It is an enduring tribute to Bukowski’s genius that his writings continue to inform, inspire and console.
It is our collective tragedy, as human beings, that much of his subject matter remains relevant, applicable and therefore actively ignored.
As craven, selfish and short-sighted as many of our elected officials have been these past two years, don’t kid yourself about what’s at stake. Mediocrity and mendacity, appalling as these options are, still function as bruised and repurposed life rafts in times like these. And things stand to get a lot worse. Of course, the people who will feel it first are the people who are already crammed into the dirty and desperate margins. The people who will get it next are the ones whose understandable outrage is (typically, predictably) misplaced. And, with torches in hand, they will merrily lead the sociopathic foxes to the henhouses, where there is still unfinished business to attend to. Finally, for those whose fat wallets help them fall upward (every time), they will roll up their sleeves and get back to what they do best: making sure that everything they’ve got stays got.
The Genius of the Crowd:
Another Academy:
Bluebird:
