Grasp Bukowski. La Vita Ribelle Dello Scrittore Che Ha Raccontato Laltra America Edited By Howard Sounes PDF

thoroughly enjoyed this.
Of course having read a bit of Bukowski before i knew the basic landmark events of his life but the author writes well, is impeccable with his research, and really brings the man to life, good and bad.

I doubt a better biography of the man will ever be written, The book started out rather dull, much of the earlier chapters seemed like much had been sifted from Ham On Rye, But the book was good, I would've liked to have seen more on his parents, At one point near the end the Bukowski returns to Germany for a book event and visits with his fathers brother, This was an intresting moment for Bukowski whose childhood was marred in verbal and physicla abuse at the hand of his father, The book didnt go as indepth as I would expect of a biography like Maher's Kerouac or Boyd's Hurston or Herb Boyd's Baldwin or even the wonderful portraiture of Nell Harper, I expected more.
or the most part, the book seemed to reinforce the popular idea of the man people assumed Bukowski to be, At times, Sounes book tended to be more journalistic than biographical, But the book is a good primer and a good beginning, Bukowski had an amazing life! True laureate of skid row, played by his on rules, lived hard and defied the establishment, There is certainly a lesson here to learned for anyone seriously interested in the life of a bona fide artist, A compelling biography that doesnt gloss over the nasty side of Bukowski the drinking, the violence amp petulance, the misogyny, If you listen to the audio version read by Howard Sounes, be warned that Sounes attempted American accents are very average, most sounding the same with a vague southern drawl.
Other than that, his reading is quite good, Purely as a biographical/bibliographical resource, this is a useful volume to anyone interested in a more critical study of the man behind the legend, During his writing career, quite a lot of myths, distortions and even outright falsehoods some fabricated by himself concerning Bukowski's personal life have been floating around, which this biography seeks to correct.
In that sense it is a solid and informative read, while not exactly groundbreaking, There is significant overlap with Bukowski's own semiautobiographical writings, from which Sounes quotes regularly,

Where I find it lacking is in its presentation, which is rather uninspired, After a couple of chapters, it feels more like a dry recounting of to the average Bukowski readerreasonably wellknown events, but without the literary panache to inject life in those events.
It lacks vitality and texture, Still, it gets the job done, I will most certainly use it for future reference, I can't really remember why I decided to read "Post Office" few years ago but that's exactly when Charles Bukowski came into my life, Some say that his writings are meaningless, because the meaning isn't obvious, It's there deep down in the rivers of alcohol, bar fights, complicated friendships, failed relationships and under the roof of crappy rooms, He wasn't the best person honestly, no one is and had rough life but he tried and did what seemed best to get through, Whether you read his poetry or prose you can feel the realness of this crazy world even if you have nothing in common with him or his characters.


"I was still writing to keep from going crazy, I was still writing, trying to explain this goddamned life to myself, "

Howard Sounes did a wonderful job with this biography, He did a lot of research, interviews with people who knew Bukowski one way or another and most importantly for me at least, he didn't say that you should love or hate Bukowski.
You have to make up your own mind while reading this book and whatever your opinion is after it, you still will be able to understand what and why Charles Bukowski wrote the way he did.
I think Howard Sounes' decision to write in an 'American' way as opposed to his own natural English makes the writing a little dry in places.
Most great Biographies seem to flow but I found myself being a bit underwhelmed by the journalistic quality of the chapters, That being said, once I got used to it, the book improved,

It was interesting to see how 'Established' facts in his life such as 'The ten year drunk' and the story of how his deal with John Martin came about really happened.
There's plenty of source notes and it seems a detailed job,

Bukowski comes across as more obsessive than he does in his own work as well as much meaner, His attitude to women at times was appalling but when he wrote it up he left out key points that made him look tough and true and honest.
The real stories make him look like a real asshole,

A lot of people loved him though and he clearly had two sides as we all do,

The only point I will make is that Sounes writes that Uwrote a song as tribute to Bukowski but he gets the name wrong even though the source notes are cited.
A simple error in a detailed book but its the only fact I know personally, I hope it doesn't reflect on other sources,

A great point for reference and an enjoyable, easy read, A very well documented take on Bukowski, its greatest strength being that it does not glorify the author, but it shows him just the way he probably was: a flawed human being touched by the gods.
Although there are many episodes that reflect badly on "Chinaski" like leading a fellow writer to kill himself, or kicking his partner in a rage, the book is also full of anecdotes that give a glimpse into Bukowski's mesmerising, Luciferlike personality.
I think the main gain from reading Sounes' book is that it makes one dig deeper, especially in regard to Bukowski's poetry, Alas, more poetry was required on the part of the biographer in this book, This biography seemed to me to be more unnecessary than most, considering how much of his own life Bukowski used in his fiction, but I found it not entirely unentertaining.
A former postman and longterm alcoholic who did not become a fulltime writer until middle age, Charles Bukowski was the author of autobiographical novels that captured the low lifeincluding Post

