Betting on the Muse

How could this be? I like Bach, classical poetry, high-brow literature...and Bukowski! I will admit his attitudes about women make me cringe, but this guy can really tell the truth. He knows people inside and out and that is why I like his work. Since 9.11.01 many people have asked if irony is dead. When you read Bukowski you understand that irony is probably the most essential human trait. Irony lives on in our daily lives and in the works of Charles Bukowski. This is a great book.

I have to confess i'm not a Bukowski connoiseur. I only recently discovered him so i'm not fortunate enough to place this book in any formatted context. All i can say, from the point of view of someone who hasn't read much Bukowski, i thought this was brilliant. His writing style is so incisive and simple, i love it. Filled with paradox and irony. Its worth getting. I found myself ticking off the page corners when i would come across a great poem or interesting short story. Excellent stuff

Collections of poetry tend to be uneven--especially when they're as enormous as Bukowski's work (as packaged by Black Sparrow).Betting on the muse is uneven also, but it is surely worth the money spent. There are enough poems in here ranging from 'superb' to 'good enough' to make this worth buying.The poem "Drink" is hilarious. Buk takes us into a New Orleans bar and excellently describes what he sees. The dark humor in it keeps me coming back to it."Until it hurts" is a poem about writer. It's a statement to any true writer.Betting on the Muse has the usual fare: getting drunk, hanging at the horsetrack, woman troubles... and it never gets tiresome; but it also has Buk's words of wisdom about life and the process & meaning of writing.I'd recommend this book above any of Buk's other collections. I give 5 stars because as far as collections go it's about as consistent, from page to page, as you could ever hope for

Simply put, if you are a Bukowski fan, you MUST read this. If you aren't a Bukowski fan, this is a very good (and gradual) introduction which may help you understand his earlier work. Not that his writing needs any explaining, but for some reason it is terribly misunderstood and unapreciated. I think "Betting on the Muse" will help readers understand the virtue of Bukowski's literature. Two very noteworthy things in this book are the poem "Let it enfold you" and "An empire of coins". This book is everything that Bukowski stood for: Good but minimalistic literature for the masses, with an pseudo existential twist (although Bukowski himself may not admit to that). Like another reader said "Bukowski loves life and hates life, but he lives life to the fullest".

Gritty and cynical, yet strangely hopeful and innocent, Betting On the Muse is quite possibly one of the most powerful books I have ever read.