Tag: Charles Bukowski
Henry Chinaski and the Women
Many years ago I read a novel titled Postoffice by a controversial L. A. author named Charles Bukowski. I remember reading him in a column in one of the L. A. underground newspapers as The Dirty Old Man but I left Southern California in the late ’60s (one reason, to escape Ronald Reagan and also to go to graduate school in St. Louis) and the L. A. underground became a memory.
When I did get back to reading Bukowski I had become more sophisticated and less rebellious and the dirty old man was more of a fond memory than an active influence in my literary life. But I still read the old reprobate, a novel here, a poem there and especially since his death I have become quite fond of Bukowski’s writing. His subjects are generally grim but the background of a Los Angeles I was quite familiar, adding just the right amount of immediacy and charm. Now there’s a strange one: Charles Bukowski and the word charm in the same sentence.
Continue reading “Henry Chinaski and the Women”XFX: Experimental Reading for the Fourth Quarter
This last quarter of 2014 we will read a novel that begins a very interesting trilogy, a strange and often disturbing book (which has pictures to support the text), a themed collection of short stories by an often overlooked writer, and a dash of Bizarro from the master.
That’s four books but none are too long or difficult. Besides, think of sitting alone in the evening waiting for Santa to arrive and casually reading about a bizarre Hungry Bug (what was that noise in the corner behind the electric fireplace?).
So, read all four; read one or two; or read other experiment fiction that you might be planning to read. Note also that I avoided anything obvious for the holidays, but there is always Sausagey Santa if you’re so inclined. Carlton Mellick III and the Bizarro crowd have some strange alternatives to quench your Christmas cheer.
Continue reading “XFX: Experimental Reading for the Fourth Quarter”
A Celebration of Reading 