Signed by Charles Bukowski: Laugh Literary And Man The Humping Guns No. 2, Bukowski as Publisher, Poet and Editor

In 1969, Bukowski and sidekick Neeli Cherry decided they wanted to become publishers. They had a plan where they would sell the majority of the copies to university libraries across the country, a scam Bukowski learned from LouJon Press founder and scammer Jon Edgar Webb.

Only three volumes would be published, this being the second. It is subtitled:

“DIRT POEMS FOR YOUR SUICE LIVES”

One problem Bukowski and Cherry encountered was finding enough good writing. So, in some cases, they gave their own work pseudonyms.

I couldn’t identify any Bukowski poems in this issue, but there are four Bukowski drawings and three letters. There is also a letter from Carl Weissner to Bukowski. The rest seem to be poems by Harold Norse, Steve Richmond, and Neeli Cherry.

This appears to be a Red Special, referring to the legendary Sholom "Red" Stodolsky, owner of the Baroque Bookstore in Hollywood. Red would accumulate piles of Bukowski work and Bukowski would meet him at the store to sign them and perhaps go out to lunch.

This copy is in Near Fine-minus condition. There is a vertical crease down the front cover, which is more noticeable on the rear of the cover. There also appears to be some light stains, although it could be the ink. There are some small stains on the rear cover, two of which impact the final page, as well as some toning. And it appears wrote down the name and address of two literary magazines on the inside rear cover in ink.

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