Charles Bukowski: Laughing with the Gods

A PUBLISHING FIRST In 1980 Fernanda Pivano, noted Italian critic, translator, and author,came to the United States to interview one of the world's singularwriters, Charles Bukowski.Bukowski had become famous for his lower-depths fiction andpoetry. Who was this man? What made him write the way he did? How didhe live? How did he write? These and other questions were to be askedduring the interview.Coming to Bukowski's home in San Pedro, California, Pivano found a manwhose answers to her questions were frank, revealing, and sometimesshocking. In lengthy and productive sessions, she discovered aBukowski both the same and different than his published works.The complete transcript of that remarkable interview is included inCHARLES BUKOWSKI: LAUGHING WITH THE GODS.But that is only part of this book, which has been published inEnglish for the first time. Pivano has surrounded the interview with agenerous helping of comment, critique, and warmly worded appraisal.Bukowski died in 1994. Since then his fame has only increased. Thisbook provides unique insight into the forces behind the man.Pivano writes: "The hearsay and facts about Bukowski's life are ascrazy and strange as the stories he writes. In a certain way Bukowskiis a legend in his own time: a recluse, a lover, tender, vicious,horrible, a saint . . . The jury is still out. It seems there is nomiddle ground. People love him or hate him. Only one thing is sure:you can't read him and remain the same."