Dispelling Bukowski's myths

[mjp]

And even if they would be about to fire him, he didn't go to them begging for them not to fire him, like many others would in a similar situation. He didn't go to them saying: "I'll change my ways, I'm sorry, I'll do better if you give me just one more chance..." or something.

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

In 1955 he quit the post office for the first time, and three months later asked for his job back, claiming he would be a better employee in a very ass-kissy letter. Neeli Cherkovski reads part of the letter in Born Into This (is that in the movie itself or the DVD extras? I don't recall).

Though he didn't do that after he quit in '69, he was nervous as hell about quitting, as many of his letters from that time show.

 

[BlueNick]

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

In 1955 he quit the post office for the first time, and three months later asked for his job back, claiming he would be a better employee in a very ass-kissy letter.

...and probably would have done the same thing if writing career wouldn't have worked.

Yes, I see what you're saying.

But still, I think it was a brave move after all. Not many would have done that.

By the way, did they hire him back in '55? Is there an answer to that letter somewhere? Was that after he had become a regular carrier or before?

 

[cirerita]

I don't think Sounes is always right -he seems to enjoy dispelling as many myths as possible- but I think he was right here. Buk's decision was not that brave as it may seem: he had financial resources at the bank, a monthly $100 check from Martin and quite a reputation in the underground lit. scene. And he was about to be fired anyway, and he knew that. I would say that all the pieces fit together and he certainly couldn't overlook that.

 

[BlueNick]

By the way, did they hire him back in '55? Is there an answer to that letter somewhere? Was that after he had become a regular carrier or before?

Just checked the timeline, and noticed that the nearly dying bit happened during the same year he quit and asked to be rehired. Did he quit first? 'Cause if he did, it might be that he just kinda got scared and wanted to be a better man? I don't know, just guessing.

And didn't he get married to Barbara Frye during that same year? He said that he just desided to marry her, before even seeing her. That if something seems very non-typical for Bukowski. Just like the begging to be rehired.

But as I said: Just guessing here. I can't really say what was typical and what wasn't - I didn't know the man...

Buk's decision was not that brave as it may seem: he had financial resources at the bank, a monthly $100 check from Martin and quite a reputation in the underground lit. scene. And he was about to be fired anyway, and he knew that. I would say that all the pieces fit together and he certainly couldn't overlook that.

You are right, but what I was trying to say (Oh man, what am I trying to do here, I don't seem to know when to shut up) was that he was aware of the risk he was taking. And that scared him: he drank more than ever and so on. If he wouldn't have been scared at all, if he wouldn't really have cared at all, would that have been brave? I think that he was scared shows that it took some guts.

 

[mjp]

Just checked the timeline, and noticed that the nearly dying bit happened during the same year he quit and asked to be rehired. Did he quit first?

That's a good question.

We know the dates on the post office letters, but not the exact date of the hospital, so it's hard to say. It would appear that he quit, hemorrhaged, then asked to be rehired. But that may not be the actual order of things.

(It's not the actual order of things, and the timeline was updated with correct dates. -ed.)

Without the date (or at least the month) of the hospital stay, it's impossible to know for sure.

 

[ESO9]

Do you think he really "hated" pizza?
What kind of person Hates pizza?

 

[hoochmonkey9]

I used to be this way, years ago...
When I first was getting published in small magazines I would put things like "has recently started writing after a ten year break" in my contributers bio, and while technically true, the only reason I put it in there was because of Buk.
Although I always saw and realized his faults, I was definately idolizing him. The faults were part of my romantic image of what a writer should be. We'll forgive him for pissing in the fireplace, cuz, shit, he can turn a phrase.
I'm older and a tiny, tiny bit wiser now.

sorry to dig up an ancient thread, just to go off topic and talk about myself (what else is new), but i was looking through my old magazines and found this from 1998, the year I turned 30. contibuters notes in Pottersfield Portfolio. again, sorry to go off topic, I just felt silly reading this again, and feel better when others can get a laugh also. even at my expense....
(the first one at the top of the page, click to enlarge.)

[Imageshack strikes again.]

sorry, I've tried a few times to make the scan larger, but can't.
maybe I need another 10 year lay off....

 

[cirerita]

A ten year lay off? Huh? :D

 

[Father Luke]

maybe I need another 10 year lay off....

I'll have to look for that copy of write magazine you
say published you. ;)

 

[Johannes]

Sorry for putting up that old (but great one!) again, but looking at the FBI files here I just noticed for the first time that it says he virtually stayed at his parents again from

9-45 to 10-47 at 2122 Longwood Avenue

while working

9-45 to 10-47 at Merry Co. 634 S San Pedro St., Los Angeles

which means more than two years from age 25 to 27. Wow. He mentions in the novels and many stories and letters this returning to his parents when he was "totally broke", but in a way that gives you the feeling he stayed for a couple of days only, at least some weeks. But two years?? Can this be true?

Also if you follow the job list, there isn't a single month noted as unemployed or jobless or as a black period or whatever. This list indicates he had throughout regular jobs from '41 til '57, when he started the post office again.

 

[mjp]

According to letters he sent from Philadelphia, he was there in 1946, and parts of '45 and '47. The FBI files have some problems because they were mainly relying on Bukowski to make a list of where he worked. He did usually work, but I would assume that there were more than a week or two between some of those jobs. But it's like when you fill out a job application, you minimize the periods without work so you don't look like a lazy bastard. I'm sure that is the main reason his employment record in the FBI files looks like that.

Trust the timeline brothers and sisters! It isn't perfect, but it makes use of a lot of corroborating material that the FBI and his biographers didn't have. It's the most accurate overview of his life and times that you can find.

 

[james]

I just noticed for the first time that it says he virtually stayed at his parents again from 9-45 to 10-47 at 2122...

also, maybe he used his parent's address as his "permanent" address while he moved around? that's what i did throughout my 20's...

 

[mjp]

Dispelling Bukowski's myths, 1974

"I realized when I broke in, I'd have to create something new to make people listen to me, so I stepped on the gas pedal, I clowned it up a little bit, to catch the public's eye. Subconsciously I knew what I was doing - I was creating something that might be noticed. But after having broken in that way, I'm drifting away from this badass, tough guy shit. I'm writing more what I actually am." [...] "I might come on badass, but I'm really not badass. There goes my image! Looks like I just screwed myself. Can I retract that?"

- Bukowski interview in the Berkeley Barb, April, 1974

 

[Billville]

That's the beauty of Buk though; it's because of all that "tough guy shit" that he found the strength to reveal so much humanity. It's kinda like that quote by Jim Morrison: "The mask of performing gives it to me, a place where I can hide myself then I can reveal myself."

 

[Ponder]

Ex-Buk Myth: https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/s...ski-unveiling-the-myth-by-abel-debritto.6586/

 

[mjp]

We know the dates on the post office letters, but not the exact date of the hospital...

Some of these posts are pretty old, but we do know now that the hemorrhage incident was in 1954, not 1955. Adjust your mythology accordingly.