If I were going to send up Charles Bukowski properly on what would've been his 92nd birthday, there would be a whiskey bender, a filthy gutter, and a sweet-faced one-legged hooker. What I can do during work hours is thoroughly upset myself (and you) by re-reading two of his most heartbreaking poems about his first love, Jane Cooney Baker. Tell me they aren't precious things, and I'll tell you your heart is cold.
Ecco has recently made available 10 of Bukowski's eBooks, each at $1.99. If you know the depth and desperate beauty of his work, you know that's a steal. Happy Birthday, Chinaski.
"You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart."
I am still busy gnawing my way through Anna Karenina, but in the meantime, the trailer for another 19th century epic-novel-movie-adaptation has hit the interwebs. Please to enjoy, the international trailer for Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. Full disclosure: I was obsessed with GE as a pre-teen and still harbor dreams of dressing as Miss Havisham for Halloween (moldy wedding cake, I'm looking at you). And seeing as I'd watch Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes do anything--eat ice cream, re-tile the guest bathroom, etc--this is a special, gothic treat indeed.
