Various (Schreiner, Dave (Editor); Borden, Robert; Bukowski, Charles; Line, Carol; Smith, Patti et al.)

Bugle American Vol. 9 No. 9 (No. 312, May 18- June 1, 1978)

Milwaukee, WI: 1978. First Edition, First Printing. Folded Sheets. This item represents one of the final numbers of Bugle, a Milwaukee underground paper that ran from 1970-1978 and was an example of the gradual shift in alternative weeklies from a focus on radical politics to one more balanced with cultural coverage. Included on page 3 is a recap by poetry editor Robert Borden of, as he saw it, a sparsely attended and “bizarre” Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) poetry reading at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “As the hard-drinking, piss & vinegar rat of American letters, it should have surprised no one that Bukowski stepped unsteadily onstage with poetry in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other,” Borden writes. What follows is a contemporaneous recounting of a quintessential Bukowski performance, including heckling, drinking from the stage, Bukowski frequently checking his watch, his insulting the audience and venue, and a string of poems that “dealt mostly with drinking, fucking, driving, and throwing up.” The first poem of the evening was a “suspiciously autobiographical” piece about a “drunken poet who is invited to give a poetry reading at a major university and vomits into the grand piano.” Though scheduled for an hour, Bukowski gave up at 43 minutes, Borden writes. “I think that I am a complete asshole. I want to beg your forgiveness for having me here tonight.” (Debritto, F355, pg. 596) Also in this issue are satirical pieces, shots at the Milwaukee Journal, movie, album, concert and book reviews, a photo feature of Wisconsin farmers, event calendars, ads for music events of the time, as well as the then-standard alt-weekly massage parlor advertisements and overtly sexual personal ads. The Bugle’s headquarters were firebombed in 1975, and the perpetrators never captured, but the staff continued to publish the paper. “We managed to slap the thing together and get the next week’s paper out on time,” former staff member Mark Goff told WUWM in 2018. Presumed first and only edition and printing. Complete French-fold style tabloid newspaper in relatively fine condition with minor tearing to the cover and some inside page edges, and a small hole due to wear at the top fold as well as mild age-toning throughout. Fine. [Item #7857]

Price: $40.00