Notes of a Dirty Old Man

by Charles Bukowski
Notes of a Dirty Old Man  
published 1981 by City Lights Publishers
first published 1969
binding Paperback
isbn 0872860744   (isbn13: 9780872860742)
pages 256
description

"People come to my door-too many of them really-and knock to tell me Notes of a Dirty Old Man turns them on. A bum off the road brings in a gypsy and his wife and we talk. . . drink half the night. A long distance operator from Newburgh, N.Y. sends me money. She wants me to give up drinking beer and to eat well. I hear from a madman who calls himself 'King Arthur' and lives on Vine Street in Hollywood and wants to help me write my column. A doctor comes to my door: 'I read your column and think I can help you. I used to be a psychiatrist.' I send him away. . ."

...more
date added
01-18-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1165)



Thiago
Thiago rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
02/06/08

Read in January, 2005
Bukowski tem que ser lido. Não tanto pelo que ele tem a dizer, mas muito mais pelo jeito que ele diz. O estilo de escrita dele é legal demais. Mais do que usar bem as palavras, ele usa bem as frases. Escreve telegraficamente. Frase ponto, frase ponto. Muito bom mesmo.

A escrotidão dele é a outra parte do charme, que rende boas risadas. Ele faz o tipão "machão-canastra-féla-da-puta-bêbado", mas dá pra perceber que debaixo disso tudo tem um coração. Nesse livro, lembro que ...more
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Raegan
Raegan rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
04/28/08

Read in June, 1990
Bukowksi worked well when given every writers dream: carte blanche to write whatever he felt like writing, only to have it reproduced by the LA FREE PRESS and on the streets in a week, being read by thousands. Bukowski himself writes of the magical feeling of having the freedom to write whatever he wanted and the sudden notoriety he aquired with his new exposure. This collection of stories, as opposed to the ones collected elsewhere, show him still experimenting with a variety of forms and these...more
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Lori
Lori rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
01/22/08

bookshelves: fiction
Read in January, 2008
I am quickly finding Charles Bukowski to be a favorite author of mine. He has this very witty and gritty style of story telling, and from what I gather, alot of the things he writes about comes from is actual true life experiences.

This particular book is a collection of his short stories (two of which he expanded upon from Post Office). While I am a big fan of his writing, I found that I am still not a fan of the short story overall. I used to read short stories all the time when i was young...more
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Josh
Josh rated it: 1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars
03/18/08

this is one of the few bukowski books i would not recommend to anyone. this was his serial column of truly non-linear and non-inspiring ramblings. the shocking thing about bukowski was the amount of cohesive gold he produced while being so intoxicated/angry/etc and this is most certainly not it. this was just slapped together for people like me who were willing to read almost anything he wrote, not being particularly of concern to the publishers if it was any good. most of his new poetry boo...more
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Annie
Annie rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/28/07

Read in December, 2006
really awesome collection of short stories from a series of things cb wrote for a small indie newspaper in sf area over the course of several years. really random; i liked the one about the baseball player with wings that gets his wings chopped off by a gangster who arranges to get him wasted and fucked by a hooker right before the big game; blatant irony done well can't ever be wrong.
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R.d.
R.d. rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/21/08

bookshelves: buk-rhymes-duke
Read in January, 1969
I was introduce to Bukowski while still in high school, via his columns in Open City and the L. A. Free Press. These columns (Notes of a Dirty Old Man) later became a book. I used to have a first edition of this book but some broad stole it from me. That's when I learned you can't loan out copies of your Buk collection, because people will steal them, even if they are friends.
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Jerome
Jerome rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
08/15/07

Read in January, 1996
Bukowski's always a great read although you need to be in a certain mood for it. I haven't read much of his but I've liked it all pretty much. My writing was very influenced by his at one time, and still is, to a certain extent. He's brutally frank about sex, lust, desire and the futility of existence, but with a poetic, sensitive heart. Tender misogyny.
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Tracy
Tracy rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/18/08

i love these stories. but bukowski fans long ago turned me off to bukowski. so i pass. know he's good, maybe even great, but life is too short to deal with woman-hating drunkenness in print, get enough of that in real life. in fact, i have little patience for any kind of substance abuse in print.
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Sarah
Sarah rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
07/26/07

Read in January, 2004
I read this a while ago and found that I was more affected by Bukowski's thoughts than I had thought. The world was temporarily colored by the grit of this writing. Because of that, I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. Disturbing and completely engaging.
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Xio
Xio added it
05/08/07

bookshelves: onshelfunreadish
I forget which boyfriend left this collection of Bukowski behind with me but nevertheless I have quite a few. I think they might come in handy for my sons later. I do enjoy the short stories and the poetry but the longer stuff leaves me bored.
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Lindsay
Lindsay rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
10/02/07

Read in January, 1998
The first book I read by Bukowski. This book probably helped fuel hatred for him by some feminists, it is a collection of short stories he originally wrote for porn mags. Read Ham on Rye and you'll understand better where he's coming from.
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Danielle
Danielle rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
11/12/07

Read in March, 2003
It took me awhile to get through this because my mind wasn't on it. Once you start reading it flows better- you get past all crudity and the shock factor. Once that grabs your attention there are a lot of things to make you think.
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Jay
Jay rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
09/09/07

recommends it for: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards
LOVED IT. My favorite thing about Bukowski is that you never know where fact ends and fiction begins. And stay away from bars that have the mens' rooms downstairs...
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Louisa
Louisa rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/30/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 1990
Great short stories written by a drunk living in LA - Later a movie "bar fly" was produce about C. Bukowski I think Micky R played Bukowski "to all my friends"

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Gabriela
Gabriela rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/31/08

Já nao se fazem velhos safados como antigamente...
machista, bebado, filho da puta e pobre...enfim um desgraçado delicioso...
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Nick
Nick rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
11/02/07

Read in January, 2005
recommends it for: poopers
Great toilet reading. You can start and stop and never be lost. Keep it on the crapper and laugh at Bukowski and yourself.
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Stephen
Stephen rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/01/08

sophisticated porn.... there is a sliver of hope coming out of bukowski's writing...blink and you miss it.
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Jennifer
Jennifer rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/29/08

Read in February, 2008
took me forever to read, but i sort of loved it once i got going. filthy and distressing but compelling.
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Kinsey
Kinsey rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/29/08

Read in June, 2007
Bukowski is such a raw and real poet. I love the crass way he describes his gloriously dull world.
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Christina
Christina rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
07/26/07

bookshelves: 2005
This was my first experience with Bukowski. Once I got past the shock value, I really enjoyed it.
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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.94 (988 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.94 (965 ratings)
number of reviews: 38






other editions

Notes from a Dirty Old Man
Notes of a Dirty Old Man (Paperback)
Notas de um Velho Safado