OPEN CITY No. 34, Dec. 22–28, 1967 — Bukowski Christmas Story, Mothers of Invention, Phil Ochs, Richie Havens, Dow Chemical Napalm Protest

An issue of the Los Angeles underground weekly, featuring Charles Bukowski's "Notes of a Dirty Old Man." Framed as a Christmas story dedicated to the children gathering round, the column follows a night with his friend Lou, a fast-talking hustler who steers Bukowski into a dark bar scheme involving a young woman and her surgeon boyfriend. The column careers through an alley fight, a wine-fueled seduction, and a moonlit vacant lot, closing with Bukowski fleeing toward Alvarado Street and reaching for a wallet that is no longer there.

A special "Rock and Rule" issue, with a two-page feature on the Mothers of Invention by John Bryan and Frank Kofsky, with photographs by Ray Leong. The front cover documents the December 17 napalm protest march in Torrance against Dow Chemical, met by counter-protesters carrying signs reading "Spade Hippies" and "Better Dead Than Red." A full-page Liza Williams column with photographs by Sharon Ackerman offers a portrait of the downtown Grand Central Market. Large tabloid format, 17" x 11", black and white throughout.

Provenance: Mailing label on front cover addressed to John E. Bryan, 22420 Edgecliff Drive, Cleveland, Ohio — the editor's father at his home address.

The paper on this copy is still pretty white and bright. The fold is fairly even, although the page edges extend beyond the cover just a bit. Some light browning along the spine. In better shape that the photo looks.