The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way (eBook, EPUB)

“Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way, or even to say a simple thing in a simpler way.”—Charles Bukowski

In The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way, Charles Bukowski considers the art of writing, and the art of living as a writer. Bringing together a variety of previously uncollected stories, columns, reviews, introductions, and interviews, this book finds him approaching the dynamics of his chosen profession with cynical aplomb, deflating pretensions and tearing down idols armed with only a typewriter and a bottle of beer. Beginning with the title piece—a serious manifesto disguised as off-handed remarks en route to the racetrack—The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way runs through numerous tales following the author’s adventures at poetry readings, parties, film sets, and bars, and also features an unprecedented gathering of Bukowski’s singular literary criticism. From classic authors like Hemingway to underground legends like d.a. levy to his own stable of obscure favorites, Bukowski uses each occasion to expound on the larger issues around literary production. The book closes with a handful of interviews in which he discusses his writing practices and his influences, making this a perfect guide to the man behind the myth and the disciplined artist behind the boozing brawler.

Born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) is the author of over forty-five books of poetry and prose.

David Stephen Calonne has written several books and edited four previous volumes of uncollected Bukowski for City Lights.

The method behind the madness, revealing the critical acumen of everyone's favorite Dirty Old Man.

Manifesto

Upon the Mathematics of the Breath and the Way

Tales

A Dollar for Carl Larsen

Hell Yes, The Hydrogen Bomb (1958)

Dialogue: Dead Man on the Fence

Bio from Long Shot Poems for Broke Players

Bukowski Meets a Merry Drunk (NOADOM, LA Free Press, March 17, 1967)

Notes of a DOM (National Underground Review, Aug 2-8, 1968

Open City, “Bukowski’s Gossip Column”

More Notes of a DOM (Candid Press, Nov 29, 1970)

Candid Press, “More Notes of a Dirty Old Man” Dec. 13, 1970

More Notes of a DOM (Candid Press, Dec 20, 1970)

Notes of a DOM (Nola Express 96, Tony Kinnard 1971)

1972 April 14, “Notes of a Dirty Old Man,” LAFP

June 23, 1972, NOADOM, LAFP

Notes of A Dirty Old Man, Open City, November 3-16, 1972

Notes of a Dirty Old Man (Nola December 8-21, 1972)

Narrative Account of Career/Guggenheim 1974

NOADOM LAFP, May 17

Notes of a DOM (July 12, 1974)

Notes of a DOM (LA Free Press, Aug 16, 1974)

Notes of a DOM (Nov 22, 1974)

LAFP, April 11, 1975, NOADOM

Notes of a DOM (LA Free Press, June 13-19, 1975)

NOADOM, LAFP, Feb 13-19, 1976/Feb. 20, 1976

Politics and Love

Dildo Man

Introductions and Criticism

“Editors (and others) Write,” Trace 36, March/April 1960

Little Magazines in America

Introduction to John William Corrington, Mr. Clean, 1964

The Corybant of Wit (Irving Layton)

Introduction to Jory Sherman

Review of John William Corrington

Another Burial of a Once Talent (John William Corrington)

Foreword to Steve Richmond

Essay on Nothing for Your Mother Nothingness

Who’s Big in the Littles

“The Deliberate Mashing of the Sun” da levy

“Charles Bukowski on Willie”, Introduction to The Cockroach Hotel by Willie [William Hageman]

Introduction to Doug Blazek’s Skull Juices

The Impotence of Being Ernest: Review of Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream

An Introduction to These Poems (Al Masarik)

“Foreword,” Steve Richmond Earth Rose, 1974

“A Note on These Poems,” 1976: “Appreciation” to Al Purdy’s At Marsport Drugstore

“About Aftermath,” 1983

“Preface”, The Bukowski/Purdy Letters 1964-1974

Introduction to Horsemeat

Douglas Goodwin Intro

1988 Foreword to MacDonald Carey Beyond That Further Hill

“Further Musings,” Half-Truth, Nov./Dec.

Interviews

Stonecloud Interview

Berkeley Barb Interview

New York Quarterly, 27, Summer 1985, William Packard, Craft Interview

“Gin-Soaked Boy” Film Comment, Vol 23, No. 4, July/August 1987

Lizard Eyelid’s Interview with Charles Bukowski

Born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, Charles Bukowski published his first short story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he would eventually publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose. He died of leukemia in San Pedro, California on March 9, 1994.

David Stephen Calonne is the author of several books and has edited four previous collections of the uncollected work of Charles Bukowski for City Lights: Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook, Absence of the Hero, More Notes of a Dirty Old Man, and The Bell Tolls for No One.