Writing with humor, wit, sarcasm and much honesty, Charles Bukowski has been wildly regarded as one of the great American prose writers. Throughout his career, Bukowski’s work — mainly consisting of essays, poetry and short stories — was published in several literary journals, underground publications and porn magazines; he also published many novels.
Bukowski was also a drunk, a gambler, a fan of working women, anti-war before it was cool to be anti-war, despised work and a supporter for those stricken with poverty, as so many of his writings suggest. He’s eccentric, outrageous, and not afraid to go against the grain of what society deems as “appropriate” or “controversial.”
“Portions From A Wine-Stained Notebook” is a collection of many short stories and essays that remained unpublished and uncollected for many years, as well as some of his more renowned and early works.
Beginning with an introduction written by EMU’s own David Calonne, “Portions” informs both new and old Bukowski fans what truly made him great and offers the slightest insight to his personal and not-so-private private life. We learn that Bukowski was abused by his father, targeted by the FBI and where much of his inspiration came from.
For long-time Bukowski fans, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the amount of rare material this book has to offer. For those just discovering Bukowski, to borrow a quote by Jerry Stahl, as printed on the back cover, “Those new to his work will have the good fortune of discovering a writer who could break your heart, make you howl, and slap you off your bar-stool in a single sentence.”
Bukowski’s work is a little wordy and difficult to understand at times, but that’s his style; he wrote raw and true to his thoughts and experiences.
Closing out with just over 250 pages, this is a work that be easily read in a few hours or just one story at a time.
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