cirerita
Founding member
Out next October, hopefully:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/00...&tag=charlebukowsa-20&linkId=OZQC2BSYV4HEL7Q6
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/00...&tag=charlebukowsa-20&linkId=OZQC2BSYV4HEL7Q6
PhillyDave
“The essential doesn't change.” Beckett
Is it all new material?
PhillyDave
“The essential doesn't change.” Beckett
Well then it's worth it and it will be better than Burroughs's book on cats! Somehow I have a feeling... ;) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/01...&tag=charlebukowsa-20&linkId=7OBJBYPDN4SFAI5F
mjp
Founding member
These themes, this packaging, it all seems to be quite successfully carrying on Martin's prime directive of neutering Bukowski and positioning him as a harmless old man.
What's the next installment? On Clouds? On Sweaters?
Maybe I'm missing something.
What's the next installment? On Clouds? On Sweaters?
Maybe I'm missing something.
I appreciate that, anyway.
cirerita
Founding member
I get your point, but this is Ecco/HC we're talking about here, not BSP. Having said that, there's no neutering at all on my end. I was asked to put these collections together, and I happily complied. In all fairness, I was given carte blanche to use whatever I wanted to use, and that's what I did.
Hopefully, somewhere down the road a new collection of non-thematic poems will be published.
Hopefully, somewhere down the road a new collection of non-thematic poems will be published.
mjp
Founding member
Yes, I'm talking about the publisher, HarperCollins/Ecco, not you. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
I don't want to belabor the point, and this will be my last comment on this particular book, but if someone hands the surgeon the scalpel - even if it's a clean and genuine scalpel - they're part of the neutering. That person might say, "Well, if I don't do it, someone else will, so what's the difference?" But that's only justification.
Or maybe that person doesn't see how a Bukowski book on cats is neutering, in which case, by all means, whistle while you work. Fuck art, who cares? Let's watch Netflix and eat tacos! It doesn't matter. It's just a book. No one cares. It's what people want. Nothing I can do about it anyway. It doesn't matter and no one cares.
Well, who knows. Maybe Bukowski would have thought these themed books were a marvelous idea, and that putting his name on a book of cat poems was just wonderful. I guess we'll never know. Mainly because no one would have been stupid enough to suggest it to him when he was alive.
"You ask him."
"I'm not gonna ask him! You ask him."
"I'm not asking him. Look at him, he's drunk! He'll hit me!"
"Well I'm not asking him."
"Who's idea was this, anyway?"
"Not mine."
"Mine either. Let's get out of here."
I don't want to belabor the point, and this will be my last comment on this particular book, but if someone hands the surgeon the scalpel - even if it's a clean and genuine scalpel - they're part of the neutering. That person might say, "Well, if I don't do it, someone else will, so what's the difference?" But that's only justification.
Or maybe that person doesn't see how a Bukowski book on cats is neutering, in which case, by all means, whistle while you work. Fuck art, who cares? Let's watch Netflix and eat tacos! It doesn't matter. It's just a book. No one cares. It's what people want. Nothing I can do about it anyway. It doesn't matter and no one cares.
Well, who knows. Maybe Bukowski would have thought these themed books were a marvelous idea, and that putting his name on a book of cat poems was just wonderful. I guess we'll never know. Mainly because no one would have been stupid enough to suggest it to him when he was alive.
"You ask him."
"I'm not gonna ask him! You ask him."
"I'm not asking him. Look at him, he's drunk! He'll hit me!"
"Well I'm not asking him."
"Who's idea was this, anyway?"
"Not mine."
"Mine either. Let's get out of here."
cirerita
Founding member
My last comment on the subject, too: I put these collections together for several reasons, one of them being I still love Bukowski's work. I also thought that it could be one of the first steps towards restoring Bukowski's work to its full, raw, untampered-with glory.
What you call neutering, I call opening up new doors. Sometimes you need to open a few doors to get where you'd like to get. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the ride. Hey, there might even be a few good poems and prose excerpts in the new collections, who knows?
