Malone vs. Martin
- Thread starter David
- Start date
that's because they couldn't afford a professional typist.
It would be nice to believe that the reason Marvin Malone published what Buk sent him in verbatim fashion was because Buk took the pains to get it right, but your second sentence does slightly suggest that John Martin was sent a pile of unorganized material that resulted in required editorial changes by Martin. And I can't imagine a universe where you would believe that.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I think that there is a case to be made either way. The editor's job is not to just check for typos. If there is a word that is awkward, there is nothing wrong with the editor suggesting changes. I do it all the time. Sometimes they are good changes and are agreed to, sometimes they are not so good and they are rejected.
The worst case of printing verbatim that I ever saw was a publisher who printed page 2 of a 2 page manuscript EXACTLY as it was written. The problem being that no one can find the first page. The poem as it was published was EXACTLY as written, but only half and the poem makes no sense as a half poem.
Bill
The worst case of printing verbatim that I ever saw was a publisher who printed page 2 of a 2 page manuscript EXACTLY as it was written. The problem being that no one can find the first page. The poem as it was published was EXACTLY as written, but only half and the poem makes no sense as a half poem.
Bill
cirerita
Founding member
Are you talking about Entrails?
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
yep... The fact that it was accepted and printed when it was a half-poem that made no sense as a half poem goes to show you that with great star power of the poet, EVERYTHING was accepted for publication. I can't blame the publishers, of course. Just pointing it out.
mjp
Founding member
You've said two different things there, and I believe half of them. I do believe that "John Martin was sent a pile of unorganized material," based on things like this.
However, I do not believe that any editorial change by Martin was ever warranted, as he possesses no discernable editorial or writing skills. As has been demonstrated and discussed before.
You can read all about it soon on the special page I'm working on for the main site; The tragic rape of Charles Bukowski by John Martin's Black Sparrow Press.
In fairness, I was playing devil's advocate, because I know your position on this (which I share, and it chaps my ass the further the more examples I see of it). But, if Martin was Buk's editor and was the man who promised Buk a monthly stipend on what was initially something of a shoestring, and, if you agree that some form of editing was required most of the time, whom else would we expect to actually do that editing?
I suppose in a perfect world, Martin would have assumed the role of publisher and had someone else do the editing that was required.
I suppose in a perfect world, Martin would have assumed the role of publisher and had someone else do the editing that was required.
mjp
Founding member
Someone else to do the editing, yes. For sure.
What I notice, and you may see it as well, is that the ones that are bad are generally really bad and should not be published. Then there are others that need a line cut here and there (the cut of the Popeye stanza in the soprano poem is a good example), but the others - those are simply someone foisting their ideas onto someone else's work. And that's what drives me up the fucking wall.
What I notice, and you may see it as well, is that the ones that are bad are generally really bad and should not be published. Then there are others that need a line cut here and there (the cut of the Popeye stanza in the soprano poem is a good example), but the others - those are simply someone foisting their ideas onto someone else's work. And that's what drives me up the fucking wall.