Random Thoughts that relate to Bukowski in some way
- Thread starter Danny Mac
- Start date
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
Well, Bukowski never wanted a hand-out, that's for sure. He critized Henry Miller and others for it.
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
Oh, he liked money, that's for sure. He worked like a dog to get it. But I really think he hated the thought of owing anybody anything. I think that's partly to blame why he broke off some of those relationships along the way.
He seemed to have little stomach for whiners. Jon Webb could literally never write a letter without a litany of woes and a roundabout plea for money. In Bukowski there was a stoicism that ran parallel with his hatred of the system.
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
And to be fair, he did get a literary hand out from John Martin. Sure, it was only $100 a month, but he wouldn't have written his first novel without it. It was more of a loan really. Buk produced the novel in less than a month and Martin ended up picking a race horse that made him a small fortune. Martin got repaid in spades for the risk.
And this was the question?
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
Well, if you want to tie it back to that and come full circle, Carl Weissner was not one of the people Buk cut off relations with. Weissner made Buk a shit load of money, but apparently Buk didn't feel beholden to him in a negative way. I have no idea what Weissner made, but I'm guessing it wasn't alot.
Skygazer
And in the end...
I think it was his pleasingly subversive, personal rejection of big business and pursuit of wealth that made him attractive to European socialist tendancies.
Did he really want wealth? seems to me as long as the rent got paid and he was free to write and not go hungry he was ok. I think the very attractive anti consumerism is what made many middle/ruling class Americans twitchy. Not party political but he has universal appeal to working class people everywhere.
mjp
Founding member
Post Office wasn't the first novel Bukowski wrote (though it may be the first one he finished).
As for the money Martin offered to pay Bukowski, if I offered you $600 a month right now to quit your job, would that do it for you? Could you make it on that? Because that's what the famous $100 a month would be in today's dollars. Not enough to pay rent on the shittiest ghetto apartment anywhere within a hundred miles of Los Angeles, let alone rent, food, liquor, stamps, envelopes, paper, typewriter ribbons, taxes, insurance, child support...
The money Martin offered Bukowski didn't hurt him, that's for sure, but he also didn't need it to survive. It's unlikely that he could have survived on it even if he wanted to try (it was less than a sixth of what he made as a postal clerk). He had substantial savings, and it was more likely those savings that allowed him to quit the post office. The offer from Martin was more a show of faith than financial support.
But I don't think there's any question that the show of faith meant quite a lot to Bukowski. Much more than some small sum of money that has now been mythologized far beyond it's real and actual importance.
Pogue Mahone
Officials say drugs may have played a part
I was just stating it for the record. Agreed it was a tiny sum of money. And Bukowski didn't brag about it like Miller (not that there was much to brag about). My best friend (when I was 25) gave me a copy of Tropic of Cancer. We were both Bukowski fans. And I just remember putting it down after 100 pages and saying, "This guy's such a dick!" I was a young Dead Head in those days and Miller reminded me of every scammer I came across in the parking lot on the tour. I just wanted to piss all over him... Still do...
I came across a few of these when I was in Daytona Beach a good few years back. http://occupygeorge.org/
I have a new random thought. Even though I've got a sinus infection and feel like crap I most post this. I refuse to be a procrastinator. I want to get this done. So, I went into the post office to buy some of these very colorful flower stamps that are called la Florida from the US Post Office. I never buy stamps to keep but I wanted these.
They were sold out! I got this brochure from the clerk. As I looked in the brochure I saw that they have a group of stamps that you can buy of famous poets. Famous US poets? Really? I looked at the names. The only poet I know or care about is Buk so I hope I don't offend any "real" poetry people out there but I am going to add commentary to the listings.
Joseph Brodsky...who the hell is that?
Gwendolyn Brooks...who the hell is that?
Williams Carlos Williams...OK, I'll let this guy slide because Buk used to write him letters
Robert Hayden...who the hell is that?
Sylvia Plath....oh crap...I've heard of her. OK she stays.
Elizabeth Bishop...who the hell is that?
Wallace Stevens...who the hell is that?
Denise Levertov...who the hell is that?
E. E. Cummings...alright he's OK. Buk used to mention him in letters.
Theodore Roethke...who the hell is that?
Where the Hell is Bukowski? Where the Hell is Bukowski??? Well he's not on the list and we all know why. He was the "Outsider of the Year 1962." He didnt' fit in. He didn't go to parties. He didn't dress nice. He didn't get along with other people. He had bad teeth. There were too many empty beer bottles on his floor.
But, we all know that he was better than all of these driveling little snobs. I'm not surprised Buk doesn't have a stamp. It's obvious he wouldn't get a stamp. He wouldn't want a stamp. We all know he wouldn't get a stamp. Buk don't need no stinkin stamp.
They were sold out! I got this brochure from the clerk. As I looked in the brochure I saw that they have a group of stamps that you can buy of famous poets. Famous US poets? Really? I looked at the names. The only poet I know or care about is Buk so I hope I don't offend any "real" poetry people out there but I am going to add commentary to the listings.
Joseph Brodsky...who the hell is that?
Gwendolyn Brooks...who the hell is that?
Williams Carlos Williams...OK, I'll let this guy slide because Buk used to write him letters
Robert Hayden...who the hell is that?
Sylvia Plath....oh crap...I've heard of her. OK she stays.
Elizabeth Bishop...who the hell is that?
