Notes of a Dirty Old Man
Product ID: 1210670
Buy anything from 5,000+ international stores. One checkout price. No surprise fees. Join 2M+ shoppers on Desertcart.
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Denmark.
A compilation of Charles Bukowski's underground articles from his column "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" appears here in book form. Bukowski's reasoning for self-describing himself as a 'dirty old man' rings true in this book. "People come to my door—too many of them really—and knock to tell me Notes of a Dirty Old Man turns them on. A bum off the road brings in a gypsy and his wife and we talk . . . . drink half the night. A long distance operator from Newburgh, N.Y. sends me money. She wants me to give up drinking beer and to eat well. I hear from a madman who calls himself 'King Arthur' and lives on Vine Street in Hollywood and wants to help me write my column. A doctor comes to my door: 'I read your column and think I can help you. I used to be a psychiatrist.' I send him away . . ." "Bukowski writes like a latter-day Celine, a wise fool talking straight from the gut about the futility and beauty of life . . ." — Publishers Weekly "These disjointed stories gives us a glimpse into the brilliant and highly disturbed mind of a man who will drink anything, hump anything and say anything without the slightest tinge of embarassment, shame or remorse. It's actually pretty hard not to like the guy after reading a few of these semi-ranting short stories." —Greg Davidson, curiculummag.com Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany on August 16, 1920, the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose, including Pulp (Black Sparrow, 1994), Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters 1960-1970 (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992). Other Bukowski books published by City Lights Publishers include More Notes of a Dirty Old Man , The Most Beautiful Woman in Town , Tales of Ordinary Madness , Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook , and Absence of the Hero. He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9, 1994. Review: Living it straight up - This is the one that made me think Bukowski wasn't just another pretentious scruffy looking poet-writer. And the impression it made on me was inestimable. It was the same reaction I had when I read those other `notes' from that other 'sky, the man himself, Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was a shock to know that there were other people in the world who had thoughts like mine... that life was mixed, nothing was cut and dried, muddled, beauty was touched with horror, love was tainted with hate and other passions that would sometimes lead to actual murder and that it wasn't that bull shown in the movies, society wasn't as rational and good as I was told, that there was always something awful under the surface of things, that God could be dead, that I was full of contradictions and instincts which had the power to overtake me -and perhaps the whole of humanity was afflicted with the same inconsistent nature, that there seem to be no meaning to life (with or without religion) and the universe was a blind absurdity, everything shocked me, and on and on... but in the center of all this was the fact that I was living, that I had the ability to feel and the power to say no. The world seen through Bukowski's eyes is a terrible and beautiful place at the same time. The whores, the drinking binges, the alley fights and the insanity of the man of the streets is a life lived at its most direct and extreme. It is life uncluttered by the niceties and civilities of the numbed life most of us, under the confines of comfy blankets, PC's, cell phones, the latest fashions, million channel TV, etc., lead. It is a life I myself experienced for twenty five years, and at times it is still a preferable life to me than the desensitizing one I may live today. So in a sense Bukowski `celebrates' life and not wholly -wholly- leaves us a portrait of self destruction and nihilism. This is a POSSIBLE life, he seems to say to me, this is a life I've lived and lived it the way I wanted -at least the way I saw fit for a man in my position: ugly, poor, abused, disenfranchised. And I agree. Review: The 13th Step... - Still reading his works and words a decade or so past. Whiskey tastes the same but his drunken rhetoric births new meaning. Meanings explode in your mind. I must have drunk to much missing such obvious delusions. Well, it's 10am, off to the bar. Wow, look at those legs will ya! Hey, buy me a drink beautiful? Cb. a.k.a. Henry
| Best Sellers Rank | #97,265 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #818 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction #1,046 in Short Stories (Books) #4,521 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 784 Reviews |
A**L
Living it straight up
This is the one that made me think Bukowski wasn't just another pretentious scruffy looking poet-writer. And the impression it made on me was inestimable. It was the same reaction I had when I read those other `notes' from that other 'sky, the man himself, Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was a shock to know that there were other people in the world who had thoughts like mine... that life was mixed, nothing was cut and dried, muddled, beauty was touched with horror, love was tainted with hate and other passions that would sometimes lead to actual murder and that it wasn't that bull shown in the movies, society wasn't as rational and good as I was told, that there was always something awful under the surface of things, that God could be dead, that I was full of contradictions and instincts which had the power to overtake me -and perhaps the whole of humanity was afflicted with the same inconsistent nature, that there seem to be no meaning to life (with or without religion) and the universe was a blind absurdity, everything shocked me, and on and on... but in the center of all this was the fact that I was living, that I had the ability to feel and the power to say no. The world seen through Bukowski's eyes is a terrible and beautiful place at the same time. The whores, the drinking binges, the alley fights and the insanity of the man of the streets is a life lived at its most direct and extreme. It is life uncluttered by the niceties and civilities of the numbed life most of us, under the confines of comfy blankets, PC's, cell phones, the latest fashions, million channel TV, etc., lead. It is a life I myself experienced for twenty five years, and at times it is still a preferable life to me than the desensitizing one I may live today. So in a sense Bukowski `celebrates' life and not wholly -wholly- leaves us a portrait of self destruction and nihilism. This is a POSSIBLE life, he seems to say to me, this is a life I've lived and lived it the way I wanted -at least the way I saw fit for a man in my position: ugly, poor, abused, disenfranchised. And I agree.
