The Bukowski/Martin relationship

[cirerita]

The Bukowski/Martin relationship, part I

Ok, everybody knows B was always loyal to Martin and turned down all the tempting offers from bigger publishing houses. A nice picture, indeed. This has been widely published, especially in the volumes of letters.

But as in most relationships, there were ups and downs and really low moments. However, those moments remain unpublished... as of today :D

Now you'll have the chance to see the big picture, not just the flattering strokes! Please read the 4 pages, you won't regret it.

Of course, this doesn't mean the B/M relationship was always like this. But they also had arguments, and this is just one of them.

 

[cirerita]

Ok, here's another low moment from the B/M relationship. Next time I'll upload more uplifting stuff, promised.:p



The first lines read:

Hello John:

This stuff is hell.
What I'm beginning to realize is that Black Sparrow...

 

[hoochmonkey9]

beautiful, C, just beautiful.
with these letters and Buk's small rant/fight with linda shown in the Bukowski Tapes, we see a side of buk that is not always talked about...how he thought that people were quite often trying to take advantage of him.
and small remarks like "I always buy the beer, that's the kind a guy I am. A sucker." I'm paraphrasing here, and can't remember where i saw it, maybe the Buk Tapes again.
Anyway, interesting stuff, C. Keep up the good fight.

 

[mjp]

$6,500 a year from Black Sparrow in 1978 is equivalent to someone making $19,800 now - less than $10 an hour at a 40 hour a week job.

Without the foreign royalties Bukowski would have never left DeLongpre or Carlton Way. He would have died in East Hollywood among the pizza crusts and used rubbers.

Martin did consider Bukowski to be an idiot, I've had that impression over the years, and here's Bukowski saying it himself. You know who was on the receiving end of the majority of the money in that relationship. It's sick, but it's also common. In any creative field it's the rare artist who gets the bulk of the cheese.

This letter should help anyone with dreams of becoming a wealthy poet. Ha. It does go a long way to reinforce the fact that he wrote because he had to. It wasn't just hype or braggadocio when he would say in letters, "Just trying to make the mortgage," he may well have been.

Anyway, yeah yeah, this is the kind of thing people need to see. If we can create a full picture here, a more honest portrayal, then we've accomplished something.

cirerita, I'll send you $100 a month - for life! - if you quit your job and just scan and upload your archives. Deal?

;)

 

[mjp]

The second one is interesting, as he talks about the book Cornered, which came out under the imprint, "Burn Again Press," which we knew was really Black Sparrow.

Why would Martin want Bukowski to tell people he didn't know anything about the publisher? Weird.

 

[cirerita]

are you talking about 1970 $100 or 2006 $100? :D

 

[mjp]

Well, that's still only about $500 today. A bargain if I can get you full time for that sum!

 

[mjp]

Oh, by the way - do you accept I.O.U.'s?

 

[cirerita]

you're right, too tempting an offer! :D

sorry, no I.O.U's, prompt payments, please!