Absence of the Hero: 1946-1992 (Uncollected Stories and Essays 2)

Everyone’s favorite Dirty Old Man returns with a new volume of uncollected work. Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so prolific that many significant pieces never found their way into his books. Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls "Playing and Being the Pet." Among the book's highlights are tales of his infamous public readings ("The Big Dope Reading," "I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go to Bed with Girls"); a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man , including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods ("Bukowski Takes a Trip"). Yet the book also showcases the other Bukowski—an astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own "Manifesto" to his account of poetry in Los Angeles ("A Foreword to These Poets") to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior. Our second volume of his uncollected prose, Absence of the Hero is a major addition to the Bukowski canon, essential for fans, yet suitable for new readers as an introduction to the wide range of his work. "He loads his head full of coal and diamonds shoot out of his finger tips. What a trick. The mole genius has left us with another digest. It's a full house—read 'em and weep."— Tom Waits "This second volume of Bukowski's uncollected stories and essays offers all that Bukowski is known for—wry obscenity, smutty wisdom, seeming ramblings whose hidden smarts catch you unaware—but in addition there are moments here in which he takes off the mask and strips away the bravado to show himself at his most vulnerable and human. A must for Bukowski aficionados."— Brian Evenson , author of Last Days and The Open Curtain "Like a brass-rail Existentialist or a skid-row Transcendentalist, [Bukowski] is candid, unblinking, leaving it to his readers to cast their own judgment about his mishaps, his drinking, his sexual appetite or his own pessimism. He is Ralph Waldo Emerson as a Dirty Old Man, not lounging in the grape-arbor of Concord, Massachusetts, but bent-over a table in an L.A. flophouse scribbling in pencil to the strains of Sibelius."— Paul Maher Jr. , Phawker "[Bukowski] could be generous and mean-spirited, heroic and defensive, spot-on and slanted, but he became the world-class writer he had set out to be; he has joined the permanent anti-canon or shadow-canon whose denizens had shown him the way. Today the frequent allusions to him in both popular and mainstream culture tend more to respect than mockery. If scholarship has lagged, this book would indicate that this situation is changing."— Gerald Locklin , Resources for American Literary Study "The pieces range over nearly half a century, and include a story about a baseball player seized by a sudden bout of existential paralysis, along with early, graphically sexual (and masterfully comic) stories published in such smut mags as Candid Press."— Penthouse Everyone's favorite Dirty Old Man returns with a new volume of uncollected work. Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so prolific that many significant pieces never found their way into his books. Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls "Playing and Being the Pet." Among the book's highlights are tales of his infamous public readings ("The Big Dope Reading," "I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go to Bed with Girls"); a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods ("Bukowski Takes a Trip"). Yet the book also showcases the other Bukowski—an astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own "Manifesto" to his account of poetry in Los Angeles ("A Foreword to These Poets") to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior. Our second volume of his uncollected prose, Absence of the Hero is a major addition to the Bukowski canon, essential for fans, yet suitable for new readers as an introduction to the wide range of his work. "He loads his head full of coal and diamonds shoot out of his finger tips. What a trick. The mole genius has left us with another digest. It's a full house—read 'em and weep."— Tom Waits "This second volume of Bukowski's uncollected stories and essays offers all that Bukowski is known for—wry obscenity, smutty wisdom, seeming ramblings whose hidden smarts catch you unaware—but in addition there are moments here in which he takes off the mask and strips away the bravado to show himself at his most vulnerable and human. A must for Bukowski aficionados."— Brian Evenson , author of Last Days and The Open Curtain "Like a brass-rail Existentialist or a skid-row Transcendentalist, [Bukowski] is candid, unblinking, leaving it to his readers to cast their own judgment about his mishaps, his drinking, his sexual appetite or his own pessimism. He is Ralph Waldo Emerson as a Dirty Old Man, not lounging in the grape-arbor of Concord, Massachusetts, but bent-over a table in an L.A. flophouse scribbling in pencil to the strains of Sibelius."