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 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. ( )

Bukowski is famous, particularly amongst those who've never read him, for shockingly foul writing. But, reading this collection exhibits that his writing is quite wonderful. Certainly, he is not kind to women. And, yes, his subject matter focuses on the pickled underbelly of society. But the short declarative writing is reminiscent of Hemingway, and the poetry collected here is a revelation. There's a deep sadness overlaying all of the stories and poetry, a function of Bukowski's self-hatred. There's also many passages exhibiting Bukowski's keen eye for human nature and the uncanny world around him. He's not so bitter as to miss the beauty of a cat strolling under a car with a bird in its mouth, and enough of a poet to equate it with the end of summer. Sure, there are some stomach-turning passages along the way, but Bukowski uses all the words, and I'm glad for it.

4 bones!!!!
Recommended!!!! ( )

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 really little more to say about this volume ( )

My introduction to Bukowski that soon became an obsession. I found this book in the university library when I was a dishwasher and had a staff library card. I still remember sitting outside of my battered duplex reading this in the fading afternoon sunlight, beer in hand. There are plenty of Bukowski zealots out there and certainly he's generated slews of crappy copycat writing, but to me he was an indicator writer--one that sent me down other reading paths that I've never looked back from. So, for that he will always remain important. ( )

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 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 has 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 ever 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. ( )