Part 20 (1/2)

Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (Black Sparrow Press, 1972)*****

Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Poems 19551973 (Black Sparrow Press, 1974) Note : This anthology collects poems from the two Loujon Press books, together with later work, in a modestly priced and widely available edition.*****

Tough Company (Black Sparrow Press, 1976) Note: Printed as a New Year gift.

Scarlet (Black Sparrow Press, 1976) Note: This is the limited edition of poems Bukowski wrote about his girlfriend, Pamela Miller (aka Cupcakes). All the poems were later reprinted in Love Is a Dog from h.e.l.l .

Art (Black Sparrow Press, 1977) Note: A single poem elaborately printed as a New Year gift for friends of Black Sparrow Press.

Love Is a Dog from h.e.l.l: Poems 19741977 (Black Sparrow Press, 1977) Note : This has proved the most popular of all Bukowski's poetry books and is widely available in paperback. Most of the poems concern Bukowski's complicated love life in the mid-1970s.*****

A Love Poem (Black Sparrow Press, 1979) Note : Printed as a New Year gift.

Play the Piano Drunk/Like a Percussion Instrument/Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit (Black Sparrow Press, 1979) Note: This book is made up of poems originally featured in a monthly magazine, Sparrow , which was used by John Martin as a way of showcasing the work of poets he was publis.h.i.+ng in more substantial editions. Despite its off-putting t.i.tle, it contains some of Bukowski's best poetry, including 'fire station'.*****

Dangling in the Tournefortia (Black Sparrow Press, 1981)****

War All the Time: Poems 19811984 (Black Sparrow Press, 1984)****

The Last Generation (Black Sparrow Press, 1982) Note : Printed as a New Year gift.

Sparks (Black Sparrow Press, 1983) Note : Printed as a New Year gift.

You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense (Black Sparrow Press, 1986) Note : One of the large late anthologies of Bukowski's poetry.****

The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems 19461966 (Black Sparrow Press, 1988) Note : John Martin trawled through the little literary magazines Bukowski had first published in to compile this book of very early poems.*****

In the Shadow of the Rose (Black Sparrow Press, 1991) Note : A limited edition dedicated to Bukowski's friend, Sean Penn.

Three by Bukowski (Black Sparrow Press, 1992) Note : A limited edition.

The Last Night of the Earth Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 1992) Note: The last full-length poetry book published during Bukowski's lifetime, and one of his best.*****

Those Marvelous Lunches (Black Sparrow Press, 1993) Note : A New Year gift to friends of the press.

Heat Wave (Black Sparrow Graphic Arts, 1995) Note: A limited edition ill.u.s.trated by artist, Ken Price, and sold to collectors. It was produced in a regular edition priced $1,250 and an even more expensive de luxe edition priced $3,500. The book comes in a Perspex box together with a CD.

A New War (Black Sparrow Press, 1997) Note: A booklet of five poems published as a New Year gift to friends of the press. The poem which appears at the end of chapter sixteen is from this booklet.

Bone Palace Ballet: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 1997) Note : A large anthology of previously unpublished work selected and published by John Martin after Bukowski's death. John Martin chose the t.i.tle.

What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 1999) Note : Another of a growing number of posthumous collections of Bukowski's work, edited by John Martin. The following t.i.tles are of the same sort.

Open All Night: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 2000) The Night Torn Mad With Footsteps: New Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 2001) Sifting Through the Madness: New Poems (Ecco, 2003) Note : Published in the UK by Virgin as New Poems (Books 1 and 2), this is mostly very late work written at the end of Bukowski's life, though one much earlier poem is included ('Soft and Fat Like Summer Roses' is from 1946). The bulk of the poems, which had not found a home during Bukowski's lifetime, perhaps for good reason, are often slight and repet.i.tious in subject matter. One occasionally reads a line almost identical to a line in a previous poem, from another book. For all these reasons, these posthumous anthologies are not recommended.

The Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain: New Poems (Ecco, 2004) Note : Published in the UK as New Poems Book 3, comments as above.

Slouching Towards Nirvana: New Poems (Ecco, 2005) Note : Published in the UK as New Poems Book 4 .

Come on In!: New Poems (Ecco, 2006) The People Look Like Flowers At Last: New Poems (Ecco, 2007)

POETRY AND PROSE IN A SINGLE VOLUME.

Horsemeat (Black Sparrow Press, 1982) Note : A limited edition with photographs by Michael Montfort of Bukowski at the race track.

Septuagenarian Stew: Stories and Poems (Black Sparrow Press, 1990) Note : One of Bukowski's great late books, published in the year of his seventieth birthday. This is widely available in paperback.*****

Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories (Black Sparrow Press, 1996) Note : Previously unpublished work selected by John Martin and published after Bukowski's death. Many of the poems address the subject of impending death.****

SHORT STORIES.

Confessions of a Man Insane Enough to Live with Beasts (Mimeo Press, 1965) Note: This is a very early chapbook published in a small edition and no longer in print, but the story can also be found in South of No North .

All the a.s.sholes in the World and Mine (Open Skull Press, 1966) Note : As above.

Notes of a Dirty Old Man (Ess.e.x House, 1969) Note : A collection of stories written by Bukowski as his weekly column for the underground newspaper, Open City . It was later reissued by City Lights Books and is still widely available in paperback.****

A Bukowski Sampler (Quixote Press, 1969) Erections, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (City Lights Books, 1972) Note : In 1983 this very large book was reissued in two volumes, Tales of Ordinary Madness and The Most Beautiful Woman in Town , both of which are still available in paperback.

South of No North (Black Sparrow Press, 1973)*****

Bring Me Your Love (Black Sparrow Press, 1983) Note : A special edition of a single short story, ill.u.s.trated by R. Crumb.

Hot Water Music (Black Sparrow Press, 1983)*****