David Calonne

More Notes of a Dirty Old Man (City Lights)

Editor David Calonne will discuss and sign the new anthology of Charles Bukowski's previously uncollected columns. After toiling in obscurity for years, Charles Bukowski suddenly found fame in 1967 with his autobiographical newspaper column, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," and a book of that name in 1969. He continued writing this column, in one form or another, through the mid-1980s. "More Notes of a Dirty Old Man" gathers many uncollected gems from the column's twenty-year run. Drawn from ephemeral underground publications, these stories and essays haven't been seen in decades, making "More" a valuable addition to Bukowski's oeuvre. Filled with his usual obsessions--sex, booze, gambling--"More" features Bukowski's offbeat insights into politics and literature, his tortured, violent relationships with women, and his lurid escapades on the poetry reading circuit. Highlighting his versatility, the book ranges from thinly veiled autobiography to purely fictional tales of dysfunctional suburbanites, disgraced politicians, and down-and-out sports promoters, climaxing with a long, hilarious adventure among French filmmakers, "My Friend the Gambler," based on his experiences making the movie "Barfly." From his lowly days at the post office through his later literary fame, "More" follows the entire arc of Bukowski's colorful career. Edited by Bukowski scholar David Stephen Calonne, "More Notes of a Dirty Old Man" features an afterword outlining the history of the column and its effect on the author's creative development. David Stephen Calonne is the author of Charles Bukowski: Sunlight Here I Am, Interviews and Encounters 1963-1993, and most recently, Bebop Buddhist Ecstasy: Saroyan's Influence on Kerouac and the Beats, with an Introduction by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He has edited two Bukowski volumes for City Lights, Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook (2008) and Absence of the Hero (2010). Calonne has lectured in Paris and was invited by the Bukowski Gesellschaft to lecture the past two summers in Andernach, Germany. He presently teaches at Eastern Michigan University. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS SEPTEMBER 10, 2011.