"erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions And General Tales Of Ordinary Madness"
(Bukowski, Charles)
"Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness" is a collection of Charles Bukowski's short stories, published in 1972. The range of subjects is quite wide, but the themes are for the most part recurrent. Almost all of the stories have some L.A. connection, like so much of Bukowski's work. The outcast is a traditional hero of Bukowski's, as indeed the character reflects back onto himself. Bukowski always sensed himself to be different from other people, and this was made only easier by his hideously acne-scarred face and rampant alcoholism. His main characters are likewise generally misanthropic, alcoholic and as often stated, "dirty". All of the short stories collected here are solid, well-written pieces. Much of Bukowski's work has failed to garner much critical support due to its down and out view of life and subject matter, though that is changing with time. The stories themselves range from the general sexcapades and vignettes of daily life on skid row to absurdist science fiction. Even so, they all are composed of Bukowski's famous trimmed down, anti-poetic language. Particular stand-outs include "The Most Beautiful Woman In Town" and "The Fuck Machine". "The Most Beautiful Woman In Town" details the writer's involvement with a ravishing girl who cannot accept her own beauty. It drives her to such extremes as to try to destroy it, she drives pins in her skin and cuts herself repeatedly, and it eventually leads to suicide. The effect this has on the main character is eloquently elaborated but in strikingly a raw manner, at which Bukowski excels. "The Fuck Machine" is a short story about a German scientist, Von Brashlitz, who escapes Nazi Germany with a "fuck machine" of his own making. Things begin to complicate as the machine falls in love with the main character and murders another man. The machine is torn apart in front of the narrator's eyes and he breaks down and cries. A few months later the narrator sees an ad in a magazine for an inflatable rubber doll, but it doesn't compare to the original. The narrator throws it away and tries to forget the entire situation.
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