Absence of the Hero

About Absence of the Hero

"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 Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays.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 Poet.' Among the book’s highlights are tales of his infamous public readings; 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 to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior."--Publisher's description.