h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A536618

This my first attempt at putting an article for peer review, so I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks

PC

Hello,

It's a nice entry and a suitable entry to the guide (I personally feel we need more articles on poets in the Guide). I feel however that you can expand it a bit more for the uninitiated. An unfamiliar reader might not be able to figure out the Bukowski was a poet and novelist or the dark nature of his work. A full listing of all his books (or at least the most significant) might be enlightening for future reading. But these are just my suggestions, I'm curious to see what other people think.

Yours,
Jake

PS I have a Poetry Writing Prof (William Packard) who claims to have known Bukowski personally and claims that the tough guy and barfly was all a bit of an act, and that Bukowski was really the nicest person he knew (as opposed to Robert Frost, who was genteel in appearance but apparently very mean in person). Too anecdotal for the article, but I thought you might find it interesting.

Hi PC,

Like Mr Cogito, I think you have the start of a good entry here. Maybe entitling it "Charles Bukowski, Poet and Writer" would take away some of the confusion for the uninitiated.

There are a couple of rather woolly generalisations, eg "His work was the only thing that kept him from madness...". In whose opinion, and based on what evidence?

Please do add more about his works - eg which are the most significant, and why - but try not to lose the tone and flow, which are bang-on in the style of the Guide. This could be really good.

GVI

Another thing occurs to me:
It might also be worth noting that Bukowski's screenplay for the Francis Ford Coppola film 'Barfly', which starred Mickey Rourke, was essentially thinly disguised autobiography.

thanks for your help, it is much apperciated

PC

FYI: The currently active thread for this entry is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F48874?thread=108443

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review Sin Bin' to 'Charles Bukowski - Poet and Novelist'.

Back to Entry - this became Edited Entry A595406 Charles Bukowski - Poet and Novelist