Customer Reviews

Notes of a Dirty Old Man

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once you start reading Bukowski, you will not want to read anything else, ever. Buk is clearly the best storyteller of the 20th century.

I would have to say that pretty much everything Bukowski has written is worth a look. How many other writers can you say that about?

NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN often describes everyday slices of life in the poopshoot of society. Next to THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, this is probably one of the best books about the "down-and-out artist's life" I bought off Amazon.

More deliberately raw than THE LOSERS' CLUB and much less innocent -- NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN tells it like it is (with a healthy dose of hilarity): shacking and sacking street whóres; losing job after job due to his preference for the bottle to the alarm clock; hanging out and fighting with the street creatures he came across; waking up drunk next to a warm body and and giving her the rear entry, until he relized the her was a he; the good and mostly bad of various flop house landladies; and much more. The adventures of his love life (I use the word love with hesitation) are not exactly Byronesque, but interesting, all the same. Bukowski had a tool for all seasons. To think what he could have done with a non-alcohol spirit!

deadpan often depressing and brutallyhonest collection of short stories. never a feel good story in this collection. know that when you start reading it

jeez, I think we found my long lost father here. Sorry, I haven't read the book, but now I must. See, I am a young lad who thinks of himself as a dirty old man, is known to most around me by the name Buk, with much discontent for the youth about, and has a fairly unsophisticated way with the ladies, if you will. When I stumbled across the name Buk being used as a short form of this Bukowski fellow, and that he wrote a book titled "Notes of a Dirty Old Man", I was very intruigued. I think you can understand why I needed to post this.

We love Buk! We love the raw, jagged Bukowski style. Other writers come to mind you might enjoy: John Fante, Dan Fante (Spitting Off Tall Buildings), Jack London (Martin Eden), Kirk Alex (Working the Hard Side of the Street), Eddie Bunker (Straight Time, Education of a Fellon) John O'Brien (Leaving Las Vegas), et al. These guys don't pull any punches and tell it like it is. No sugar-coating here.

Dead funny. Often brutal. The guy is a genius. On par with The Most Beautiful Girl in Town, I'd say... If you're ever feeling a bit low, then try reading this - it'll pick you up and throw you to dizzy heights, I promise.

This is essential a collection of works Bukowski wrote for a column. As such it reads like a collection of short stories. It's a good book to keep beside the crapper, especially if you are expecting a visit from your in-laws. Very frank writing of the dark side of life: sex, drugs, alcohol - the good stuff! I love Bukowski's style. If you are easily offended by dirty words and candid talk of sexual deviancy I highly recommend you read this book (or just about anything else Bukowski has written) and get over your hang-ups. It's just a book!

This book is loose and sometimes funny, and certainly Bukowski had a good deal of wit, but after about 50 pages I got sick of hearing the ramblings of a self-hating alcoholic and his hip 60s drug/sex/drink-until-you-vomit adventures. Bukowski comes across as nothing more than a coward, a drunk, and an all-around loser, and if that's your idea of inspiration or something that you can relate to then enjoy.

Some consider Charles Bukowski overrated... some think of him as an unhearalded genius. This collection falls somewhere in the middle. Initially I read this book ravenously, and fell in love with about half of the stories. Since then I have revisited it with a bit more care, and I continue to fine amazing beauty in the way Buk Takes jagged, rusty words and puts them together with duct tape to create these urban scenes. The greats could never have done this, None of them knew LA. This book seems to do the imposible. At once it honors the city of angels with an incredibly accurate rendering of what LA is, and it makes you hate the city all the more for the same reason. This is a great place to start reading Bukowski.