Charles Bukowski anyone?

I've read Women, watched the film version of Factotum (the soundtrack is amazing; the movie only so-so), and listened to Tom Waits's recitation of the Bukowski poem, "Nirvana." That's my history with the man.

Women was a great read. It was a lot like American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis in that there wasn't much of a plot to speak of, but the characters and situations were so interesting that it doesn't matter. I'm not sure if all Bukowski novels are this way, but it works in this one instance, at least. It's a book I'll read often, like American Psycho, in order to try and understand just how these authors get away with an intriguing novel that doesn't "go anywhere."

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i dont think there are but a small handful here who've NOT read bukowski

for that matter, anyone who's a diehard fan should know john fante pretty well, though ive only read [i]ask the dust[/i] by that homie.  i really need to get my hands on the rest of the [i]bandini trilogy[/i].  as for bukowski:

derek, he's an author known best for his remarkable prose.  definitely spend some time with his poetry when you get the chance. 

i've read, not much..

pulp was my fav.  also women and post office is on the shelf, only collecting dust for a few short months now

there's always more to read.  at least i dont have to worry about him going outta print any time soon

-kabol

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JKabol- Funny that you mention John Fante I have Wait Until Spring Bandini on my list of books for this menth. Im now really looking forward to reading it.

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i didnt know the bandini books was a quartet:  i thought it was a trilogy.

a friend of mine visited from maui last summer and pushed [i]ask the dust[/i] onto me, telling me that fante was bukowski's god.  so i read it the next day.  man.. some of the writing is just flawless, and beautiful.  from what i understand, from what i read in the back of the edition, [i]dust[/i] was his favorite, his fav among his books.  which means it may not be his best.  i look forward to reading the other three and deciding for myself.

-kabol

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charles bukowski is one of my favorite authors ever. ive read all of his novels and have a lot fo his short story and poetry books. i've seen factotum, okay, barfly, which he wrote and is very similar to his novel, and have the charles bukowski tapes which is basically four hours of bukowski talking about everything. it was filmed during the years that barfly couldnt find a studio. this whole process is what his book hollywood is based on. hes actually better known as a poet and refers to himself as a poet. he only wrote post office, his first book, because john martin, the publisher who discovered him and published all of his works, told him that he should write a novel if he wanted to make money. he wrote post office in three weeks. he wrote around 1000 poems a year for most of his life. not all of it is incredible but i love most of it.

i could talk about bukowski all day. i prefer his poetry during his last years of life. let it enfold you, from betting on the muse, is my favorie poem by anyone ever. my favortie novel of his is either post office or ham on rye. all of his books are incredible. he makes me laugh out loud and breaks my heart. one of the few writers who can do both so well. in my opinion anyway.

not going to mention fante because people already have. but he is great. id look into louis-ferdinand celine. bukowski owes a lot to him as well. same with knut hamsun. bukowski loved hemingways early novels but was critical of his later ones. which i agree with.

him and rimbaud, i think, are the writers whove had the most interesting and fascinating lives. reading bukowski is basically reading an autobiography though. just read it all. theyre all quick reads and really enteraining.

im going to leave this post at that before i get too carried away

Buk is a good second tier like author to get into.

I think authors like Chuck are first tier. they get you excited for reading and lead you on to other folks like bukowski. But he shouldn't be the end all be all of your reading. you should be able to go on past him to even better authors, and keep moving up the line.

I've read his Factotum, Women and Notes of a Dirty Old Man. I think they did a pretty good job with the factotum movie, especially uglying up matt dillon. But after reading some of his poetry on here on time, it just made me cringe with it's awfulness. He may come up with one or two good lines every now and then but it doesnt make up for all the trash you gotta go through to get to them.

Read his books but avoid the poetry!

I wouldn't say he sucks. There's PLENTY worse then him.

I can see seeing him as being over-rated. But I think a lot of that is the literary worlds want to have someone else in line after all the beats. Which he fits into well. Of all of them though I think Burroughs is the most over-rated but at least he had the decency  to not  try poetry.

The unedited one is probably one of my most favorite photographs of all time.

yes, it is....[i]From beyond the grave![/i]

it's an autographed picture signed BUK. that's how bukowski would sign his name.

I couldn't find a copy of the unfiltered one :(

Good man Freddy, Ive now got John Fante on my must read list after reading this thread, lets hope he's as enjoyable as people say.

I love Bukowski, both his prose and his poetry. I know a lot of folks don't care for his poetry as much. Of course a lot of folks like Dan Brown, too. No accounting for taste... I think he's the least pretentious poet to ever write. The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills is one of my favorite books of verse, pretty much ever. (It's gonna be a great day when I figure this html stuff out and I can actually underline and/or italicize book titles again.)