PULP (First UK edition - first impression)

Charles Bukowski

ISBN 10: 1852272007 / ISBN 13: 9781852272005

Published by Virgin Books, London, 2004

About this Item

First impression of the first UK edition, published in 2004. ***Near fine in indigo cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. The boards are clean and unmarked. No bumps. Corners sharp. No reading lean. Page-block edges clean. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. No creases or tears. Pages clean and bright. ***In a very good colour-illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £12.99. No chips or tears, just slight creasing at the top edge of the front panel near the spine. No fading. Dustwrapper crisp and bright. ***200mm x 134mm. 186 pages. ***'Pulp is a brilliant, fantastical pastiche of a hard-boiled detective story. Packed with wit, invention and Bukowski's trademark low-life adventures, it is the last novel of one of the most enjoyable and influential cult writers of the last century. Nicky Belane, private detective and career alcoholic, is a troubled man. Not just by the usual problems - broads, booze, lack of cash and a raging ego - but by the jobs he so desperately needs. They're weird. Not only has he been hired to track down French classical author Celine - who's meant to be dead - but he's also supposed to find the elusive Red Sparrow - which may or may not be real. And then there are the odd stiffs he encounters on the way - Jeannie Nitro the space alien; Dante and Fante, a couple of heavies trying to collect on a debt; and, of course, Lady Death herself.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ***'Henry Charles Bukowski [Aug 16 1920 - Mar 9 1994] was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column Notes of a Dirty Old Man in the LA underground newspaper Open City. Bukowski published extensively in small literary magazines and with small presses beginning in the early 1940s and continuing on through the early 1990s. As noted by one reviewer, "Bukowski continued to be, thanks to his antics and deliberate clownish performances, the king of the underground and the epitome of the littles in the ensuing decades, stressing his loyalty to those small press editors who had first championed his work and consolidating his presence in new ventures such as the New York Quarterly, Chiron Review, or Slipstream." Some of these works include his "Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window", published by his friend and fellow poet Charles Potts, and better known works such as "Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame". These poems and stories were later republished by John Martin's Black Sparrow Pres as collected volumes of his work. Regarding Bukowski's enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, "the secret of Bukowski's appeal [is that] he combines the confessional poet's promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero." Since his death in March 1994, Bukowski has been the subject of a number of critical articles and books about both his life and writings, despite his work having received relatively little attention from academic critics in the United States during his lifetime. ***Originally published in 1994 by Black Sparrow Press in the USA, this is the first impression of the first UK edition, in its original dustwrapper. Harder to find than the American first edition. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

Seller Inventory # 6804

Bibliographic Details

• Title: PULP (First UK edition - first impression)
• Publisher: Virgin Books, London
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852272007
• ISBN 13: 9781852272005
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First UK Edition
• Printing: First Impression
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • First Editions
  • Beat Writers & Counter Culture

About this title

Synopsis

Bukowski's final novel is a slightly surreal pastiche of the classic Mickey Spillane, Chandleresque private dick novel. Nick Belane, is a lonely, middle-aged, egotistical, alcoholic private detective who is badly in need of some lucrative work, but what he gets is a series of increasingly strange assignments from a bizarre collection of clients. He is asked to track down the long-dead French classical author Celine and an elusive red sparrow. He encounters aliens, heavies and even lady Death herself along the way. All the while Belane is convincing himself that he's still a white-hot detective and that nobody can take him for a ride, or indeed make him feel he's losing his mind. Boozing heavily and trying to avoid getting beaten up in every bar along the way, he finally reaches the conclusion that he's washed up. Bukowski's deliberately overdone writing takes us on a fantastical ride through the dark corners and dodgy dealings of Belane's film-noir world with guns, broads and heavyset thugs. A great demonstration of Bukowski's imaginative talents.

About the Author

Charles Bukowski was one of America's best-known writers and one of its most influential and imitated poets. His Beat Generation writing reflects his slum upbringing, his succession of menial jobs and his experience of low-life urban America. He died in 1994 and is widely acknowledged as one of the most distinctive writers of the last fifty years.