The Captain is Out To Lunch....missing pages!

[Paul Sempschi]

So I finished "Notes...", "Post Office" and hammered through "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town"- which was incredible. The man may be the greatest short story writer since Ring Lardner, at least as unjustly underrated as Mr. Lardner. Each of those stories was such a gem that I would read one and put the book away as long as I could, go for days, perhaps rereading old ones because each one was just so incredibly good that I darent waste them, we all know that he's not writing anymore of them. My favorite was "The Gut Wringing Machine" which seemed eerily therapeutic and would make me feel better going to my shit job Night after Night.
So I go to the store and pick up another bunch of Buk to gobble up (Barfly- because it was cheap, "Drowning..." and "The Captain...". And it's the latter which I'm writing about. It's such a weird item and I wanted to check it out with you guys. From what I got from this post was that it's not a short story or a failed novel but a collection of actual journal entries that had appeared in a magazine Onthebus.

Though this seems strange, never figured Buk would keep a journal, has anyone been able to find any of his journals on the auction block or in the University catalogues?

So what's left to be asked is:
-Is a posthumous collection? Did Buk compile the mss.?
-Are these all the entries from the mag?
-Were the Crumb drawings part of the mag? or did he add them in for the publication of the book?
-John Martin taking credit for collecting them?

Though I'm sure it wont affect my enjoyment of the book, it would be nice to know the details about this strange artifact, if anyone can elaborate some more on it, that would be helpful, thanks.

 

[mjp]

-Is a posthumous collection? Did Buk compile the mss.?

Yes it is posthumous in its Black Sparrow edition. It came out in installments in ONTHEBUS, the first one or two when he was still alive, the remainder posthumously.

-Are these all the entries from the mag?

Yes. But I seem to recall someone saying that the Black Sparrow edition was edited down - that not all the magazine entries made it into the book (or that some may have been added that were not in the magazine - I don't recall exactly). Maybe someone else can confirm that. I have all the ONTHEBUS issues that the journal appeared in, but they are packed away at the moment.

-Were the Crumb drawings part of the mag? or did he add them in for the publication of the book?

No. When the entries appeared in ONTHEBUS they were illustrated with Bukowski's own drawings.

-John Martin taking credit for collecting them?

Well, of course. John Martin also invented the wheel and discovered fire. I'm surprised you didn't know that.

However, when the journal entries first appeared in ONTHEBUS I wrote editor Jack Grapes to ask him if they were his idea, or whether Bukowski pitched it to him. Grapes said it was his idea to have Bukowski keep the journal, and that there were many more installments to come. I believe they span 8 to 10 issues, which were published over a period of more than 10 years (that mag, like many literary mags, isn't published very frequently).

I haven't seen anything in a similar journal form prior to the entries in ONTHEBUS. But if there were previous journals, cirerita would know.

 

[Bukfan]

I would love to see Buk's original journal drawings. Have they been reprinted anywhere else?

 

[mjp]

Not that I know of. But it was pretty typical stuff as I recall. The same kind of doodles you've seen a million times.

 

[Bukfan]

I see. Then I have'nt missed much, I guess...