13/12/2006 - Personal documents - 'Selected Letters' by Charles Bukowski
'You can piss on death and forget it until it finds you. Most people do this. That is why they cry at funerals.'
Charles Bukowski in a letter to John William Corrington, December 3, 1961
Charles Bukowski: Selected Letters Volume 1, 1958-1965. This edition published by Virgin Books, 2004.
Last week I spent a few days in Melbourne, where I discovered Horton Books at 100 Smith Street, Collingwood. Great book store! The four volumes Selected Letters by American poet and short story writer Charles Bukowski had just arrived. I like Bukowski, but I have never been a really dedicated fan. That may change now that I have these four volumes Selected Letters. I read one paragraph, decided to buy two volumes, read some more and decided to buy the other two volumes as well. Practically every letter has some great quotes. Bukowski is honest, cinical in the right sense of the word, down to earth and often very funny. What a delight to read this!
|
