The works of Charles Bukowski

“Over and over again I have said that there is no way out of the present impasse. If we were wide awake we would be instantly struck by the horrors which surround us . . . We would drop our tools, quit our jobs, deny our obligations, pay no taxes, observe no laws, and so on. Could the man or woman who is thoroughly awakened possibly do the crazy things which are now expected of him or her every moment of the day.”
Henry Miller

Charles Bukowski was a daily witness to the banal cruelty that afflicts the ordinary and the mad. Through an act of the imagination he turned bitterness into art. Disfigured and set apart, he never fit in the good fold of bourgeois society and culture. One of the so-called Meat Poets, his was a poetry of the body; base and carnal, intoxicated by the cheap & tawdry and stained by the most crass means of satiating those desires and impulses. His eye frames it all.

Factotum, Post Office and South of No North, chart the true source of alienation and the dreary routine of the work-a-day world. Work is painted as a soulless enterprise, the buried life, that is washed away in the most crass and vulgar means by those who have no more than that which is at hand.

His first two full- length collections of poems, It Catches My Heart in Its Hands and Crucifix in a Death Hand, parts of which are still available in Burning in Water Drowning in Flame, illustrate all the Bukowski gifts: a keen ear for the musical quality of natural, everyday speech; an ability to infuse significance into desperate, dreadful moments of his own life and those of others without becoming pathetic or sentimental; a tremendous facility of listing and juxtaposing details of everyday life with abstraction either to set a scene or to vivify a theme; an artistic distance from his subjects which allows him to find humor and wisdom in even the most dismal scenario, and a propensity for the narrative poem.

Ham on Rye, an autobiographical novel, in answer to Catcher in the Rye, is a great novel. Bukoswski is an acne disfigured Frankenstein beaten into a misanthropic outcast by his alcoholic father. Henry Chinaski, the Charles Bukowski character, dwells in a hostile universe abused by his father and alienated from his peers by his monstrous looks. It is a portrait of the damned, redeemed only by fabricating the horrendous actual stuff of life into art.

Bukowski, closely read Celine and was heavily influenced by the pen of John Fante. But, he was a solo act. His opus is profound in that it paints a world of class and the underbelly of a culture that is mesmerized by the gross hallucinations of media and ignores the more sordid aspects of actual life. This is not reading for the fainthearted. It’s a cheap carnival ride through Dante’s hell and the underworld of Dostoevsky. These are stories and poems of the disenfranchised. There is no epiphany, just the seedy and maudlin acts of those crushed by the grim architecture of modern aka contemporary life. There is little pleasure and much despair amidst the grimy underpinning of a bawdy and cruel melancholia. It is a portrait of life in all its drunkenness and brutality.

From, The Bone Palace:

Dostoevsky

against the wall,

the firing squad ready.

then he got a reprieve.

suppose they had shot Dostoevsky?

before he wrote all that?

I suppose it wouldn't have

mattered

not directly.

there are billions of people who have

never read him and never

will.

but as a young man I know that he

got me through the factories,

lifted me high through the night

and put me down

in a better

place.

even while in the bar

drinking with the other

derelicts,

I was glad they gave Dostoevsky

a reprieve,

it gave me one,

allowed me to look directly at those

rancid faces

in my world,

death pointing its finger,

I held fast,

an immaculate drunk

sharing the stinking dark with

my

brothers.

Works by Bukowski:

Bone Palace 811.54 BUK
Come on In 811.54 BUK
Factotum FIC BUK
Ham On Rye FIC BUK
Post Office FIC BUK
Run with the Hunted 811.54 BUK
The Captain is Out to Lunch 818.54 BUK
The Pleasures of the Damned 811.54 BUK

Summer Grab Bag of New Fiction

Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Drama, Soap Operas, zany Sci Fi. Get'em, while they're hot!

The Eyes of a King by Katherine Banner

YA Banner, K
15-year-old Leo North attends military school, lives with his fearful grandmother, and looks after his brother Stirling. He resists his innate powers because those who demonstrate any sort of magical ability are considered enemies of the state. But when he finds a blank book in the snow, he senses its strange power. Passages start to appear on the pages—revealing family secrets, telling the history of Malonia, and uncovering the story of Ryan and Anna, two teens from a parallel universe.

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

YA Bartoletti, S
When 16-year-old Helmuth Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmuth's story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.

