A Very Good+ copy in printed wrappers. Covers are lightly rubbed with wear to the extremities. The spine, along with a very thin strip along the bottom edge, shows fading to the sensitive red coloring. There is a 1/4" split at the base of the front hinge and a few spots of soiling to the rear cover, otherwise, the binding is tight, and the volume is clean throughout with no loose pages. The March/April 1944 issue of Story Magazine contains Bukowski's first appearance in print at 24 years old ? Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip. To put things into context, it precedes his first broadside (20 Tanks From Kasseldown, 1946) by two years, his first chapbook (Flower, Fist, and Bestial Wail, 1960) by 16 years, and his first book (It Catches My Heart In Its Hands, 1963) by 19 years. In a 1994 interview, Bukowski said "I can remember my first major publication, a short story in Whit Burnett's and Martha Foley's Story magazine, 1944. I had been sending them a couple of short stories a week for maybe a year and a half. The story they finally accepted was mild in comparison to the others. I mean in terms of content and style and gamble and exploration and all that. Got another story accepted about that time in Carese Crosby's portfolio and after that, I packed it in. I threw away all the stories and concentrated upon drinking. I didn't feel that the publishers were ready and that although I was ready, I could be readier and I was also disgusted with what I read as accepted front-line literature. So I drank and became one of the best drinkers anywhere, which takes some talent also." This was the personal copy of Marvin Malone, the long-time editor of The Wormwood Review, and comes with a note from his daughter stating it as such. In 1960 Malone solicited Bukowski's address from Carl Larsen, who published Bukowski's first chapbook. Malone took the liberty of sending him several issues of Wormwood, and received some poems from Bukowski for consideration. In issue 7 (October 20, 1962), Bukowski made his debut in the literary magazine with "Thank God for Alleys." Malone clearly valued Bukowski's continuing contributions to Wormwood. In fact, Bukowski was the most frequent contributor to Wormwood overall, appearing in 97 issues. When Malone died in 1996, he still had a substantial backlog of unpublished Bukowski poems that were to appear in future issues of the review (all subsequently returned to Bukowski's widow). The following quote taken from a letter written by Bukowski to Malone over their long association, and shows Bukowski's reciprocal respect for the Wormwood publisher: "I have never had any magazine treat me like dear old Wormie.I'm lucky. And I'm lucky that Wormie has been around. I sometimes think of you. Then I think, it's lucky we have never met. It's lucky we have a professional distance. It's lucky you do what you do and I do what I do and we do it without politics and personal relationships. It's lucky, Malone, lucky, we have been a splendid pair. I salute your guts and your way" (1978). ABPC records no results at auction for this item, OCLC locates no holdings among member institutions, and while it isn't recorded in Krumhansl, it is listed as item D1 in Dorbin's bibliography. To be sure, there are no shortage of attractive and highly limited Bukowski items at this price or higher, but a fair number of them are unjustifiably inflated. With unpublished material is still being released 16 years after his death, Bukowski's body of work continues to expand and gain new audiences. And while there's plenty of Bukowski material out there for the gettin', the evidence dictates that there just aren't enough of these to go around. The earliest appearance of the "Dirty Old Man" of American poetry, an attractive copy with terrific provenance. Bookseller Inventory # 254 Read more at www.abebooks.com |
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