All the Assholes in the World and Mine – Sign by Doug Blazek (1966)

This is a copy of the 1966 Bukowski chapbook All the Assholes in the World and Mine, which has become more uncommon to find over the past few years.

This copy is signed by Doug Blazek, publisher of the book and a close friend of Bukowski at the time. It is in fine condition with a small owner’s signature on the first flyleaf.

This was Bukowski’s second book of prose and also features the second appearance of Bukowski’s classic underdog, Henry Chinaski, perhaps best known as the main character in the film Barfly.

The chapbook is a humorous 28-page recounting of Bukowski’s hemorrhoid operation. The condition had caused him pain and bleeding over several years and resulted in many sick days at the Post Office. It was Bukowski’s second stay in the hospital, following stomach ulcers that nearly killed him years earlier.

Beyond publishing two books of Bukowski prose, Blazek was an accomplished poet and the publisher of OLE magazine. Eight issues of OLE were produced between 1964 and 1967, and in a way it started where the Outsider left off, in terms of giving exposure to underground poets. Even if the magazine was primitively produced on mimeo, the quality of the writing itself set a standard for the period, rivaling only Marvin Malone’s Wormwood Review.

Blazek and Bukowski considered themselves friends and had a lengthy correspondence between 1964 to 1968. But as with other poets and editors, the relationship ended abruptly after their first meeting in person. As with Jon Webb, both can be blamed for the fall out.

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