Bukowski, Charles

Promotional Broadside/Card: "I Pour a Drink and Toast Love"

Los Angeles, CA: Black Sparrow Press, 2001. Single Sheet. "...and here | as ever | is the | typewriter." (last stanza, "I Pour a Drink and Toast to Love"). Offered today is the promotional broadside/card I Pour a Drink and Toast to Love (Debritto A172, pg. 87). Originally published in Relentless as the Tarantula in 1986 (Debritto A100, pg. 53) and titled "I Pour a Drink and Toast the Love of My Luck," this promotional broadside/card with the re-titled “I Pour a Drink and Toast Love” was produced by Black Sparrow Press in 2001 for their 35th Anniversary and was not published in any authorized collection or periodical. Black Sparrow was co-founded in 1966 in Los Angeles, California by husband-and-wife duo John Martin (1930-2025) & Barbara Martin in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) and other avant-garde authors. John Martin notoriously took many personal liberties in editing the original poem, and this version of the poem is hotly debated in online Bukowski forums. Beat-adjacent poet, novelist, and the great American author Bukowski is often described as “the poet laureate of American Lowlife” and is not only one of the finest writers America has produced, but almost certainly one of the greatest poets of the last century. "I Pour a Drink and Toast Love" is still peak Bukowski, with its raw, visceral, personal, and straight-forward approach. The poem reflects Bukowski's candid portrayal of his struggles with alcohol, portraying it not merely as a crutch but as a muse that fuels his writing and provides an escape from the mundanity of life. Bukowski's relationship with alcohol is complex, as he finds both inspiration and solace in it, often using it to express his raw, unfiltered experiences and emotions and serves as a testament to his unique perspective on life, where the bottle serves as both a source of creativity and a reflection of his tumultuous relationships and personal struggles. On a gypsum gray stock with a sans serif typeface in dove gray. On verso, Black Sparrow announces their 35th anniversary and thanks its wonderful readers accompanied by their signature black sparrow graphic. Single Sheet (appx: 4" x 6"): First edition, first printing per the aforementioned bibliography. A most collectible broadside in the Bukowski/Black Sparrow canon. In as new condition with no discernable flaws, essentially mint. Very Fine. [Item #8454]

Price: $30.00