— Paul Maher Jr. , Phawker "[Bukowski] could be generous and mean-spirited, heroic and defensive, spot-on and slanted, but he became the world-class writer he had set out to be; he has joined the permanent anti-canon or shadow-canon whose denizens had shown him the way. Today the frequent allusions to him in both popular and mainstream culture tend more to respect than mockery. If scholarship has lagged, this book would indicate that this situation is changing."— Gerald Locklin , Resources for American Literary Study "The pieces range over nearly half a century, and include a story about a baseball player seized by a sudden bout of existential paralysis, along with early, graphically sexual (and masterfully comic) stories published in such smut mags as Candid Press."— Penthouse The reason behind reason (1946) Love, love, love (1946-47) Cacoethes scribendi (1947) The rapist's story (1957) 80 airplanes don't put you in the clear (1957) Manifesto (1960) Peace, baby is hard sell (1962) Examining my peers (1964) If I could only be asleep (1964) The old pro (1966) Ginsberg/Zukofsky review (1967) Buk on Buk (self-review of notes of Dirty old man) (1967) Notes of Dirty old man: Leroi Jones (1967) The absence of the hero (1969) Christ with barbecue sauce (unpublished) (circa 1970) Ah, liberation, liberty, lillies on the moon! (unpublished) (1970) The cat in the closet (1970) Notes of Dirty old man "sexual conquests generally happen" (1970) Sound and passion (1971) I just write poetry so I can go to bed with girls (1971) The house of horrors (unpublished) (1971) Untitled essay on Levy (1971) Henry Miller lives in Pacific Palisades (1972) A foreword to these poems [la poets anthology] (1972) The outsider: a tribute to Jon Webb (1972) Vern's wife (1972) Notes of Dirty old man: "sitting with a bottle at this typewriter" (1972) He beats his women (1973) Notes of Dirty old man: "he phones from a bar" (1973) Notes of Dirty old man: "B takes a trip" (1973) Notes of Dirty old man: "to find the proper place to write" (1974) Notes of Dirty old man: "many of the irritable things about life" (1975) Notes of Dirty old man: "down around sunset..." (1975) The big dope reading (1977) East Hollywood: the new Paris (1981) The gambler (1983) Fly the friendly skies (1984) Ladies man of East Hollywood (1985) The bully (unpublished) (1986) The invader (unpublished) (1986) Playing and being the poet (1992). "Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so prolific that many significant pieces never found their way into his books. Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls 'Playing and Being the Poet.' Among the book's highlights are tales of his infamous public readings; a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods ('Bukowski Takes a Trip'). Yet the book also showcases the other Bukowski--an astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own 'Manifesto' to his account of poetry in Los Angeles to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior."--Publisher's description One of the most irreverent figures of the twentieth-century literature, Charles Bukowski was an extremely prolific author; after publishing over 50 books, many significant stories and essays remain uncollected or unpublished. Absence of the Hero is an anthology of this scattered body of work, most of it unseen in decades. Beginning with his early magazine fiction from the late 1940s, Absence of the Hero takes the reader on a countercultural journey through the literary battles of the '50s, the psychedelic upheaval of the '60s, the narcissistic pleasures of the '70s, and the Reaganite dystopia of the '80s. Along the way Bukowski furnishes tales of his infamous public readings, reviews of his own work, hilarious installments of his newspaper column, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," and a number of newly discovered, previously unpublished gems. Yet the book also demonstrates the other Bukowskian astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own "Manifesto" to his idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg , Robert Creely , LeRoi Jones and Louis Zukofsky , Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath his gruff exterior. The reason behind reason Love, love, love Cacoethes scribendi The rapist's story 80 airplanes don't put you in the clear Manifesto Peace, baby is hard sell Examining my peers If I could only be asleep The old pro Review of Ginsberg/Zukofsky Bukowski on Bukowski Notes of A dirty old man The absence of the hero Christ with barbecue sauce Ah, liberation, liberty, lillies on the moon! The cat in the closet Sound and passion I just write poetry so I can go to bed with girls The house of horrors Untitled essay on D.A. Levy Henry Miller lives in Pacific Palisades and I live on skid row, still writing about sex A foreword to these poems The outsider Vern's wife He beats his women Notes of Dirty old man : "notes of A dirty old driver of a light blue 1967 Volkswagen TRV 491" The big dope reading The gambler The ladies man of East Hollywood The bully The invader Playing and being the poet.