Portions From a Wine-Stained Notebook

[Gerard K H Love]

You could have said pie pieces.

 

[Paul Sempschi]

I must say the 3rd "alternate" cover is my favorite, it's got that blurry-lost-outtake feel that I get off this collection, while remaining hard-as-nails and true to the tone of his cannon. The actual cover truly is a shame, IMHO, though dont hold up production over it or anything!

 

[poptop]

I agree that the 3rd alternative is excellent - it would have made for one of those timeless, classic Bukowski covers in circulation for years. Instead, the official cover has that sickly hospital green on top; and the Bukowski photo on the bottom appears to be a completely coy and unrelated street picture - with not a wine glass or any of that slightly unfocused, through-the-looking-glass, purple wine-haze sensation in sight. What's wrong with some of these publishers? (I don't care for most of the Ecco covers either.) The alternative has an inviting feel of intimacy, as if Bukowski had been drinking and writing alone and ready to deliver something warm and good to his readers from his "wine-stained" notebook... Anyway, it's a pity what they've chosen to use and I can only wonder how much talent some of these in-house designers have, if that's who they used. The 1st alternative cover is also a winner and would be a great match for some of Bukowski's rowdier collection of stories - perhaps some of the earlier ones when he was lean, and mean. This was great design work in keeping with the unconventional spirit of the writer.

 

[Rekrab]

When my wife worked at a new bookstore (now closed) they received hundreds of free ARCs per month and the emplyees took whatever they wanted. The rest were given away free to customers or tossed. Arcs for popular authors would do well on eBay ($100 average) until 1) the collector market was saturated, or 2) the regular edition came out. Then it would plunge in value to about $10 on ABE. Most collectors don't seem to value ARCs and view them as less desirable than the first edition. I gather it's different with Buk -- that collectors generally do value his ARCs, even long after the first edition has come out. I snagged a couple of Bukowski ARCs from that bookstore, gratis. Kept one and sold one. It was nice while it lasted, those freebies.

 

[mjp]

Of course, if you look closely at that third picture you can see Bukowski's cock (maybe that's what you were referring to when you said, "ready to deliver something warm and good"). They might have issues stocking that in the front window at Borders.

ARCs are great if you like tables of contents that all point to page 000, or typos and layout errors (in the case of Wine-stained Notebook anyway). Otherwise they're just a way to read something before everyone else does, which has its own appeal, I suppose.

Carol had an ARC of Miranda July's book when we went to her reading (she wanted to get it signed), and everyone carrying around the brand new hardcover would stare at it like, "Where the hell did she get that yellow paperback?!"

Even Miranda July asked her where she got it. Ha.

So yeah. For boasting purposes only. But like David said, I don't understand why they maintain any value after the first edition is released. As curiosities maybe.

 

[LickTheStar]

I have an ARC of Thousand Splendid Suns that I've kept because... well, it still remains the only paperback available despite the book being in hardcover over a year now...

But yeah... ARCs are essentially worthless outside of the novelty of reading something before it's actually released. I see so many at my work and often think about snagging them to sell on eBay, but... Not worth the trouble for me.

Of course, if you look closely at that third picture you can see Bukowski's cock (maybe that's what you were referring to when you said, "ready to deliver something warm and good"). They might have issues stocking that in the front window at Borders.

I dunno, they're doing so poorly now they might be willing to put something in the windows that will bring people in. Even if it's to complain. Any press is good press, right?

 

[chronic]

Well, I like my Black Sparrow Bukowski ARCs, most of which were issued in tiny quantities. There are only 25 copies of the review issue of Women and 29 of Love is a Dog from Hell, with similar numbers for most of the other titles issued for review. BSP review copies are typically the first printing minus the cover art.

ARCs have their place in collections of specific authors, especially for completists, though they'll rarely reach the value of a proper first edition. They are sort of a cross between a book and ephemera.

