Richard Brautigan

I am currently reading Richard Brautigan's 'Sombrero Fallout' (1976) - an incredible surreal novel where two story lines intertwine - a story about a sombrero fallen from the sky is half-written, then ripped up and thrown in the waste basket, where it, unbeknownst to the author, continues to 'live' and develop into a catastrophic chain of events - the other story line is that of the writer, who ripped up the first story, who pines after his lost love. Written in short bursts, tiny chapters, it is absurdist black humour, while at the same time displaying the real pain of the author-character - who presumably is Brautigan, was briefly married to a Japanese woman, Akiko Yoshimura, although strangely enough, if Wikipedia is right, that would have been after he wrote this book. Perhaps he was with her for a while - it turned sour - then they found each other again? 

Anyway, I am reviewing a book before I have even read it completely - I just want to tell you that this one is worth a read - as seems all of Brautigan's stuff. 'Trout fishing in America' is great - as is 'A Confederate General in Big Sur'. 

Brautigan also recorded an album - which is worth a listen, maybe two. It is long out of print, but if you hunt around for it you should be able to find it on some sort of blogspot - the title is 'Listening to Richard Brautigan' - go fetch!


It has this beauty of a poem on there: 

Hagfish

The hagfish wasn't born pretty.

(New Scientist)

The Charles Bukowski Tapes

(number 1 of 52, see below. thanks to vekoja for uploading.)


From the video description:"The Charles Bukowski Tapes are a collection of short-interviews with the American writer/poet Charles Bukowski, filmed and assembled by Barbet Schroeder and first published in 1987 in the USA. Today, the video documentary is considered a cult classic.

The Charles Bukowski Tapes are an altogether more than four hours long collection of 52 short-interviews with the American cult author Charles Bukowski, sorted by topic and each between one and ten minutes long. Director Barbet Schroeder (Barfly) interviews Bukowski about such themes as alcohol, violence, and women, and Bukowski answers willingly, losing himself in sometimes minute-long monologues. Amongst other things, Bukowski leads the small camera team through his parentss house and his former neighbourhood, but the largest part of the interviews takes place in Bukowskis flat or backyard. The documentary includes a scene in which Bukowski reacts violently toward his wife Linda Lee.

The documentary was assembled from about 64 hours of film footage, which accrued during the three-year lead time for Schroeders motion picture Barfly, for which Bukowski wrote the autobiographical script."

James Joyce's Ulysses (Film)

The Poetry of John Berryman - interview

You need to read more John Berryman

This is number 1 in a series of 6


Thanks to erp65 for uploading

The Priest They Called Him - William S Burroughs and Kurt Cobain

Pablo Neruda - Poema 20