This collection of 37 short stories mainly focus on: Booze. Sex. Horse Racing. And those of you who’ve read Bukowski before won’t be surprised.
Bukowski writes about ‘the low life’ with absolute perfection. The subject matter and simple style may seem easy to replicate, but no one pulls it off quite like ‘The Buk!”
Like any collection of a writer’s work; you’ll love some and loath others. I didn’t loath any in this collection, but some passed through me with a certain ambivalence.
The thing with Bukowski is that he talks honestly about everyday situations. If a story begins with a man walking into a bar; the ending will usually be him exiting the bar.
It’s that simple. The End.
I imagine that at times the abruptness of the ending may frustrate the reader, but I kinda like it. For example the story, A Favor for Don ends:
“I put the phone back in its cradle and closed my eyes. It was only 10:45 a.m. and I always slept until noon. Life’s as kind as you let it be. (p. 193)
Likewise, Its a Dirty World finishes with the narrator saying:
“Then they stood and sat and sat and stood waiting for Gloria to get back with the cold beer.” (p. 55)
Simple and ordinary. The excellent thing about most of the stories is that they are usually no more than 5 pages. The best way to digest them, is by spreading them out, rather than binge reading the collection. Why? Many are based around a simular subject which can get rather tedious – even for a hardcore Bukowski lover.
In opposition to the ordinary endings, there are some captivating openings. In the story, Not Quite Bernadette the narrator opens with:
“I wrapped the towel around my cock and phoned the Doctor’s office” (p.87)
Like the above there are many moments that will made you laugh and some that will shock you to your very core.
The protagonist in The Hangover, awakes to a phone call from his friend about what happened at the previous nights party. He can’t remember what happened at the party and shocked he hangs up the phone and tells his wife:
“Bonnie claims I took JeanJean and Cathy in the closet and took their panties and sniffed their peepees” (P.94)
When you consider that Bonnie is a friend and JeanJean and Cathy are her young daughters, then it’s pretty shocking. Bonnie decides not to involve the police and it ends with her saying:
“Why do you drink so much?”, The protagonist replies: “Hell, I don’t know. I guess, mostly, I just get bored.” (p. 97)
The unlikely ending shows the reader that it is just a story, albeit a pretty sick one.
Section that stayed
“Kevin sat down to crap. Crapping seemed so safe, so warm… Kevin finished, wiped, flushed, washed his hands like a civilized man and walked into the kitchen.” (Not Quite Bernadette, p.94)
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