 

[bospress.net]

But, if the first edition is prized as the earliest edition, why would the edition that was released 2 months prior to the first edition not be more valuable? In addition, there may only be 100-200 copies of an ARC (For Wine Stained Notebook, for example), versus 1000 hardcover and probably 20,000 paperback copies. So, it is rarer and earlier. Something tells me that this would have to be more valuable, but they are not and this confounds me....
Bill

 

[Black Swan]

hey guys,since some of you have the new buk book
because you are SPECIAL!. Would one of you have the kindness to post a picture of the actual book,
in a way that I could see the thickness of the pages and the top and front at the same time. I am painting it and need to see what it looks like at an angle.:confused:

 

[mjp]

Oops, I guess that's the bottom and the front, but maybe you can work with it.

 

[chronic]

The cover looks a little bit better without the forest green.

 

[Black Swan]

Thanks mjp,
that is a good angle .

 

[mjp]

The cover looks a little bit better without the forest green.

Well, that could just be my crappy camera. The top is definitely green.

 

[Gerard K H Love]

Holga? dear Holga?

 

[Father Luke]

This help any

 

[LickTheStar]

I found out today that "I Meet The Master" is about one of Buk's meetings with Fante...

Soo... How is it?

 

[Black Swan]

You may ask Ponder about that one.
He may have a few tips

 

[james]

it is rarer and earlier. Something tells me that this would have to be more valuable, but they are not and this confounds me....

bill, this is and has been my opinion on ARCs as well. if i have 1 of 25 ARCs , in the world, of women, it seems that it should be worth a bit more than a couple hundred dollars. but then again, what the hell do i know...

 

[mjp]

Holga? dear Holga?

No, no. It would have probably looked purple through the Holga...

I found out today that "I Meet The Master" is about one of Buk's meetings with Fante...

Soo... How is it?

Distracting (he refers to him as "Bante," which for some reason made it difficult for me to read) and probably at least partially fictionalized. It disappointed me. He tells the story in a more straightforward way in many other poems and short pieces.

Without spoiling anything for anyone, I have to honestly say that I only enjoyed about half of the pieces. But some of them are already familiar to most of us (Aftermath, 20 Tanks, Jaggernaut, Upon the Mathematics, etc.) so I count those among the half I wasn't very excited by. Jaggernaut is good if you haven't read it, as it Upon the Mathematics, so I guess how happy you'll be with this book depends on how much of it is new to you.

Where it fails for me is in the essays and introductions. Some of them are deadly dull and disingenuous. In my opinion they could have made much better selections as far as those are concerned.

Overall, of course, I would recommend it. Not as if anyone is waiting for that, ha. I know everyone reading this is going to buy it anyway. But there you go. I realize that's pretty unspecific, but I don't want to say too much before everyone has a chance to read it. Your mileage will almost certainly vary.

 

[Black Swan]

This help any

OOOOPs! Already worked with the first posted version .
I'd say he is reddish at the moment.:p
It seems that both versions are missing a tone of yellow or
is it just a wishful thought?:)

 

[hank solo]

I know everyone reading this is going to buy it anyway.

How can you possibly know that? :eek:

 

[LickTheStar]

Yeah I'll pick it up regardless.

Seems a bit... unnecessary to refer to him as "Bante" but I've always been looking for more about their all too brief relationship.

 

[HenryChinaski]

so I see we finally got the hardcovers for Portions...

I wonder why they cracked? Somebody important had to say something.

THE HARDCOVER'S ONLY $18.20! Thats a damn steal! I cannot wait for this thing.

Portions From a Wine-Stained Notebook
Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990


Publisher City Lights Publishers

Format Hardcover
ISBN-10 0872864960
ISBN-13 9780872864962
Publication Date September 2008
List Price $26.00

Paperback - $16.95 $11.87 Save $5.08 (30%) - Coming soon Alert Me!

Hardcover - $26.00 $18.20 Save $7.80 (30%) - Coming soon Alert Me!