A**R
The 13th Step...
Still reading his works and words a decade or so past. Whiskey tastes the same but his drunken rhetoric births new meaning. Meanings explode in your mind. I must have drunk to much missing such obvious delusions. Well, it's 10am, off to the bar. Wow, look at those legs will ya! Hey, buy me a drink beautiful? Cb. a.k.a. Henry
C**A
Raw. Brutally honest. Doesn't give a sh*t
I loved these stories. They were raw, unedited, and completely free. The author wrote whatever he wanted at the moment, and the snippets from his life (true or not) showed a man who refused to conform to society or what others expected of him. I loved the freedom of it. I loved the honesty and rawness of it. For a misanthrope like me, this collection made me glad that there could be one human who truly did and felt and wrote only what was real and right for him and him alone at the moment. Loved it.
C**M
My first Bukowski read
New to this writer, and he did not disappoint. I would be lying if I said I understood all of it, but even that which was confusing or hard to follow was most of the time still entertaining. I was shocked a few times through the course of this book, but I suppose that is common with much of his material. Even though I was not of the era of which he writes in and about, I still got a good idea of the picture of which he painted with his words. Amusing, disgusting, saddening, mentally stimulating and erotically (albeit raunchy) exciting are all apt descriptions of this book, which I would recommend to anyone unfamiliar with his work.
P**O
How can you go wrong?
One of the best from Bukowski. There is not much I can say here that hasn't been said about Bukowski already, so I will just say that if you are a fan of his short story work, this is one to check out. It's a collection of his newspaper articles that ran in San Francisco free papers, under the article title of "Notes of a Dirty Old man", hence the name of the book. If you've been curious about the man's writing, this book, "Post Office", and "Hollywood" are great places to start.
S**N
I lent this book to a friend
A friend of mine is an avid reader, so I lent her Notes of a Dirty Old Man. She got 30 pages into it and gave it back. She called Buk morose, confusing, disjointed and overindulgent. She called the book depressing and pointless. Some of her comments included: 'How do you accidentally rent a room in a whore house?', 'He's always drunk', 'A baseball ball player with wings?', 'When you lent me this book, you said it was funny, well, it wasn't, it was disturbing'. I guess Bukowski isn't for everyone.
R**N
Impossible not to fall in love with the despicable dirty old man Burkowski.
Raw in your face descriptive writing that takes you back to a different era and a social strata that if you are a reader you are probably not familiar with. Impossible not to fall in love with the despicable dirty old man Burkowski. Great irreverent writing.
A**R
Good read.
My introduction to Bukowski. He reminds me of the Beat Poets. He has plenty of life experience and he can show it off in his dark sense of humor. Although he could lighten up on his use of "dirty" words cause they no longer schock as they used to. Though the period in which he wrote was not as "enlightened" unfortunately as today.
M**.
Muy buen libro!
Bukowski es lo mejor y el libro está a buen precio.
J**N
Good introduction to his work.
If you are already a fan of Bukowski, you won't be disappointed! If you don't know him yet, this is the perfect introduction to his work.
P**S
great book
I read most of his books in my late teens early 20ies and bought this for a friend's 30th birthday,i could not resist the temptation and re read it before wrapping it away.it was good to remember how graphic,abrupt and realistic to the point of disgust his books were. a great read by one of the best dirty old men around.
G**V
5-start for content / 1 for the book material quality
It is a classic Bukowski. Something you would like to read in peace with a drink
F**O
To be read
Suggested, Old Hank never miss one!
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
2 months ago