Office, Factotum, and Womenand made him a literary celebrity, with a major Hollywood film Barfly based on his life.
Drawing on new interviews with virtually all of Bukowski's friends, family, and many lovers unprecedented access to his private letters and unpublished writing and commentary from Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, R.
Crumb, and Harry Dean Stanton, Howard Sounes has uncovered the extraordinary true story of the Dirty Old Man of American literature, Illustrated with drawings by Bukowski and over sixty photographs, Charles Bukowski is a must for Bukowski devotees and new readers alike, As the Los Angeles Times noted, "Bukowski is one of those writers people remember more for the legend than for the work, but, as Howard Sounes shows in this exhaustively researched biography, it wasn't the whole story, " I really enjoyed this, but at least half of it you would already know if you have read Bukowski, The last third was really great because I knew next to nothing about his later life, The stories of 'Hank' hanging out with celebrities such as Sean Penn, Madonna and Harry Dean Stanton, The gift of a computer and the increasing productivity in his later years is priceless,

I suppose part of the allure of Bukowski is the myth, so why dispel the myth Does it cheapen his work It could be argued it does.


This is reportedly the definitive biography, I feel like it was rather short and didn't bring as much to the table as I would have liked but I did enjoy it.
I would say check out "Ham On Rye" by Bukowski himself if you haven't already, it is basically a biography of his earlier years,

This did rekindle my interest in the work, made me want to check out some poetry collections I haven't read and reread some of the novels.
But, I feel like there is potentially a better Bukowski bio still waiting to be written,./Writers and Poets, in particular, evince quite a bit about themselves through their words, Great Biographers like Howard Sounes distinguish the writer's personal life behind their words they help us round out their complex life puzzle and personal history, Howard Sounes achieves this through credible sources and interviews with the women who knew Bukowski and his personal correspondence with: John Martin, Ferlinghetti, etc, IRS and FBI records.

Sounes clarifies and confirms the Bukowski we thought we knew: Sensitive, Intractable. Outspoken and of course, inebriated and anilalted, but passionately writing between swings and swigs,

He lived a hard life and fought back hard,

It is amazing he lived as long as he did,

Fante was his God and Ask the Dust sent him on his journey and galvanized his pen,
Interesting and tragic story included on Fante on his deathbed and at the end of his road when Bukoswki finally meets him,

When Hollywood came knocking and beat a path to his door, Bukowski got to realize his life on screen, He became his own screenself/selfcritique, For instance, he liked Mickey O'Rourke in Barfly, but disliked Tales of Ordinary Madnessand Ben Gazarra's interpretation of him, Sean Penn's relationship was honest and Bukowski liked him, . . Madonna did not like her at all whom Penn was married to at the time,

I have been reading Bukowski for years, but as a poetry publisher myself, Charles Bukowski's publishing history and dealings with various publishers was of particular interest to me let's not forget the Webbs, Jon and Gypsy Lou and John Martin who set Bukowski on his way and the infamous Black Sparrow years.
Without Martin's vision and entrepreneurial efforts Bukowski might not have not have hit critical mass, He referred to Bukowski as "the Walt Whitman of our day, " post office: A Novel was his breakthrough book atyears old, Pulp his last. Europe loved him. The rest is history. If you are a fan examining Bukowski's life is a little difficult, He was not what you could call a good guy there was a lot about him that is less than admirable, Its easy for his critics to take a reductive view of him and his works, the temptation for his admirers is to perhaps give him a bit of a whitewash.
However, what this book does is present an unsentimental account of Bukowskis life certainly it does not shy away from the many less flattering episodes yet in a way which shows the authors clear love of his subject and Bukowskis greatness despite, or rather because of all this.
If you have read much Bukowski then you basically know his life story already, However, this book establishes a more clear chronology for iBukowskis life and does a lot to separate fact from fiction, So If you do like Bukowski if you dont whats wrong with you then give this a go,



Looking in the expansive notes you see that this is a thoroughly researched book, its also a mine of intriguing facts, From a footnote in the back I learned that there is a short French film based on Bukowskis work directed by Eric Cantona, It seems an unlikely pairing but there you go, It seems that all along it was Bukowskis influence, specifically his refutation of mainstream society and received values, that made Cantona wear his shirt collars up all the time!

.