 

[bospress.net]

The Bukowski fanatics are too convincing, I guess. Now to help sell this puppy aout and make sure that this is not the last Bukowski nor the last City Lights hardcover.

This is quite something. They do not normally do hardcovers.

Bill

 

[Purple Stickpin]

I know I mentioned to Garrett a few times, both via e-mail, correspondence with the City Lights website, and here, that a hard cover would be a great thing; nay, a necessary thing. Several others here must have done the same.

 

[cirerita]

Bukowski, Charles PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK City Lights (Adult NONFICTION) Sep. 15, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-87286-492-4

More posthumous uncollected prose from the Dirty Old Man.

Calonne (English/Eastern Michigan Univ.; William Saroyan: My Real Work Is Being, 1983, etc.), who previously edited a volume of Bukowski's interviews, digs up a few more fragments from the author's vast--and scattershot--oeuvre. As with many "uncollected" selections, the results are a mixed bag, but Bukowski's gruff directness and take-no-crap attitude shine through. Discussing his style in "Basic Training," he writes, "I hurled myself toward my personal god: SIMPLICITY. The tighter and smaller you got it the less chance there was of error and the lie. Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way." Certainly, much of Bukowski's genius lay in his plainspoken, immediate, self-assured prose, but his constant attack on the literary establishment also earned him accolades--and scorn--from fellow writers and critics. He held special contempt for pretentious elitists, those, as Calonne eloquently notes in his illuminating introduction, "who tried to domesticate the sacred barbaric Muse: the disruptive, primal, archaic, violent, inchoate forces of the creative unconscious." In the more than 35 pieces that comprise the volume, Bukowski runs through all his favorite topics--drinking, fighting, women, horse-racing ("A track is some place you go so you won't stare at the walls and whack off, or swallow ant poison")--but he's at his most lucid and powerful when he explores the process of writing, both his own and others (Artaud, Hemingway, his hero John Fante). There's a neat deconstruction of Ezra Pound, excerpts from his "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" column and a peripatetic review of a Rolling Stones concert. Though a few of the selections are little more than ill-formed rants, probably originally scrawled across a bar napkin, there is plenty of the visceral, potent, even graphically sexual (tame readers beware of "Workout") material to satisfy fans.

Not for novices, but a welcome addition to Bukowski's growing library.

"Bukowski, Charles: PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK.(Book review)." Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2008)

 

[bospress.net]

"Bukowski, Charles: PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK.(Book review)." Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2008)

I can't argue with the review, but why would Bukowski scrawl an essay across a bar napkin? Is it required that everything that he wrote was "Scrawled on a bar napkin". I could see if it was a poem, but a long essay? Now that is just odd.

That is about as odd as Bukowski living in a castle (wait for it...)

Bill

 

[mjp]

...he's at his most lucid and powerful when he explores the process of writing, both his own and others (Artaud, Hemingway, his hero John Fante). There's a neat deconstruction of Ezra Pound...

I found the pieces about other writers, the reviews and "tributes" to be the least interesting bits, but that's just me. Dry stuff, which you don't expect.

Not for novices, but a welcome addition to Bukowski's growing library.

"Bukowski's growing library" - that's funny. As if this juuust puts him over the top of having a large body of published work.

It will be interesting to see other reviews, since this is kind of an uneven grab-bag. Of course if it was 250 pages of pure genius the reviews would be the same, so I suppose it hardly matters.

 

[Father Luke]

he's the darling of the literary world, isn't he? ;)
i guess he always will be. . .

Thanks for the review, cirerita.

 

[Bukfan]

I can't argue with the review, but why would Bukowski scrawl an essay across a bar napkin? Is it required that everything that he wrote was "Scrawled on a bar napkin". I could see if it was a poem, but a long essay? Now that is just odd.

That is about as odd as Bukowski living in a castle (wait for it...)

I think the reviewer is trying to be funny, hinting at Buk's barfly image.

Not too bad a review as reviews goes.

Thanks, cirerita...