Jump The Cracks by Stacey DeKeyser

YA Keyser, S
On a New York City train, 15-year-old Victoria witnesses some rough treatment towards a little two-year-old boy. Victoria then watches as his teen mom stashes her son in the bathroom, exits the train and seems to start arguing with a guy over what appears to be drug money. So Victoria suddenly decides to board the next train out, taking the toddler with her.
She's determined not to let this kid fall through the cracks, so she resolves to stay on the run until everyone responsible starts keeping their promises.

Likely Story by David Van Etten

YA Etten, D

Mallory is a teenage girl living in L.A. and her mother is the oftnominated, never-winning star of a daytime soap, and the ultimate drama queen. After yet another blow-out about her mother’s awful plotlines and overacting, Mallory starts blogging about how she wishes soap operas were more like real kids’ lives instead of the ridiculous storylines the shows usually feature. When her mother’s agent reads the blog, Mallory ends up in her own whirlwind drama as she works to protect the integrity of her original idea, cope with her mother’s jealousy, and get her best friend a lead role on the show. Factor in her boyfriend with the girlfriend, the cute but bad brother to said-best-friend, and the super-cute male lead on her show, and you've got a likely story. Only in L.A.

Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks

YA Jinks, C

Once Cadel was going to take over the world.

Now he's stuck in foster care with constant police surveillance to protect him from the evil Prosper English until he gets an offer to join a mysterious group called Genius Squad.

The Sky Inside by Clare B. Dunkle

YA Dunkle, Clare

Every year a new generation of genetically-engineered children is shipped out to meet their parents. Every spring the residents of his town take down the snow they've stuck to their windows and put up flowers. Every morning his family gathers around their television and votes, like everyone else, for whatever matter of national importance the president has on the table. Today, it is the color of his drapes. It's business as usual under the protective dome of suburb HM1. And it's all about to come crashing down.
Should Martin remain in the dubious safety of HM1, with danger that no one wants to talk about, or should he break out of the suburb, into the mysterious land outside?

Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor

YA Taylor, G

The Prince Regent is no ordinary hotel. Powered by steam, run by an eccentric inventor who doesn't believe in sleep, it's a place full of shadowy characters and dangerous secrets. Mariah has just started working there as a magician's assistant, when he and his coworker unwittingly learn more than they were meant to know. Suddenly, they are pawns in an evil plot full of twists and turns, even more than the labyrinth of hidden tunnels and caverns beneath the hotel. All the adults seem to be hiding something. And Mariah is fast realizing, not all magic tricks are illusions.

Here's more from the current list of newest books!

Becker, Tom - Darkside
Brothers, Meagan - Debbie Harry Sings in French
Carranza, Maite - War of the Witches
Carroll, Michael - Quantum Prophecy – The Awakening
Dowell, Frances O’Roark - Shooting the Moon
Durst, Sarah Beth - Into the Wild
Forsyth, Kate - Heart of Stars (Rhiannon’s Ride #3)
Haarsma, P.J. - Virus on Orbis 1 (The Software)
Haarsma, P.J. - Betrayal on Orbis 2 (The Software)
Hardinge, Francis - Well Witched
Kawsney, Michelle D. Itch

Lisle, Holly - The Ruby Key (Moon & Sun #1)
Love, D. AnneDefying the Diva
Meldrum, ChristinaMadapple
Peterson, Will - Triskellion
Popescu, Petru - Birth of the Pack (Weregirls)
Reinhardt, Dana - How to Build a House
Rose, Malcolm - Traces Series – Framed!, Lost Bullet, Final Lap, Roll Call
Shusterman, Neal - Everlost
Somper, Justin - Vampirates Series (Books 1-3)
Stahler Jr., David - Truesight Trilogy (Books 1-3)
Stein, Tammar - High Dive
Stewart, Sean and Jordan Weisman - Cathy’s Key
Strahan, Jonathan (ed.) - Starry Rift – Tales of New Tomorrows

Townsend, Wendy - Lizard Love
Triana, Gaby - The Temptress Four
Vega, Denise - Fact of Life #31
Wood, Jamie Martinez - Rogelia’s House of Magic

OIL by James Laxer 333.8232 LAX

The United States Military is the world’s largest fuel-burning entity.

