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Thanks. I have to tell you that I think I have an advantage. It seems to be running slow for me, so the ball doesn't zip around quite as fast as RL pinnies. But then, maybe that is the way it works for everybody. Either way, the 18 million took me an hour. Plus, I kept hitting the "Windows" key...

Welcome. I think you'll find this is a good place for opinions on darn near any kind of books.

I know you only have my word for it, but I just scored 18,363,000.

I thought of it while nodding off last night, the man's name is Hubert Selby. Anyway, I didn't much enjoy Last Exit to Brooklyn, either. Yeah, it was tough to read (the grammar thing), but it was also disturbing. Wetbones sounds very similar to two of the other books I mentioned: J.G...

I guess it depends on what you would find shocking. However, some titles which come to mind are: Last Exit to Brooklyn by Thomas Selby (I think that's the author's name, or maybe Phillip Selby) or his other titles. The Knock-Out Artist or Body by Harry Crews Notes of a Dirty Old Man or Tales...

Irene, I find that one of the best things for getting me out of a rut is hard, physical labor. Chopping wood is always good, or hitting something with a sledgehammer. But then, there are other kinds of ruts, too. I mean, sometimes they are the kind that require buying books, going to a...

Mrs. O'Leary's cow is generally thought, according to urban legend, to have started the Great Chicago Fire (back in the 1880's, I think) by kicking over a kerosene lamp. So, while she did end up cooked, that wasn't really what I had in mind.

Boy, I feel a bit like Mrs. O'Leary's cow. In any event, Novella, I think that if anything would tend to explain why more 20th Cent. poets weren't named here, it is that most people start out reading poetry in school. So, generally, they start with the usual canon of "dead white guys". So, to...

Jigzy, You might also care to check out something like Jorge Luis Borges' Ficciones or Labyrinths. Many of his short stories explore matters like epistemology, set theory, etc. You could also try Pirsig's Lila, though I thought it was not nearly as good as Motorcycle Maintenance. Jean Paul...

Thea, Very well said! One can read my favorite Buk poem (". . . Alarm Clock") and be titillated by it's sexual content. But, one can also read it as a profound and novel expression of Buk's isolation and loneliness, etc. To my mind, he had a real gift for showing his readers every day emotions...

Yeah. It seems to me that poetry is such a personal thing, such a subjective thing (far more than prose), that peoples' responses are also bound to be highly individual. There are plenty of other poets I might have mentioned; ones who, at one time or another, strictly by chance, managed to write...

Yeah. I've always liked The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hill for a title; but, my favorite poem is "The Night I F**ked My Alarm Clock" in Love is a Dog from Hell.

I'm surprised to see so people many mention Bukowski. Which isn't to say that he wasn't a great poet. He certainly could be when he was "right". And, he had a real gift for book titles. Have any of you read any the volumes of collected letters (Screams from the Balcony, etc.)? They're quite...

Hi, Sugarz. I had the same problem with lending out books, so I simply refuse to do it. I also refuse to borrow any books. Like you, I have, as a matter of course, bought books for people, or simply given them a copy, rather than lending. At any rate, you needn't feel selfconscious about it...

For what it's worth, I have tried this mysterious potion in the hopes of erasing, among other things, some rather unpleasant memories. It's called alcohol. The rub is that one shouldn't go through life drunk all the time. I can tell you, though, that there are about 4 years worth of...

I don't know that he ever lived in the Ukraine, but I can't say that he didn't either. He was a merchant seaman for much of his youth. I know that English was his third or fourth language. In any event, I know that he spent the vast bulk of his creative life in England, where he was good...

I guess it depends if you count Joseph Conrad as a Pole or not. I mean, he was born in Poland, but is generally thought of as being English. Other than that, I can't think of any Poles, though I am not 100% sure.

Ashlea, You've hit the nail on the head in more ways than one. That is to say that, ultimately, the only "suitable" bid is the maximum that "Bookbuyer" is willing to pay. I know that that sounds like a cop-out, but it's the truth. In any auction situation, "worth" is a slippery concept; all...

So, did you ever get around to Post Office? Buk can be an acquired taste (like a lot of British cheeses, or so I hear).

Well put, Novella. But, you also can't discount the degree to which Road was autobiographical. Kerouac, himself, was pretty directionless at that point, which is one of the major themes of the novel.