Product Description

With Bukowski, the votes are still coming in. There seems to be no middle ground-people seem either to love him or hate him. Tales of his own life and doings are as wild and weird as the very stories he writes. In a sense, Bukowski was a legend in his time . . . a madman, a recluse, a lover . . . tender, vicious . . . never the same . . . these are exceptional stories that come pounding out of his violent and depraved life . . . horrible and holy, you cannot read them and ever come away the same again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23932 in Books
• Published on: 1984-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

About the Author
Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany in 1920 and brought to Los Angeles at age three. Using the city as a backdrop for his work, Bukowski wrote prolifically, publishing over fifty volumes of poetry and prose. He died in San Pedro, California on March 9, 1994. His books are widely translated and posthumous volumes continue to appear.

Customer Reviews

Tales of Ordinary Blandness
This is only the second Bukowski book I've read, the first being Post Office. I liked Post Office much better, maybe cuz I ran a Rual Route as a letter carrier and I could relate to his struggle. There were a couple of short stories in Tales I found interesting, but the writing style makes for a confusing read. I found myself sometimes re-reading parts to follow where he was going. Either I didn't have e-nuff tall beers in me or maybe, I'm a little too upper middle class. It wasn't that bad but, wasn't that great....

Tales of Ordinary Madness
Charles Bukowski, brutally honest, as usual. This book was pretty good but not as good as his poetry.

disappointing
I may run contrary to the other reviewers here, but I really didn't like tales. The book, first of all, doesn't even read like a Bukowski book. The writing style is totally different from any of the novels or short story books, especially Hot Water Music and South of No North. I really don't believe that Bukowski wrote this book, sorry. I think it was some kind of posthumous ghost writer, and not a very good one. Second of all, the stories are terrible. They don't make any sense. Things happen in the book and you're not sure what's going on. The plots have no sort of logical flow to them. So even if Bukowski DID write this book, which he didn't, it still wouldn't be worth reading.