Stephen Elliott reads “Verne’s Wife” from Charles Bukowski’s Absence of the Hero

Listen to Stephen Elliott reading “Verne’s Wife” a classic short story by Charles Bukowski, collected in Absence of the Hero.

Absence of the Hero contains much of Charles Bukowski’s earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls “Playing and Being the Poet.”  Among the book’s highlights are tales of his infamous public readings (“The Big Dope Reading,” “I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go to Bed with Girls”); a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods (“Bukowski Takes a Trip”).  Yet the book also showcases the other Bukowski—an astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own “Manifesto” to his account of poetry in Los Angeles (“A Foreword to These Poets”) to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior.

Our second volume of his uncollected prose, Absence of the Hero is a major addition to the Bukowski canon, essential for fans yet suitable for new readers as an introduction to the wide range of his work.
“He loads his head full of coal and diamonds shoot out of his finger tips. What a trick. The mole genius has left us with another digest. It’s a full house—read ‘em and weep.”
—Tom Waits

“This second volume of Bukowski’s uncollected stories and essays offers all that Bukowski is known for—wry obscenity, smutty wisdom, seeming ramblings whose hidden smarts catch you unaware—but in addition there are moments here in which he takes off the mask and strips away the bravado to show himself at his most vulnerable and human. A must for Bukowski aficionados.”
—Brian Evenson, author of Last Days and The Open Curtain

Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books including The Adderall Diarieswhich has been described as “genius” by both the San Francisco Chronicleand Vanity Fair. The Adderall Diaries was the best book of the year in Time Out New York, a best of 2009 in Kirkus Reviews, and one of 50 notable books in the San Francisco Chronicle.

His novel, Happy Baby, was a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lion Award as well as a best book of the year in Salon.com, Newsday, Chicago New City, the Journal News, and the Village Voice.

Elliott’s writing has been featured in Esquire, The New York Times, The Believer, GQ, Best American Non-Required Reading 2005 and 2007, Best American Erotica, and Best Sex Writing 2006. He is the editor of The Rumpus.