Reach for the Sun, Volume 3

July 1, 1999
These letters cover the final years of Bukowski's life, a bittersweet period that brought fame and prosperity along with tuberculosis and leukemia. Bukowski's correspondents, mostly publishers, editors, and fellow poets, include John Martin, William Packard, and Gerald Locklin. His letters to them rant against his critics, praise early influences like C line and John Fante, and harp on his favorite subjects: wine, women, and the racetrack. Above all, however, they reveal a man dedicated to his craft. Bukowski lived to write, and he is quick to express his gratitude for the "three miracles in [his] life: Loujon Press, The Black Sparrow Press, and The New York Quarterly"--outlets for his work that helped transform Bukowski from a barfly to an internationally celebrated author. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.--William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.