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You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense

You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense

List Price: $16.00
Your Price: $10.88
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Trashcan Lives
Review: Let's get this clear from the start: Charles Bukowski is the greatest American poet, who just happens to be unknown to the Americans I talk to. Just the other day in the library, I asked for his famous "Post Office" and they told me "Charles who?"
"You've never heard of Charles Bukowski?"
"No." The Librarian gave me a puzzled look.
"He's the greatest American poet?"
"Really?"
And so on...
What can I tell you about this book? Like in any other Buck's book there's so much trash in here that it's hard to make out what's good. There are several poems that are true masterpieces like "Trashcan Lives" or "Darkness," and some others. Would I recommend it? YES! If you're just starting to read Bukowski, don't bother with this, get an anthology. If you know Buck's works already, get this, you'll love it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Possibly his most "readable" book of poetry.
Review: Make no mistake this is a great collection. And if you're hovering, wondering if you're making a good choice by buying it: don't waste another moment! Buy it! This, in my opinion, is Bukowski at his best. Simple, clear lines make it work, page after page.

Here are some of my favorite poems of the book: "beasts bounding through time--" (page 21), "downtown L.A." (p.32), "another casualty" (p. 36), "that's why funerals are so sad" (p. 40), "darkness" (p. 46), "January" (p. 55, "rift" (p. 70), "my first affair with that older woman" (p. 78), "the Master Plan" (p. 94), "my vanishing act (p. 99), "let's make a deal" (p. 101),
"zero" (p. 104), "shoes" (p. 125), "true" (p. 151), "I thought the stuff tasted worse than usual" (p. 177), "my buddy" (p. 225),
"wearing the collar" (p. 236), "the shrinking island" (p. 249), "magic machine" (p. 251), "those girls we followed home" (p. 253, "a good gang, after all" (p. 279).

There are too many good lines to mention, but one that comes to mind is from "fractional note" (p. 256)--

"the white rats run the treadmill.
the bars stink in swampland darkness
as the lonely unfulfill the lonely.

"there's no clarity
there was never meant to be clarity."

Yep, if you like Buk, then this collection is a must! Along with You Get So Alone..., I also recommend The Last Night of the Earth Poems and The Losers Club by Richard Perez, about an unlucky poet who can't find love.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst title ever
Review: More vapid trash by Bukowski. I know kindergardeners who write with more sincerity and creativity than him. Its a pity he isn't alive then he could assault me for pointing out what a talentless hack he was, since violence was his only response to accurate criticism. Will please the "I'm too stupid for poetry" performance crowd. At least he's dead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: another review
Review: Not as good as Love is a dog... but still worth reading. there are some really good poems in there.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Must Read
Review: Ranks alongside "Dangling" and "Wild Horses" as Bukowski's most satisfying poetry collections. A truly great book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I'll Have Another One
Review: Reading Charles Bukowski is like being drunk. Without taking a drink. That is what it feels like to me. I'll have to consider whether any of my other favorite poets alter my consciousness that way, but at first consideration, I can't think of one who does. This is a good thing, a good drunk, a "speak the truth" type of drunk.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth buying
Review: There are three things you must keep in mind when reading this or any Bukowski book--

1) The man spent over 1/2 of his life at the horse track.

2) The man spent the rest of the time either having sex or drinking. Usually both at once.

3) The man was a genius.

"You Get So Alone..." is by far my favorite Bukowski book, and I've read about half of his dozens of books. (Short stories and poems, usually.)
This is the one that speaks to me to the point where each time I read certain pages, I cry.

If I were you, I'd pick up this book and read the first poem "1813-1883", absorb its contents, and see how far I could get in the book without crying or laughing or shaking my head at Bukowski's truthfulness.

I can't help but think of another Amazon purchase -- The Losers' Club by Richard Perez.

I suppose that's a polite way to say that Bukowski's blunt and usually considered piggish-- for instance, a quote from the book: "my first experience in a wh*rehouse was in Tijuana..." The poem goes from there.

I know for a fact that not many women read Bukowski because he's chauvinistic... but I just keep in mind that in his generation (the same as my grandfather's), women were held in a lower regard.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bukowski uncovers the real Los Angeles
Review: This book is one of the most influential books of poetry in my life. Growing up in Los Angeles I can relate to Bukowski. Bukowski is similar to John Steinbeck in that to truly appreciate his work you have to visit what they wrote about. To truly appreciate Steinbeck you have to visit Salinas or drive up the California coast. Similarly, to truly appreciate Bukowski you have to visit Los Angeles. You have to drive the freeways, go to the race tracks, and experience the city. The real city, not Hollywood, Disneyland, or Malibu. Although Los Angeles is glamorized in the media as a magical place where movie stars roam exotic beaches, Bukowski writes of Los Angeles as an ordinary, lonesome, city and he writes of it from the view of an ordinary, lonesome man. Its the fact that Bukowski writes in such a way to portray life and especially "magical" Los Angeles in such a real setting that draws you to this book. He writes about his alcoholism, wasting money at the race tracks, prostitutes, and homelessness, things that you ordinarily relate to New York or Chicago, but not Los Angeles. What makes this book so great is that Bukowski proves you can make ordinary people interesting and even if you take all the glimmer away from Los Angeles it's still very interesting. The subtle themes that run through Bukowski's poetry are exactly what I have stated, that ordinary people are interesting. Also another subtle theme, I would like to add, is that no indiviual is the center of the universe. No matter what you are doing, and how important you think what you are doing is, life still goes on around you. Life exists outside of your sphere. Someone somewhere is doing something more important than you. I think this theme is especcialy relevant to Los Angelitos because many of them can't get past the fact that the world does not revolve around them. So, if you enjoy poems that expose the world for what it is, and don't spice up reality, than this is an excellent book. I also reccomend it for college students because it will change your whole outlook on life. I recomend that those younger than college age do not read it because of the vulgarity and also Bukowski deals with alot of mature themes that are not appropraite for younger readers.


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