What you call neutering, I call opening up new doors. Sometimes you need to open a few doors to get where you'd like to get. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the ride. Hey, there might even be a few good poems and prose excerpts in the new collections, who knows?
I would personally like to see a his entire Wormwood output collected. The cat thing is a bit niche, I guess, but any untampered with Buk can only be a good thing, in my unimportant opinion.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I would LOVE to see a Wormie collection...
What, I can't watch Netflix now? Could someone notify me of these fucking decisions, because I can't even relate with Shomi.
It is collected; in Wormwood. Get a full run, you won't regret it and the chase is thrilling.
mjp
Founding member
You take what you can get up there in the tundra, and you take it with good humor. It has ever been so, from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to BTO and Alanis Morissette. Deal with it.
zobraks
Moderator
Yeah, and it's cheap & easy to get all those WRs. :(
A book of poems or prose by Bukowski that is restricted to one theme, no matter what theme it is, doesn't sound like a must-have to me. It's great, of course, that the upcoming collections are based on manuscripts only, but I don't like the approach - cutting his works into small, random portions and trying to sell it bit by bit.
What I like about Bukowski (poems) is the change of subjects, not the repetitions. I can recall the boredom while reading the 19 Scarlet poems from Love is a Dog from Hell at one stretch. Great formulations and pictures, for sure, but everything's revolving around the very same woman.
Anyway, Cirerita, this is no offense, just some nighttime thoughts. You've certainly done a great job.
What I like about Bukowski (poems) is the change of subjects, not the repetitions. I can recall the boredom while reading the 19 Scarlet poems from Love is a Dog from Hell at one stretch. Great formulations and pictures, for sure, but everything's revolving around the very same woman.
Anyway, Cirerita, this is no offense, just some nighttime thoughts. You've certainly done a great job.
Bukfan
"The law is wrong; I am right"
I´m sure some cat lovers will be buying the cat book. It's also the perfect gift for a cat lover who can then be turned into a Bukowski lover too. :wb:
I know a collective in Prague.
I know a collective in Prague.
Well, no it isn't, and that's part of the chase, which I undertook for some five years until Marvin's daughter showed up here with collated but unreleased and unstapled copies of originals from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Of course, part of me takes the stance that I busted my butt and spent a fair bit of money amassing a full run of Wormwood just to get these (and other) poems, so why should everyone else get them in a single $25 volume? The answer is, that's a douche position, and I've been trying to avoid being a douche lately (with limited success, I might add).
I actually own Scarlet, and I like the Scarlet poems and I really like the Horsemeat poems because I used to go to the dog track and Jai-Alai when I lived in Connecticut. But I don't like cats (and I'm violently allergic to them), so I'm not really up for this one from a predisposed position. But, dollars to doughnuts, I will like it, because, as I posted long ago, Buk could write an entire book of poems about how melted cheese wrecks your kitchen sponge and I'd probably like it. And yes, I believe that cirerita is doing a good thing by getting these out in original form even if it isn't our preferred mix.
zobraks
Moderator
Hehe, I fully understand what you feel but look on the bright side: you won't have to browse (and eventually ruin) those expensive little volumes in order to read some poem, there'll be a cheap, easy to handle, book with everything you may need (from WRs).
I doubt very much a single volume of collected Bukowski poems from Wormwood Review will ever be published, though.
cirerita
Founding member
Despite being thematic collections, you won't find much repetition/overlapping in them. They're chronologically arranged, and you can see how Bukowski's voice changes over the years. And his take on these subjects changes, too.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I can say or myself (and presume to speak for PS), when I say that the set is worth more than money. If it had no monetary value, it would still be the prize of my collection and one of the few things that I will never part with...
Testify! It's a joy to behold and I don't mind creasing a few covers here and there because it's worth more than I'll ever get for it.
I think what made Malone so special was his lack of personal literary aspiration. He wasn't threatened by great writing and he embraced fully Buk's genius. Also his drive for integrity and not profit didn't hurt either. I pick up Wormie far more often than BSP. I think a Wormwood collection would be a celebration of Marvin Malone's legacy as much as Hank's. I do realize this is still a cat thread, that being said.