Ettienne wrote:
> As you may know, Bukowski is an atypical
writer.
> His life is probably something hard-boiled by
itself, but his
> refusal of a normal life and the rest of his
personality is really
> a voluntarily "anti-establishment" statement. Add to
this a
> lifelong alcoholism.
> In my book, the guy is sincere. Maybe not for
everyone's taste,
> but sincere with himself and with his
readers.
> And… he's a real author. No doubt about
it.
What's a "real" author? And is being an alcoholic (or
refusing to lead a normal life) necessarily hard-boiled? Or
just shit-faced, vomit-drenched self-indulgence?
If he had written the very same books, but have lived a
"normal" life
(whatever that is), would he have been any less a
writer?
I mean, how romantic and literary is it, really, to drink
yourself unconscious and crap in your own pants? Shouldn't
the value of what's on the page depend on what's actually on
the page, rather than how it got there?
(I'm not trying to slag Bukowski per se here, but I've never
really bowed down to this People Magazine-style evaluation of
art)
Kevin
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