Wallace Stevens...who the hell is that?
Denise Levertov...who the hell is that?
E. E. Cummings...alright he's OK. Buk used to mention him in letters.
Theodore Roethke...who the hell is that?
Where the Hell is Bukowski? Where the Hell is Bukowski??? Well he's not on the list and we all know why. He was the "Outsider of the Year 1962." He didnt' fit in. He didn't go to parties. He didn't dress nice. He didn't get along with other people. He had bad teeth. There were too many empty beer bottles on his floor.
But, we all know that he was better than all of these driveling little snobs. I'm not surprised Buk doesn't have a stamp. It's obvious he wouldn't get a stamp. He wouldn't want a stamp. We all know he wouldn't get a stamp. Buk don't need no stinkin stamp.
I'll agree with the W.C.W., Plath, Cummings, and Roethke; but Buk needs to have his own official stamp.
Perhaps the other people he 'left behind' at the old P.O. annex really were jealous of him for getting out. Buk said somewhere in a poem (paraphrasing): "they were like crabs in a barrel/pulling each other back down." I don't think it is within human nature to celebrate someone who did the same shit-job that you do, who then quits, walks away and realizes their dreams. It's like if everyone at your job played the lottery except you and they won a babillion dollars. You might have a touch of indigestion upon passing one of them in the street.
I am very surprised that there is no Maya Angelou stamp. Isn't she the "poet laureate" of the USA or some such ridiculous thing?
mjp
Founding member
Is there still any "honor" in being on a postage stamp? When people actually had to use postage stamps, it was a big deal. The face on the stamp was everywhere. Now it's kind of a cruel joke, isn't it? To have your face put on a postage stamp no one will ever see?
"I hate that fucker."
"I know, I do too."
"How can we really get him? I want to fill his car with rotten fish or something."
"Yeah, like, I don't know, go to his house while he's sleeping and glue all the locks shut."
"No, wait! I know! Let's get the USPS to put his face on a postage stamp!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Oh ha ha! Ha ha ha! That's it!"
"I hate that fucker."
"I know, I do too."
"How can we really get him? I want to fill his car with rotten fish or something."
"Yeah, like, I don't know, go to his house while he's sleeping and glue all the locks shut."
"No, wait! I know! Let's get the USPS to put his face on a postage stamp!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Oh ha ha! Ha ha ha! That's it!"
Well, he did win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987 and was poet Laureate of the U.S. in 1991-1992. One would think that these would count for something.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Interestingly, in both the US and UK at the moment both Poet Laureates are female:
Carol Anne Duffy (a Scot :-))) in the UK and Natasha Trethewey in the USA. It's a bit anachronistic isn't it? but if it helps spread poetry as well as the more formal creation of poetry for "significant" events, then well and good. No strong feelings on it all, really.
Here is the file of the current stamps they're putting out. I hope it is big enuf for you folks to see
In contrast to a myocardial infection. :rolleyes:
I just had a random thought or should I say an actual observation. I'm re-reading Neeli Cherry's book again because I have time. Time is however not on my side. Since I'm a Philly guy (technically I live in the suburbs but my whole life involves interaction with the city) I love Cheesesteaks. All of the Philly people love cheesesteaks. It is a huge point of pride for us. Philly Dave will back me up on this.
So I'm reading and I find on page 280 of "Bukoski: A Life" about how Linda Lee is apalled by Hank's eating habits. She wants to help him eat better. Neeli says, "He used to go to a place called Philly's Hoagie Shop at Western and Sunset, where he would either eat a Hoagie or a cheese-steak sandwich."
Ha Ha Ha. Music to my ears! I would have never imagined that there was a place like that out there. I get a real kick out of the fact that Buk, while he was in Philly in the mid 1940's, almost certainly got hooked on that type of food while he was my town and all those many, many years later still had a hankering (desire) for that delicious food. Three Cheers for the Philly Cheese-steak.
So I'm reading and I find on page 280 of "Bukoski: A Life" about how Linda Lee is apalled by Hank's eating habits. She wants to help him eat better. Neeli says, "He used to go to a place called Philly's Hoagie Shop at Western and Sunset, where he would either eat a Hoagie or a cheese-steak sandwich."
Ha Ha Ha. Music to my ears! I would have never imagined that there was a place like that out there. I get a real kick out of the fact that Buk, while he was in Philly in the mid 1940's, almost certainly got hooked on that type of food while he was my town and all those many, many years later still had a hankering (desire) for that delicious food. Three Cheers for the Philly Cheese-steak.
mjp
Founding member
The cheesesteak is nice, but when you really want to hurt yourself, the Oki Dog is unbeatable. It made Tommy' s seem healthy.
I just had a random thought. I don't know if anybody out there watches funny movies that are supposedly for kids but can also make adults laugh like Monster's Inc for instance. Well they just came out with Monster's University and I watched it because nights can be dull on planet Earth at times. Has anyone noticed that Billy Crystal's little green character's last name is Wazowski? Thats right, Wazowski. You change out the first 3 letters to Buk and you got our man, Bukowski. Very interesting.....or may be not. just sayin
zobraks
Moderator
I find it strange that this character wasn't mentioned at Bukowski.net (as a slight curiosity).
I mean, "Bukowski" is not as frequent as "Smith" or "Brown" so one wonders whether J. Rado or G. Ragni knew who (H.)C. Bukowski was.
Then again it's not a big deal, just a curiosity.