Absence of the Hero [Paperback]

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books.Absence of the Herocontains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays.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 Heroreveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior.

Our second volume of his uncollected prose,Absence of the Herois 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 yoló+