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Existence Is Not Enough - Books - a list by ASewell

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One of Charles Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to another, always needing money but never badly enough to keep a job. His day-to-day existence spirals into an endless litany of pathetic whores, sordid rooms, dreary embraces, and drunken brawls, as he makes his bitter, brilliant way from one drink to the next. (via search.barnesandnoble.com)

Updated Jan 9, 2009

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Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader

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I went and picked out this book after reading a single Bukowski poem on the Internet. It was so amazing that I was convinced that it couldn't just be a fluke. He had to have written something else that I would adore. I would come to love and hate the man just in one volume. Because of this reader I would also go on to buy several other books. The one really frustrating thing about this book is that it has no index or table of contents. You are forced to leaf through it and pick something to read, or leaf through it looking for something specific. Anyway, it will lead you on to other things and for what it's worth is a good starting point for Bukowski.

From Publishers Weekly:

From recollections of early childhood in Germany and L.A. in the '20s to the unflinching reflections of a grizzled septuagenarian, the stunning directness and infamous "bad attitude" of Bukowski's autobiographical poetry and fiction are as captivating as they are repugnant. Faithfully anthologized here by his longtime editor and arranged in chronological order, these excerpts from more than 20 of Bukowski's published books chronicle--both explicitly and through several recurring personas--the major events of the author's life: childhood, the Depression and WW II, the deaths of parents and lovers, his experience in Hollywood, illness and old age. Bukowski's signature themes are also present: the racetrack, drinking, violence, women, sex and, of course, writing. Set in some half-dozen big cities, and several grim hinterlands in between, they depict protagonists listlessly careening through unusual jobs, seedy bars and squalid apartments where they are observed in fierce lovers' quarrels or in solitary debauch with just some booze and a typewriter. All are rendered with great immediacy, disturbing candor and Bukowski's singular blend of cynicism, misanthropy and unexpected sentimentality. While devotees may prefer the original volumes in their entirety, this is an effective primer for the uninitiated, or a refresher for past readers who, incredibly, have managed to forget. (via amazon.com)

Updated Jan 1, 2009

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Roma Lussa Journals

8 people recommended this item

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Love these leather, European looking moleskine journals. I'm a sucker for journals, though.

Updated May 15, 2008

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5 year diary

7 people recommended this item

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I love the simple layout of this 5 year diary.

Updated Oct 30, 2008

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Subversive Cross Stitch: 33 Designs for Your Surly Side

2 people recommended this item

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I got this book for my Mom. Obviously, she's pretty cool to be able to appreciate this book. She used to do a lot of crafts, including cross stitch, so I knew this would be of interest. Oddly enough, it got me wanting to do it. My Mom has plenty of input on how I should get started, as I've never done it before. I'm excited! I've always like the idea of being able to make the gifts I give people, and not have them be lame. I mean, there is no way I'd give someone a framed cross stitch of "Home Sweet Home". Expletives are more my style. Truly..."irony is not dead."

Updated Sep 28, 2008

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Existance Is Not Enough

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Moleskine Mini Notebooks

3 people recommended this item

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I use these to jot down ideas, lists, information to transfer into larger journals later. One even functions as a permanent address and phone number book. You'll get three of the most portable and enjoyable mini notebooks ever created. Each mini notebook consists of 64 ruled pages of acid-free paper, and the last 16 pages are detachable by means of a micro-perforated edge. Inside the back page there is a spacious pocket for notes or clippings. (via thinkgeek.com)

Updated Oct 1, 2008

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Post Office

2 people recommended this item

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"It began as a mistake." By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In the world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze and race-track betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug waterlogged mailbags up mud-soaked mountains, outsmart vicious guard dogs, and pray to survive the day-to-day trials of sadistic bosses and certifiable coworkers. This classic 1971 novel, the one that catapulted its author to national fame, is the perfect introduction to the grimly hysterical world of legendary writer, poet and Dirty Old Man Charles Bukowski and his fictional alter ego, Henry Chinaski. (via amazon.com)

Updated Sep 28, 2008

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Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things

2 people recommended this item

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I think this would be a fascinating read. I would be interested in hearing other opinions on why design affects people differently. Whether I agree with those opinions may be another story all togther.

Updated Oct 5, 2008

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Existance Is Not Enough

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Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club

4 people recommended this item

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It's impossible to know where to begin with this book. I saw the movie before I read it. The film was why I ended up wanting to read it.

The person that recommended this book before me said that in the novel the characters take on a life of their own. While this is entirely true, what she didn't say was how this thoroughly engrossing novel takes on a life of its own not only through its characters, but through its larger themes and judgments that it makes on society as a whole. The situations that the unnamed narrator and main character find himself in are like hilarious train wrecks that you can't take your eyes off of. From self-help groups on testicular cancer and brain parasites to rendering soap from human fat.

This wildly inventive and caustic novel just goes on and on. In a way it is more vivid than the film, because your mind has to create its own crazy images, and come to its own conclusions on the barrage of moral and social dilemmas. Without the urging of film gods or carefully planned images.

Updated Oct 10, 2008

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Field Notes Brand - FIELD NOTES

2 people recommended this item

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I use small notebooks such as these to make general notes so that I don't forget things when I am out and about.

This is the first time I have come across these eco-friendly "Field Notes" books in an "on the go" format. These would be perfect for me as a birdwatcher, note scribbler and list maker.

Updated Oct 17, 2008