On Writing

May 25, 2015
Almost 50 years’ worth of the letters of poet, novelist, and screenwriter Bukowski (1920–1994) capture much about him: his compulsive writing, brilliant phrase-making, unapologetic drinking, and problematic relationships with women. The letters, written between 1945 and 1993 to correspondents including friends, editors, critics, and academics, are routinely obscenity-laden, often funny, always opinionated, and very occasionally tender. Just as Bukowski could be offensive when alive, many will find his letters equally offensive (as when he reacts unapologetically to feminist critics). Nonetheless, it is hard not to respect his unflagging devotion to his art and unflinching application of his hypercritical mind to whoever fell under his gaze. Many of the letters are occasions for passionate, searing opinions on subjects that include young writers, critics, and famous authors. Hemingway, Bukowski opines, “makes you feel cheated,” while Henry Miller is difficult to read when he gets “into his Star-Trek babbling.” And Bukowski’s opinions about writers are not confined to their literary merits: “I rather guess Lawrence was a breast-man rather than a leg-man.” The letters are a wild ride informed in equal parts by ego, alcoholism, misanthropy, erudition, and the genius, as Bukowski puts it, of one “touched by the grace of the word.”

June 15, 2015

Debritto (Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground) sorts through thousands of pages of unpublished correspondence in university archives to bring together Bukowski's (1920-94) ideas on writing and writers. Arranged chronologically, the excerpts begin with a 1945 reply to a rejection slip from Story magazine and end with a 1993 thank-you note to Joseph Parisi for poems accepted by Poetry. Among Bukowski's most frequent correspondents are the few magazine editors, small press publishers, and writers he grew close to, including Jon Webb, William Corrington, John Martin, and Harold Norse. Bukowski had high praise for Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Robinson Jeffers, Knut Hamsun, Sherwood Anderson, and John Fante; he had little use for the Beats, particularly Allen Ginsberg, whom he believed abandoned the Muse in pursuit of fame. Always a loner, Bukowski eschewed literary schools or movements. He disliked poetry readings, preferring to work in solitude while smoking, drinking beer, and listening to classical music. By turns, the poet's letters are humorous, boastful, self-deprecating, and angry at the world, but they are always entertaining. VERDICT Bukowski fans will welcome this new collection tied to the celebration of what would have been his 95th birthday. One caveat: an index and a "who's who" briefly identifying correspondents would have been useful additions. [See Prepub Alert, 1/12/15.]--William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY

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