Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
ECCO / HarperCollins (1993), Edition: 1st, 400 pages
Description
The best of Bukowski's novels, stories, and poems, this collection reads like an autobiography, relating the extraordinary story of his life and offering a sometimes harrowing, invariably exhilarating reading experience. A must for this counterculture idol's legion of fans.
Media reviews
Alors oui c'est du Bukowski, ça vous prend aux tripes, ça vous donne un coup de poing à l'estomac. La fond est là, normal, ce sont tous ces meilleurs écrits (poèmes, nouvelles, extraits de roman). Pour la forme, l'éditeur a choisit de les trier par de façon chronologique. Ainsi c'est une
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sorte d'autobiographie stylisée si on peut dire, pourquoi pas? C'est passionnant de voir l'image que se faisait Bukowski de sa vie. Mais le reproche que l'on peut faire, c'est qu'on ne voit pas le travail d'année en année fait sur son écriture. Un travail sur son écriture afin d'avoir un style de plus en plus épuré de "maniérisme", pour voir cette évolution il faut lire tous ses ouvrages (je ne saurais que vous le recommandez vivement). Quant à sa vie, quiconque a lu du Bukowski se rend compte qu'il était avant tout un fanfaron, ainsi si vous désirez vraiment avoir une idée de sa vie je vous conseil l'excellente biographie : Charles Bukowski : Une vie de fou de Howard Sounes qui satisfera tout fan de Buk. Donc un livre qui n'a d'intérêt que pour les fans du vieux Hank ou au contraire pour ceux qui souhaite le survoler afin de voir ce qu'il a dans le ventre. Mais dans tous les cas, un livre indispensable, parce que, c'est du Bukowski et que Bukowski bah c'est un génie (Avec les damnés) Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member DouglasMoore77
This book is a great way to start off enjoying Bukowski. It takes his whole body of work and puts highlights in chronological order from childhood to old age. Bukowskis' writing goes straight to the bone and it has a timeless quality that keeps it relevant. My personal favorite sections involved
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his harrowing childhood which was scarred by the worse form of acne, his aimless wanderings as a teenager, his observations as a postal worker, and the later transformation from skid-row poet to a semi-respectable man of letters with lots of women, poetry readings, movies, and the trappings of fame. I also love the fact that he is an unapologetic alcoholic who seems to imbibe dangerous quantities of wine and booze while at the same time producing huge volumes of incredible prose and poetry. A true original. Show Less
LibraryThing member DavenportsDream
While someone is busy writing up the 500th review of Harry Potter and The Sorceror Stone let me hip you to the second review of this chronological anthology of an American treasure...Run With the Hunted. Bukowski/Chinaski that alcoholic fist-fighting poet-mad genius had a way with words, and the
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ladies, that has been matched by very few writers. This work breaks it all down from childhood to septuagenarian stews. You get the short blurbs from great books like Post Office and Hollywood while working in some fantastic poems that give you as full a picture as possible of the man/myth. If your annoying buddy has been harping on the need for you to check out Bukowski there can be no better place to start an appreciation of his work. Everyone will be sure to find something they like and dislike about Bukowski within these pages...and isn't that the point of great writing? Show Less
LibraryThing member datrappert
You must read this.
Bukowski is one of those writers I have heard about but never read. His work is described as gritty, realistic, and alcohol-driven. All that is true, but there is so much more here. This collection combines parts of his novels, poems, and other writings to form what is basically
The prose is only part of the book, however. As good as it is, the poetry portions of the book are even better. Bukowski makes profound statements about life, death, art, politics, and whatever else is on his mind in a style that starts out very much like his prose before becoming more terse and more effective as the book goes on. I highlighted so many passages on my Kindle that I can't begin to quote them all. I will leave you to make the discoveries yourself.