The U.S. government, burns about 440,000 barrels of oil per day, or slightly more than the entire output of the oil field at Prudhoe Bay, when the pipelines are not shut down due to corrosion. Multiply by 365 days per year, and the U.S. government burns up about 160 million barrels of oil per year, at a cost of something over $20 billion at recent price levels.

Of the total U.S. government liquid fuel use, about 97% of that is consumed by the Department of Defense, making that agency the world’s single largest fuel-burning entity.

A Humvee averages about four miles per gallon.

An Abrams tank that gets just six-tenths of a mile per gallon.

Battlefield fuel prices are at $400 per gallon.

The military consumes about 1.2 million barrels of fuel each month in Iraq

The U.S. consumes about 21 million of the 86 million barrels of oil per day. U.S. military fuel consumption dwarfs energy demand in many countries around the world, adding up to nearly double the fuel use in Ireland and 20 times more than that of Iceland. Since World War II, America has held fast to the idea that controlling the oil flow out of the Persian Gulf must be assured at the point of a M-16 rifle. But the cost of that approach has been crippling. As the U.S. military pursues its occupation of Iraq—with the fuel costs approaching $1.5 billion per week—it’s obvious that the U.S. needs to rethink the assumption that secure energy sources depend on militarism.

Today the average American G.I. in Iraq uses about 25.5 gallons of fuel every day. Thus, in order to secure the third-richest country on the planet, the U.S. military is burning enormous quantities of petroleum. And nearly every drop of that fuel is imported into Iraq. These massive fuel requirements—just over 3 million gallons per day for Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Energy Support Center—are a key reason for the soaring cost of the war effort.


In 2007 alone, the U.S. military in Iraq burned more than 1.1 billion gallons of fuel. (American Armed Forces generally use a blend of jet fuel known as JP-8 to propel both aircraft and automobiles.) About 5,500 tanker trucks are involved in the Iraqi fuel-hauling effort. That fleet of trucks is enormously costly. In November 2006, a study produced by the U.S. Military Academy estimated that delivering one gallon of fuel to U.S. soldiers in Iraq cost American taxpayers $42—and that didn’t include the cost of the fuel itself. At that rate, each U.S. soldier in Iraq is costing $840 per day in fuel delivery costs, and the U.S. is spending $923 million per week on fuel-related logistics in order to keep 157,000 G.I.s in Iraq. Given that the Iraq War is now costing about $2.5 billion per week, petroleum costs alone currently account for about one-third of all U.S. military expenditure in Iraq.

The newest armored Humvees, which weigh about six tons, haven’t been enough to protect soldiers against the deadly explosives. Last year, Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon agreed on a four-year plan to spend about $20 billion on a fleet of 23,000 mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles or MRAPs. Last August, the Pentagon ordered 1,520 of the vehicles at a cost of $3.5 million each.

The MRAPs mean even greater demand for fuel from U.S. troops in Iraq. An armored Humvee covers perhaps 8 miles per gallon of fuel. One version of the MRAP, the Maxxpro, weighs about 40,000 pounds, and according to a source within the military, gets just 1 mile per gallon. The increased demand for fuel for the MRAPs will come alongside the need for an entirely new set of tires, fan belts, windshields, alternators, and other gear. It all costs heavily.

Unless you're delusional or in the pay of the energy industry, you know that the burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming and destructive climate change that is already wreaking havoc around the globe. Not to mention that fossil fuels are a limited resource, costly to extract and refine, and increasingly sought-after by competing nations.

Pointedly, one may deduce: The US of A, is in Iraq spending oodles of money to secure the oil supply. No known economic theory fits this disastrous impulse that sits upon consuming enormous qualities of oil at three or four times the existing world price per barrel as an ongoing cost of War. As foreign policy it is simply madness. Increased consumption and inflationary pricing are at odds with any sane energy policy. Accelerating the process of burning-up a diminishing resource that is past its peak will result in a hard crash and dour consequences. It's lights out and a blade runner scenario times ten. Our is a hydrocarbon society. There are no viable substitutes to stave off our demise if we continue at the present level of consumption. There is no way to stave off consumption without crippling our economy. What is at hand is a horror worse than any writ by Dickens and a savagery worse than any witnessed during the last bloody and violent century. A reckoning is at hand and it will be ugly.

This book speaks to it all. Peak oil. The History of the Industry. The alternatives or lack of one. Breath deep, it will be a hard ride.

