An Answer to a Critic of Sorts: Extremely Rare Bukowski Broadside

There is not a lot known about this broadside – except it’s very rare. And what little information is known is contradictory.

The one thing there seems to be agreement on is that it was issued by Stooge magazine, which was edited by Laura Chester and Geoffrey Young out of Oconomowoc Lake, WI.

Bukowski bibliographer Aaron Krumhansl reported that it was issued with several other broadsides as part of Stooge #5 in 1970. Bukowski premier scholar Abel Debritto believes it was published in Stooge in 1969.

The most detailed explanation is from an essay Molly Young wrote for the Poetry Foundation in 2010. Molly was the niece of Geoffrey Young, who co-edited an issue of Stooge with Allen Schiller.

“Schiller’s idea was to do a box of broadsides, put the broadsides in an empty pizza box, decorate each one by hand, and call it Issue Nine. The issue included a poem by Bukowski, and because, according to Geoffrey, the boxes were “unwieldy to pack and ship” (no kidding), Geoffrey asked if he and his young wife could swing by and drop off Bukowski’s copy at his house”

Molly Young says this occurred in 1972, which may make sense since the poem also appeared that year in Bukowski and Linda King’s chapbook, Me and Your Sometimes Love poems, where it was titled To a Critic of Sorts.

This copy is in Near Fine-minus condition. A previous bookseller stupidly put the inventory number on the top-left corner and a price tag on the upper right in pencil. There are also three light, but visible creases. Two are one the upper left and one is on the right edge about hallway down.

Case 3