There are massive amounts of alcohol consumed in this book--enough to outdo even the most alcoholic noir detective. There are infidelities, betrayals, pain, suicidal thoughts--you name it, but the book is never depressing, because Bukowski is a true survivor. As the book proceeds, he becomes wiser and even more perceptive about those around him. I enjoyed this book as much as anything I have ever read. I wish I could give it more than five stars.
Lastly, I have to say that this ebook, purchased from Amazon for a ridiculously low price, had the most typos of any etext I have ever read. It was obviously scanned in using OCR and no one every checked it, which is unbelievable. After a while I gave up reporting the errors to Amazon. I hope somebody will fix them. None of them is likely to confuse an attentive reader, but when "die" is turned into "the" or something else, it can be confusing.
Bukowski is one of those writers I have heard about but never read. His work is described as gritty, realistic, and alcohol-driven. All that is true, but there is so much more here. This collection combines parts of his novels, poems, and other writings to form what is basically
Show More
an autobiography. Since much of Bukowski's fiction concerned a writer who was a thinly veiled version of himself, the concept works very well. The prose portions here are incredibly well written, providing an utterly real picture of America from the late 1920s to the early 1990s (Bukowski died in 1994). He tells of his dysfunctional family, especially his father, his struggle with terrible skin problems, his happy discovery of alcohol, his life in Los Angeles, his travels to New Orleans and other places, and his many many relationships with women. There isn't a dull moment. At times, his story reminded me of some of Charles Willeford's works, particularly PICK UP, which share the same lowlife settings. But Bukowski goes far beyond Willeford's perennial irony to provide a much more realistic picture of his (or his character's) ups and downs.The prose is only part of the book, however. As good as it is, the poetry portions of the book are even better. Bukowski makes profound statements about life, death, art, politics, and whatever else is on his mind in a style that starts out very much like his prose before becoming more terse and more effective as the book goes on. I highlighted so many passages on my Kindle that I can't begin to quote them all. I will leave you to make the discoveries yourself.
There are massive amounts of alcohol consumed in this book--enough to outdo even the most alcoholic noir detective. There are infidelities, betrayals, pain, suicidal thoughts--you name it, but the book is never depressing, because Bukowski is a true survivor. As the book proceeds, he becomes wiser and even more perceptive about those around him. I enjoyed this book as much as anything I have ever read. I wish I could give it more than five stars.
Lastly, I have to say that this ebook, purchased from Amazon for a ridiculously low price, had the most typos of any etext I have ever read. It was obviously scanned in using OCR and no one every checked it, which is unbelievable. After a while I gave up reporting the errors to Amazon. I hope somebody will fix them. None of them is likely to confuse an attentive reader, but when "die" is turned into "the" or something else, it can be confusing.
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LibraryThing member cmayes
A little bit of Bukowski goes a long way. The first few stories and poems (which I read as prose; I'm not terribly fond of poetry) were engrossing, but as the same themes cropped up repeatedly in each piece, I'll admit that my interest flagged.
Aside from the repetitive themes, I was quite happy
While I am happy to have read the book, I am in no hurry to seek out more of Mr. Bukowski's writing. Tales of writing, boozing, and womanizing get pretty tired pretty quickly.
Aside from the repetitive themes, I was quite happy
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with the editing of this anthology. The story choices were quite good: I was able to sample Bukowski's work across the decades, but each story flowed into the next without the choppiness one might expect from such a broad range of work.While I am happy to have read the book, I am in no hurry to seek out more of Mr. Bukowski's writing. Tales of writing, boozing, and womanizing get pretty tired pretty quickly.
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LibraryThing member AlbertHolmes
An anthology of Bukowski's work, leaning heavy on prose, but with plenty of poetry thrown in. Laid out in chronological order of the life events that inspired the pieces, this book functions of something of an autobiography.
If you're familiar with the patron saint of gutters and verse, there's
If you're familiar with the patron saint of gutters and verse, there's
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really little more to say about this volume Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0060169117 / 9780060169114