Screams from the Balcony
The selected letters covering the same decade, mostly to editors and publishers.
Read our take
Beerspit Night and Cursing
Seven years of letters with the artist Sheri Martinelli — one of the few people Bukowski argued with about art rather than performing for.
- 2001
About Charles Bukowski
About the volume
Beerspit Night and Cursing, published by Black Sparrow Press in 2001 and edited by Steven Moore, prints the correspondence between Charles Bukowski and the artist Sheri Martinelli from 1960 to 1967. Martinelli was a painter who had lived in the orbit of Ezra Pound, who wrote an introduction to a book of her work, and she is one of the few correspondents with whom Bukowski dropped the persona and argued seriously about literature and painting. The letters cover exactly the years he was moving from little-magazine obscurity toward his first full-length books, and they show him thinking aloud about art rather than performing indifference to it. The limited issue of 526 numbered copies was hand-bound by Earle Gray and carries an original serigraph by Bukowski.
The volume, in more detail
Most published Bukowski correspondence is with editors and publishers, which produces letters about submissions, money and print runs. This is different: two artists arguing. Martinelli pushed back, knew the modernist canon from inside it, and was not impressed by the pose, and the letters are sharper for it. They stop in 1967, the year before Black Sparrow began publishing him.
Themes and analysis
The drooping leaf and the keys
The June 1960 exchange begins with Martinelli returning poems and urging Bukowski to learn from older writers. His reply resists the instruction without entirely rejecting her criticism. Near its close, fingers at the typewriter, a drooping leaf and the passing ice-cream truck turn that dispute into a demonstration: experience is happening as the letter is being made. Yet his appeal to immediate life invokes Chopin and Chinese poetry. The passage therefore complicates his own attack on tradition; inherited art supplies part of the language with which he declares independence.
The portfolio in the wind
In the early-July letter, the scattered portfolio tests another route to artistic legitimacy. Bukowski recalls proving he was a writer by showing bar patrons a lavish publication containing his work beside famous names. The names mean little to this audience, but the printed object earns recognition. Wind and rain then undo that material proof. His decision to abandon the pages converts humiliation into a defiant performance, ending in a drink for Lorca. The anecdote questions prestige while still seeking a listener who can appreciate the literary company he has lost.
Why we recommend it
An argument between two artists
Most of the published correspondence is with editors. This is a painter who pushed back.
The obscure years, from inside
1960 to 1967, ending the year before Black Sparrow began publishing him.
Writing and painting discussed together
Sheri Martinelli’s work as an artist brings visual art into the exchange alongside arguments about literature.
What this book explores
Timeline
1960
The correspondence begins, the year Bukowski's first chapbook appears.
1967
The letters stop, a year before Black Sparrow begins publishing him.
2001
Black Sparrow publishes the correspondence, edited by Steven Moore.
Book editions
- Paperback
- Black Sparrow Press
- 2001
- 9781574231502
- Hardcover
- Black Sparrow Press
- 2001
- 9781574231519
- Hardcover
- Black Sparrow Press
- 2001
- 9781574231526
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
It Catches My Heart in Its Hands
The 1963 Loujon collection, published in the middle of this correspondence.
Read our take
Beerspit Night and Cursing: frequently asked questions
What is Beerspit Night and Cursing?
The correspondence between Charles Bukowski and the artist Sheri Martinelli, 1960 to 1967, published by Black Sparrow Press in 2001 and edited by Steven Moore.
Who was Sheri Martinelli?
A painter who had lived in Ezra Pound's orbit — Pound wrote the introduction to a book of her work published in Milan in 1956.
How is it different from the selected letters?
Those are mostly to editors and publishers, and are about submissions, money and print runs. These are two artists arguing about literature and painting.
What years does it cover?
1960 to 1967 — ending the year before John Martin began publishing Bukowski at Black Sparrow Press.
Is there a limited edition?
Yes: 526 numbered and lettered copies hand-bound by Earle Gray, each with an original Bukowski serigraph.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Beerspit Night and Cursing, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1Beerspit Night and Cursing
LettersCharles Bukowski, 2001Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2Charles Bukowski timeline (bukowski.net)
WebsiteUsed forPublication details, the editor and the edition issues.
3Charles Bukowski: books and chapbooks (Verdant Press checklist)
WebsiteUsed forBibliographic details including the hand-bound issue.
4Charles Bukowski
BiographyReaktion Books, 2012Used forThe 1960s correspondence and the pre-Black Sparrow years.
5Charles Bukowski (Poetry Foundation)
WebsiteUsed forCareer context for the obscure decade the letters cover.
6Beerspit Night and Cursing — authorized ebook preview
LettersHarperCollins (preview distributed by Everand), 2009Used forFirst-person evidence and historical context used in preparing the Beerspit Night and Cursing page.
i
Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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