- What You Are.
- The Celtic Twilight?
- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
The varying perspectives, while not always distinctly individuated, help layer tension and depth into the story, depicting mental and physical terrors while also sketching out the context of flawed social systems, fear, and twisted logic that surrounded slavery's existence. Rather than merely representing facts, the portrayal steadily builds emotion and drama as the text progresses, drawing information from Manzano's autobiography and peering into the minds of contemporaries whose motivations and emotions can only be imagined.
The poems are lyrical and spare, seamlessly incorporating Spanish vocabulary; each verse is packed with intense emotion, often lending striking insight [End Page ] into both Juan's plight and the world in which he lives. Somber and affecting black-and-white illustrations by Sean Qualls accompany the poems, featuring thickly brushed paint, downcast, shadow-filled faces, and stark compositions. The artwork complements and enhances the poetry throughout—for instance, a portrait of a tormented Juan kneeling in prayer before the pale, regal La Marquesa, who sits with closed, shadowed eyes on a throne-like chair, strikes a perfect tonal chord.
Symbolic imagery and repeated themes, such as wings, butterflies, bones, and silhouetted forms, heighten emotion and tie the art to the text throughout. Together, Engle and Qualls create a memorable and powerful depiction of Manzano's remarkable life. The moving poetry and finely crafted story will draw readers in If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution that supports Shibboleth authentication or have your own login and password to Project MUSE, click 'Authenticate'. View freely available titles: Book titles OR Journal titles.
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This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Feb 24, Jess rated it really liked it Shelves: I love Bukowski, because sometimes, though rarely, when you're up to your eyeballs in misery, hopelessness, and the horse shit of life, he'll reveal suddenly a glimmer, a short line of poetry of something he finds beautiful in the world.
However, this collection had a few that turned my stomach and turned me away from Bukowski for a week or so. Some of my favourite lines: I knew exactly what I was doing: I was doing nothing. He continues to be my favorite poet. Jun 29, Jake rated it liked it.
This collection is a little different for Bukowski. A little less angry, more at peace with his old age.
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- Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories by Charles Bukowski.
- Take Time for Easter.
- Signs From Heaven!
- ‘A’ LEVEL REVISION NOTES FOR ENDURING LOVE BY IAN MCEWAN PT 18?
Still better than most anyone, but not my very favorite Buk. May 27, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: If you've read any Bukowski before you'll know the story of his life, lived out in all his writings, from drunken, gambling, addled, street fighter in and out of jail, in and out of bed with various women to drunken, addled, middle age where the eventual success of his writing bought him a less hand-to-mouth existence, but essentially his passions remained the same. This page book of poetry and short stories was published post-humously but doesn't at all feel like is the leftovers being chur If you've read any Bukowski before you'll know the story of his life, lived out in all his writings, from drunken, gambling, addled, street fighter in and out of jail, in and out of bed with various women to drunken, addled, middle age where the eventual success of his writing bought him a less hand-to-mouth existence, but essentially his passions remained the same.
This page book of poetry and short stories was published post-humously but doesn't at all feel like is the leftovers being churned out to earn a buck. The poems, in free verse with a good ear for vocabulary and line length are loosely chronologically arranged ending on his musings on imminent death.
Many of the poems are seemingly quickly written and I think should be read in the same manner as he was a prolific writer, as if you are in a conversation alongside him on a bar stool. Often you'll finish it and forget it, but a line or an image here and there will come back to you. The short stories I liked, snapshots of the underbelly of his Los Angeles largely and tales from its racetracks and bars, and the stories and poems being jumbled up together works well. If you've read his novels the same semi-autobiographical character is here throughout. If you enjoy spending a bit of time in his company fine, if you don't, then don't bother with this.
Oct 10, Tom Steele rated it really liked it. This is the first collection of both poetry and short stories that I've read by Bukowski and probably one of his more consistent works. The short stories are all amusing and the poetry is pretty good as well. There is a lot of fluctuation with the quality of the poems, however, with some of them being examples of his best work and some being forgettable to outright bad. The end of this collection features Bukowski's meditations on his inevitable death.
This section alone makes the collection w This is the first collection of both poetry and short stories that I've read by Bukowski and probably one of his more consistent works. This section alone makes the collection worth checking out and kind of summarizes his overall outlook pretty well. You've got the typical facets of Bukowski here, womanizing, horse race betting, consistent literary references, amusing bar-based anecdotes, etc. The illusion is that you are simply Reading this poem The reality is that this is More than a Poem.
