the poetry of Charles Bukowski, Jack Micheline and Catfish McDaris.

The book’s colophon carefully explains, “Works by Jack Micheline have appeared previously in various form and are published with his explicit permission. Charles Bukowski gave these four poems to Micheline in 1974. They were friends. Bukowski was living at 5437 2/5 Carlton Way, Los Angeles Ca 90027 when these were written. They are used with all-three owner’s permission. Catfish McDaris’ original works appear with his explicit permission. At the time this special edition was published, Catfish helped Jack financially and they were friends until Jack’s death.”

Charles Bukowski’s poems include “Help Wanted”, “d.n.f.” , “Extant” and “to weep in her ear”.

“Extant” is clearly the best of Bukowski’s in the collection and shows off his anaphoric, incantatory style. Interestingly, the last page of the three page poem first appeared as “blue moon, oh bleweewwmoooon how I adore you!” in Sparrow Magzine (1975) and later in book form in Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit (1979).

Jack Micheline’s brief bio includes a blurb by Bukowski, “Micheline is a flowing, jostling master. A jew drunk singer, very fine. He knows best the betrayals, the pavements, the whores with lemon rinds up their bungs, and the lice in the spotlights.”

The chap includes the street-wise relevatory classics “The Song of Kid Willie”, “My Philosophy”, “Walking in Kerouac’s Shadow”, “Tonight I Push My Wagon Into the Night Sky” and “The City”.

The third contributor, Catfish McDaris lives in Wisconsin and has organised the republishing of this book. His poems are smart-assed and in your face and include “The Ass That Wouldn’t Quit”, “If the Moon Had a Pussy I’d Fuck It Doggie Style”, “Cape Valentine”, “She Loved Me Because Of Poetry” and “Antelope Dream”.

Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Prying-Refried-Catfish-McDaris/dp/1980244766

Spoken Word CD Review: Charles BUKOWSKI UNCENSORED: From The Run With The Hunted Session (2000)

This recording consists of two CDs which run for approximately 150 minutes in total. The first CD is easily the best and features Bukowski’s reading of twenty of his poems plus an extended reading from his last novel Pulp. The second CD is shorter and more patchy in content. Bukowski reads from his novel Ham On Rye and he is encouraged by co-producer John Runnette to discuss well-trodden topics such as his thoughts on John Fante, Ezra Pound and his experiences in France a decade or so before. CD 2 was not included in the original release in 1993 and did not appear until the “special, expanded edition” was issued in 2000.

The recording was made to complement Bukowski’s latest collection Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader (May 1993). The poems and stories were selected by Bukowski’s long time editor John Martin, and interestingly, the writing is arranged in chronological order- not according to the date it was written, but according to the age Buk appears in each text. At the time, Bukowski was a very sick man and dying of myelogenous leukaemia. He offered to record his material for five hours but only lasted three.

The recording does not appear to have been edited- if so, very unobtrusively. The sound is raw and unembellished. Throughout, Bukowski clears his throat, coughs, curses, slurs & often mispronounces his words. He tells the interviewer at one stage, “I sometimes slur words. I’m not good at talking.” Bukowski is asked to reread his brilliant poem ‘the genius of the crowd’ three or four times because he mispronounces the word “absurdity” as “absurbity”. He is conscious the word is coming up in his reading of the poem but he still stuffs up. The effect is humorous but destroys the great emotional impact that the poem may have on the reader. Pissed-off, Bukowsi bluntly tells his audience, which consists of his wife Linda Bukowski and John Runnette, “Fuck you guys, I mispronounced the words- too bad!”

Probably the best feature of the tape is that you can flip through the book and follow Bukowski’s reading of the twenty poems. This creates an intimate vibe between you and the speaker. It helps to establish the illusion that you know Bukowski better. Interspersed between the poems, the un-miced interviewer, presumably Runnette, asks Buk a series of questions about the usual- Celine, Whitman, his writing process, why he left the post office, his relationship with his father and the like. Most of this ground has been thoroughly stomped on previously and if you want to seek out the best collection of interviews with Bukowski you can't surpass David Stephen Calonne's (Editor) Charles Bukowski: Sunlight Here I Am/ Interviews & Encounters 1963-1993: http://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/charles-bukowski-sunlight-here-i-am.html

Many page references are mentioned during the reading, but unfortunately, they were probably just working notes and do not match the current 2003 ECCO version of the book.

Find more accurate links below:

CD 1 Item #	Poem	Page no. from ECCO collection
2	consummation of grief	117
4	the Soldier, his wife & the bum	171
6	the genius of the crowd	185
9	rain	192
10	a radio with guts	192
12	the poetry reading	272
14	short order	274
16	the strongest of the strange	295
18	the last days of the suicide kid	298
20	friendly advice to a lot of young men	334
22	the most	362
24	the mockingbird	387
26	the proud thin dying	399
28	helping the old	408
30	confession	418
32	fan letter	423
34	art	456
36	are you drinking?	466
38	Dinosauria, we	492
40	luck	495

I'm not sure why this CD is entitled UNCENSORED because Bukowski doesn't say anything outlandish or overly crude. Overall, he doesn't come across as the snarling, misanthropic pugilist whom we experience in many of his writings. He is genuinely funny, he chuckles at his own inadequacies and he offers great wit and insight into the human condition as he grimly faces his own certain & rapidly approaching death.