Poetry Flash Review -- Hilarious Review of Bukowski’s 1973 Reading with William Stafford at the San Francisco Museum of Art (1974)

Published in January 1974, this issue of the Poetry Flash Review covers Bukowski’s 1973 Reading with William Stafford at the San Francisco Museum of Art.

The review begins with the words, “He was drunk. first of all” and continues to provide cringe-worth moments of Bukowski’s behavior during the event. While the producer says he had the best of intentions in putting Bukowski on the same bill as Stafford, he later admits it was disaster waiting to happen.

“It is insensitive to put anyone short of King Kong on the same bill with a charismatic slime like Bukowski,” the reviewer writes. “It is doubly insensitive to put a poet of William Stafford’s unique stature on such a bill.”

The main issue was that Bukowski (and his fans) showed up at the beginning of the program while Stafford was reading. Chaos ensued and poor Stafford had to endure “the super-star wino posturing of Bukowski and his entourage.”

A classic Bukowski moment in time.

In Near Fine condition with a small tear, this is a great piece of history from this journal “printed as a community service by the San Francisco Art Commission’s Neighborhood Arts Program.”

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