This is a beggar's knife. This is a tulip. This is a soldier marching Through Madrid. This is you on your Death bed.
This is Li Po laughing Underground. This is not a god-damned Poem. This is a horse asleep. A butterfly in Your brain. This is the devil's Circus. You are not reading this On a page. The page is reading You.
See a Problem?
It's like a cobra. It's a hungry eagle Circling the room This is not a poem. They make you Sleep. These words force you To a new madness. You have been blessed, You have been pushed Into a Blinding area of Light. The elephant dreams With you Now. The curve of space Bends and Laughs. You can die now. You can die now as People were meant to Die: Nov 05, Waylon rated it liked it.
I freely admit that poetry in general has never appealed to me as much as it does many other avid readers. There are some poems I've come across over the years that I truly love, but I just don't get in the "poetry mood" very often. I decided to give a Bukowski collection a shot because he has been so often recommended to me, and I am glad I did.
Bukowski has a straight-to-the-point, no-bullshit style that appeals to me. There isn't the slightest hint of pretension. Some of these poems are prett I freely admit that poetry in general has never appealed to me as much as it does many other avid readers. Some of these poems are pretty damn good, while some are not; the result is an average overall score. However, I liked my first taste of Bukowski's work enough that I'll definitely check out more in the future. Apr 01, Kees-Jan van Engelenburg rated it it was amazing.
Bukowski liked to write a lot about going to the racetrack. Many of these poems carry the tediousness of a daily jaunt to the track; some are incandescent. Of course, there's the usual mix of other subjects dear to Buk's heart: Sex, booze, poetry, and more booze.
Only Buk could make the dull life of a drunkard seem romantic. Apr 18, Evan rated it it was amazing Shelves: Excellent collection focusing more on old age and death. Jun 24, Frank Robbins rated it really liked it Shelves: Sitting here, having a glass of wine and feeling dead inside. I think about the past and how I feel as dead now as I felt then.
The only thing that makes me feel alive and know that everyone is just boring as hell and lost in the same nightmare is Charles Bukowski. His descriptions of his own hell makes me realize that there are kindred souls in the universe who feel the same as me. Not his best volume, and there a a lot to choose from. I recommend Love is a Dog from Hell as part of anyone's collection of poetry.
This one, however, is decent. It has a couple of Bukowski's excellent, witty, and insightful poems. Dec 08, Brian Pappas rated it it was amazing. One of his better books of poetry with a few great short stories thrown in. More drunken ravings and rantings from everyone-except-me's favourite douchebag.
Jan 04, Justin Sims rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Feb 07, Kerfe rated it really liked it Shelves: As with all large collections of work, this one is uneven--but then Bukowski was uneven, his life careening along with his words.
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He cuts to the quick and catches us and the world with defenses down, matter of factly turning over the dark underside, living through the lens of B-movie noir, grim and light-hearted at the same time. It's true he has contempt for humanity in general, but his women are especially cartoonish. This shows up more in the stories than the poems. Bukowski's dim view of the w As with all large collections of work, this one is uneven--but then Bukowski was uneven, his life careening along with his words.
Bukowski's dim view of the world can seem eerily relevant "they are dull because they have been made dull and they are vicious because they are fearful of losing what they have" from "people" Sometimes a dark mirror is needed to provide balance to the stories we like to tell about ourselves. Bukowski is always available to remind us that it's not just the emperor who has no clothes. Jun 22, James Ford rated it it was amazing. Picked up this book from a Barnes and Noble bookshelf twenty years ago. I admit, I didn't know Bukowski from baked beans. The very first poem, 'splash', blew me away.
I bought the book, and became enamored of the imagery and simplicity in which Bukowski wrote. My style of writing, at the time, was, very similar.
Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories
Bukowski, like some other contemporary poets, have had a great impact on my own style of writing. At the reading, signing of my first book, Numbers and Days, I started my reading with 'spl Picked up this book from a Barnes and Noble bookshelf twenty years ago. At the reading, signing of my first book, Numbers and Days, I started my reading with 'splash', describing Bukowski and his influence on me, while presenting his work to those who knew nothing of him.
May 14, Nightbird rated it it was amazing. This is my first experience with Bukowski's poetry and I've got to admit that I never expected anything like this. All I knew about the author was that he writes vulgar novels about lust and alcoholism, but this is definitely not the case.