> I thought "Women" was one of the most repulsive books
> I have ever read. ('Course I was only 19 when I read
> it.) I really don't understand why Bukowski is so
> popular. It's so self-involved, posturing and whiny.
The aforementioned fine poet C. D. Wright is said to be the woman on whom the woman in Arkansas from that book is based, and it's said to be an accurate portrayal.
This is all second-hand, 'cause that's a Bukowski I haven't read and a judgment I've heard from people who might not be entirely disinterested in dissing her. While I'm acquainted with Carolyn (she and Forrest Gander named their son Brecht--ain't that great?), I don't know her well enough to judge.
I like her, and can say with conviction that she's a fine poet and a stand-up literary publisher.
I think people respond to Bukowski as they do because he's a genuine autodidact who emerged from a working class job of many years (see his novel _Post Office_) and because he speaks in a recognizable voice. I've met many a Bukowski minus the writing talent. If he can do it, well, who can't at least try? It's (gad) inspiring.)
I don't care much for his prose, but his poetry often blows me away. Sometimes he offends me--so do Faulkner and Welty and O'Connor. I try to take the approach advocated by Alice Walker as interpreted by The Band: "Take what you need and leave the rest."
If you get a chance, check out Brother Wayne Kramer's elegy to Bukowski--I think it's on _The Hard Stuff_, as a hidden track on the original issue and exposed on the re-issue. Compare it to Kramer's "Incident on Long Island" on that same record and see if you see what I mean. (The re-issue of _Citizen Wayne_ has "Checks from Chairman Mao"--heh.)
Oh, and while I'm recommending records, don't miss The Drive-By Truckers' _Southern Rock Opera_--it's been out for a while, and it's just plain brilliant.
All the best,
John A