Links:

Energy Watch Group, Crude Oil supply Outlook:
http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/EWG_Oilreport_10-2007.pdf
Peak Oil:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
Matthew Simmons Inc; Energy Investment Group
http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/default.asp
Matthew Simmons; Top expert on oil ;speeches, papers, presentations:
http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=msspeeches
World Oil Production 1960 to 2007:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/aer/txt/ptb1105.html
World Oil, statistics: http://www.worldoil.com/INFOCENTER/STATISTICS_DETAIL.ASP?STATFILE=_WORLDOILPRODUCTION
Worldwide Oil Production:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0129/csmimg/p17a.pdf

Twilight Saga CONTEST!

I know you're all on pins and needles awaiting Breaking Dawn. Here's something to tide you over! Stephenie Meyer's official site just posted info about a brand new Twilight saga contest. Check out the contest site to find out how you can win a trip to New York that includes:

- A limo ride to her Twilight concert series

- A private meet & greet with Stephenie Meyer herself

- The best seats in the house

- A signed bookplate

Oh, and you'll also be among the first anywhere to get a copy of Breaking Dawn! Even Edward wouldn't get this sort of treatment!
Be sure to keep watching for news about Midnight Sun - after all, stories are always better from the vampire's perspective!

Percy Jackson goes to Hollywood

That's right, folks... our favorite ADD hero is hitting the big screen! 20th Century Fox has announced that a movie version of Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief is currently in development. The movie should hit theatres on November 13, 2009. No word yet about who they're casting or whether it will be live or animated action.

Of course, the movie is over 16 months away. While you're waiting, don't forget to check out these other young adult books that are debuting on the silver screen!

• Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging
  In theaters on July 25, 2008
  
  Based on the book by Louise Rennison. If you loved the movie Bend It like Beckham, you'll be thrilled to discover that Gurinder Chadha is also directing this movie!
  


• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
  In theaters on August 6, 2008
  
  Based on the book by Ann Brashares. If you are an avid fan of the TV show Ugly Betty, you'll enjoying finding out that America Ferrera is back for this anticipated sequel!

• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
  In theaters on Oct. 3, 2008
  
  Based on the book by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. If you liked the movie Juno, you'll be glad to hear that leading actor Michael Cera is playing Nick!
  


• Inkheart
  In theaters on Jan. 9, 2009
  
  Based on the book by Cornelia Funke. If you thought that the Gollum character from the Lord of the Rings movies was creepy, you'll be intrigued to know that Andy Serkis is playing the villain Capricorn!

Mixtape Mania

Along with vinyl's long overdue comeback, mixtapes are also finding a surge in popularity. My musical epiphanies during high school can be attributed partially to swapping tapes with friends and online penpals. Recently, I dug a box of old tapes out of the closet; some of them may not hold up for me musically, but each tape represents a distinctive time in my life or an old friend that I've long since lost touched with. There's the tape I got trading with a guy in Chile, featuring a plethora of interesting South American bands. Apparently, someone at some point tried to get me into industrial music, because I have a tape full of it. Then there are several I put together myself in the futile quest to assemble the perfect mix (not unlike trying to find the Holy Grail) that offer a glimpse into the psyche of my younger self.
I was thrilled to read about the upswing in popularity of the classic mixtape. Assembling a good selection of songs for friends, family, or a significant other is a true art form. Despite their metamorphosis to burned CDs or (*shudder*) online MP3 playlists, the mixtape spirit lives on!

For tips and examples of mixtape assembly, check out:

Wikipedia - Good general info

Cassette from My Ex - Writers tell the stories behind the mixtapes made by exes, whether artsy, endearing, tacky or just plain unromantic. As a bonus, you can listen to the tapes in their entirety!

Rolling Stone Mixtapes - Songs to fit any occasion

Pick Up Summer Reading Loot July 1st!

Just a quick reminder to all of the summer readers (and there are over 1,000 of you now!):

You can begin redeeming your fifteen hour reading logs starting Tuesday, July 1st! Come by the teen desk with your completed log to pick up a free book or gift card to Powells, along with other great stuff! If you haven't completed your fifteen hours of reading, have no fear - you have until August 13th to turn in your log sheets! Don't forget that you can also continue submitting reviews in person or at our Web site for inclusion in the gift card and $100 grand prize drawings! Over and out.