Book SynopsisEveryone’s favorite Dirty Old Man returns with a new volume of uncollected work. Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so prolific that many significant pieces never found their way into his books. Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls Playing and Being the Pet. Among the book''s highlights are tales of his infamous public readings (The Big Dope Reading, I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go to Bed with Girls); a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods (Bukowski Takes a Trip). Yet tTrade Review"Charles Bukowski, the late poet best known for his odes to sex, booze and general skid-row squalor, turns reflective in much of Absence of the Hero: Uncollected Stories and Essays, Vol. 2: 1946-1992. In one piece, titled "He Beats His Women," Bukowski touches on a visit to these parts: 'The only time I read in San Francisco, 800 people arrived and 100 of those arrived with buckets of garbage to throw at me. At 2 bucks a head, that garbage didn't smell too bad.'"--San Francisco Chronicle "When Bukowski sat down at his trusted Underwood typewriter to 'play the piano,' it was the only time in his life he felt immortal, with every word painstakingly chosen and direct from the gut. If you haven't had the pleasure of digging into one of his already published works, these easily digestible stories are a perfect starting point."--Johnson Cummins, The Montreal Mirror "Even after he published more than 50 books, Bukowski (1920-1994) left behind dozens of unpublished stories and essays. U.S. American literature scholar Calonne, who also edited Vol. 1 of Bukowski's unpublished works, provides an informative and informed introduction and a useful set of notes."--The Toronto Globe and Mail "But unlike 'Exit to Brooklyn' and other erotically charged American tales of urban horror and desperation, many of Bukowski's short stories actually leave one with a warm glow, whether from reluctant but real love, brilliant delineation of sociological phenomena in America or, once in a while, juicy science fiction."--Adam Perry, Boulder Weekly "Charles Bukowski, prophet of the lost, deacon of the mean and insane...In Absence of the Hero, City Lights' second posthumous volume of uncollected stories and essays, we're given samples spanning almost his entire career. There are moments of brilliance and flickers of light..."--Chico News and Review "City Lights take their Bukowski uncollected stories and essays seriously and David Calonne has meticulously assembled and documented the two volumes of this series...this is essential reading for every Bukophile."--Bold Monkey "[Bukowski] seems to be one of those rare writers who learns not by emulating a given model but by reading his own stuff as he writes and rediscovering for himself the dignity of form...A low-life raconteur and a dimestore perv, Bukowski was the life of the party night after night. When you open any of his books, that party goes on."--Said Shirazi, Fifth Wednesday Journal
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