Limited, Signed by Charles Bukowski, #24/27: Drawings, Poems, Letters and Essays

This is a signed copy of All’s Normal Here. This is a special copy, #24 of a total of 27 copies signed by Bukowski and editor J. Glazier.

Published in 1985, All’s Normal Here (technically Oro Madre Vol. 4, No. 1-4), was published by Glazier’s Rudy Duck Press. Glazier included Bukowski in two issues of his poetry journal Oro Madre, as well as the chapbooks Going Modern and All's Normal Here.

This copy also includes a typed, hand-signed letter from Glazier to Tom Clark, who was a poet, biographer, novelist, dramatist, reviewer, and sportswriter during his writing career. In addition to dozens of books of poetry, a play, two novels, two story collections, and numerous biographies of literary figures, Clark’s works included a book co-written with star baseball pitcher Mark Fidrych, poems about such sports legends as Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, and Bert Campaneris, and a history of the Oakland A’s baseball team.

Also tipped in is an order form for the book that includes a photograph of Bukowski at a reading. There’s a hand-written note concerning date of publication, May 1985.

Spanning 110 pages, this is a large format (8.5"x 10.75"), perfect-bound book that contains a number of drawings by Bukowski, as well as 14 pieces by him, including poems, letters, and essays.

• A Poem Is A City
• About The Love Poems Of The Cat
• Barred From The Polo Lounge
• Here I Am
• Poem For My 43rd Birthday
• Rhyming Poem
• Same Old Thing, Shakespeare Through Mailer
• Style
• The House
• Upon The Mathematics Of The Breath And The Way

Other pieces range from assessments and testimonies to tributes and poems by Bukowski associates like Hugh Fox, Jack Micheline, Marvin Malone, Gerald Locklin, A.D. Winans, David Barker, Charles Potts, Ann Menebroker, Al Fogel and many more.

Unlike a lot of books, the writings about Bukowski are interesting. Of the 110 pages of content, 90 percent is well worth reading, including a small piece on LouJon press and a bitter little note from John Martin.

The Bukowski letters are replicated in full, unlike the edited-down versions that were included in the later compilations.

Because of the black covers with a heavy coating, it’s hard to find copies without noticeable white creases on the covers. By those standards, this copy is much better than most, with edgewear, and crease from the flap, a light crease at the top of the spine and small, but noticeable bumps to the corners.

All in all, Near Fine-plus.

This is not exactly a well-produced book, but it is a definite read for all Charles Bukowski fans. From a collector’s standpoint, this is one of Bukowski’s smallest signed limitations.

Crate 2