Bukowski material up for auction at PBA Galleries on October 10th (and Frank Nettelbeck)
- Thread starter Pba Galleries
- Start date
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I just saw that Nettlebeck gave you folks a shout out back then... ha!
THE FUTURE OF BOOKSTORES AND INDIANS
...he's (Nettelbeck) a fraud
of an artist and a fraud
of a human being.
-bukowski.net
I also used to go on these runs
to Powell's Books in Portland
years ago with a little stubbie
pencil with an eraser before
it all went computer and when
nobody was looking I'd change
the prices on all these army
green covered ethnology books
on the shelves about the Indians
printed by the US government
ca. 1900 from $150 to $3 each
then buy them and bring them
all back and sell them to this rich
old white lady in a wheelchair in
Weed, CA and make damn good
money that I would piss away
with my Paiute girlfriend on beer
THE FUTURE OF BOOKSTORES AND INDIANS
...he's (Nettelbeck) a fraud
of an artist and a fraud
of a human being.
-bukowski.net
I also used to go on these runs
to Powell's Books in Portland
years ago with a little stubbie
pencil with an eraser before
it all went computer and when
nobody was looking I'd change
the prices on all these army
green covered ethnology books
on the shelves about the Indians
printed by the US government
ca. 1900 from $150 to $3 each
then buy them and bring them
all back and sell them to this rich
old white lady in a wheelchair in
Weed, CA and make damn good
money that I would piss away
with my Paiute girlfriend on beer
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
Can we invite him to dinner?
He gone to that big pow wow in the sky.
mjp
Founding member
"You folks"? Are you distancing yourself? ;)
Credit where credit is due, that quote came from number6horse. He was right about Nettelbeck at the time, and he's still right about him.
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
Reading through those old threads, MJP was such a well adjusted, positive young man. What could have happened to make him so jaded and angry before his time? ... Oh, that's right, he manages this place...
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
While I was reading through Nettlebeck's poems online, I kept coming across these hints and suggestions that he was a Vietnam veteran. It just didn't smell right to me. So I called him on his bullshit, knowing that a REAL veteran would fire right back with what branch, dates of service, and other details. I was prepared to publicly apologize but it turns out I didn't have to.
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Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Frank definitely had issues. It might have been "the lure of the underdog," but I was curious about his poetry, knowing all too well the limitations of his personality. What I found was damned good poetry, but that's a matter of taste. As for the website, it may have been lousy design wise -- I don't know. What I liked about it is the depth and variety of content. Not just poems but lots of (too much some would say) biographical info, even down to robbing the Goodwill boxes. He didn't hide the negative parts of himself -- maybe he should have. I liked the audio snippets enough to burn them all to a CD. I thought the website had a lot of substance. It was still up the last time I checked.
(Why on earth would I even bring up Nettelbeck? I must be a masochist, but there it is.)
It's been a couple years now, but back when I wrote him I first read through the thread(s) two or three times, trying to find the exact trigger point where it fell apart, what it was that some one said that turned him from friendly to hostile. I never really found what I was looking for -- a reason. It must have happened in his mind, off line.
(Why on earth would I even bring up Nettelbeck? I must be a masochist, but there it is.)
It's been a couple years now, but back when I wrote him I first read through the thread(s) two or three times, trying to find the exact trigger point where it fell apart, what it was that some one said that turned him from friendly to hostile. I never really found what I was looking for -- a reason. It must have happened in his mind, off line.
i think he arrived hostile but post #10 i'd say blew it up.
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Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Just reread the thread. Seems he got pissed over the comment about his website. I never separated the website from the blog -- just took it all as a whole, so my liking the content has to do with both, combined. Privately, he told me he had no problem with Buknet people -- he just likes to rant and rave. He laughed it off. I suspect sober vs drunk may also have played a part.
mjp
Founding member
I think he got out of bed in the morning hostile.
No person is just one thing, and no one is only the worst part of their character. But if you lead with hostility, you can't expect anything but hostility in return. I'm no stranger to stirring up hostility, but when I do it, I do it knowingly, and who knows, maybe Nettelbeck did too. I just think that if you have the MUST-THROW-SHIT-INTO-FAN character trait, you better have the awareness to know when to stir up trouble, and you also better have some humor or finesse to deal with the results. Otherwise you're just going to go through life covered in shit.
What I don't understand is why so many people who are trying to sell something (which he was when he showed up) don't understand that hostility might not be the most effective way to go. That, I'm afraid, is nothing but pure stupidity. And despite what Nettelbeck wrote or how many people found his writing to be worthwhile, he struck me as a profoundly stupid man. When you combine stupid with antagonistic (hello VALDEZ!), there isn't anything left to appreciate.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I think he stirred up shit knowing he was doing it, and that he had a sense of humor about it (although it didn't show, and he was the only one amused), but, like you say, his timing was terrible. He was his own worse enemy in that way, and possibly in every other way. He had literary intelligence, but seemed clueless about how to live, how to get along with other people. I say all that by inference, as I never met him and know nothing about he he got along with others in real life, off-line. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Steve Richmond. On the one hand, they have this big literary talent, but on the other, they make such bad choices in life, and there's a recklessness and indifference to consequences.