Charles Bukowski poem and story database

Betting on the Muse

Published in 1996 by Black Sparrow Press

Splash - pg. 13 - circa 1991
The Women - pg. 15
The Monkey - pg. 19
Whistler - pg. 27
The Pleasures Of The Damned - pg. 29 - circa 1962
Those Marvelous Lunches - pg. 30 - circa 1991
Panties - pg. 35
The Dead Flowers Of Myself - pg. 38 - circa 1962
Me Against The World - pg. 39
The Snails - pg. 42
Again - pg. 45
The World War One Movies - pg. 46 - circa 1991
To Hell And Back In A Buggy Carriage - pg. 50 - circa 1992
Stages - pg. 52
Escape - pg. 56
Woman On The Street - pg. 58 - circa 1962
Confessions Of A Coward - pg. 59 - circa 1956
The Secret - pg. 66 - circa 1991
Somebody Else - pg. 67
A View From The Quarter, March 12th, 1965 - pg. 76
Drink - pg. 80
Black And White - pg. 89
And All The Snow Melted - pg. 95 - circa 1969
An Empire Of Coins - pg. 97
A Nickel - pg. 101
Nature Poem - pg. 106 - circa 1966
Warning - pg. 108 - circa 1962
Answer To A Note On The Dresser - pg. 109 - circa 1962
You Don't Know - pg. 110
Let Not - pg. 116
The Death Of A Roach - pg. 118 - circa 1959
The Unwritten - pg. 120
Right Now - pg. 123
The Sheep - pg. 124 - manuscript - 1991
Piss - pg. 126 - circa 1993
Last Fight - pg. 128
Defining The Magic - pg. 131 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - 1991
Writing - pg. 132 - manuscript - 1991
Views - pg. 134
The Strong Man - pg. 136 - 1991
The Terror - pg. 141
The Kiss-Off - pg. 143 - circa 1967
Betting On The Muse - pg. 144
The Unaccommodating Universe - pg. 147
Met A Man On The Street - pg. 155 - manuscript - 1991
Hell Is Now - pg. 156
The Kid - pg. 161
To Serve And Protect - pg. 164 - circa 1992
Bad Day - pg. 167 - circa 1992
The Dick - pg. 168
Fall Of The Roman Empire - pg. 173
People - pg. 176 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - circa 1991-1994
Ransom - pg. 178 - 1975
It's Difficult For Them - pg. 183 - circa 1991
Think Of It - pg. 186 - circa 1991
Chicken Giblets - pg. 188 - circa 1993
The Lover - pg. 192 - circa 1990
No Win - pg. 197 - circa 1993
The Star - pg. 198 - circa 1984
An Evaluation - pg. 204 - circa 1991
Neon - pg. 206 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - 1990
They Think This Is The Way It's Done - pg. 208
The Pile-Up - pg. 209 - manuscript - 1991
12 Minutes To Post - pg. 210 - circa 1991
As The Poems Go - pg. 211 - manuscript - 1991
The Telephone - pg. 212 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - circa 1991-1994
Hideaway - pg. 214
This Dirty, Valiant Game - pg. 221
Stay Out Of My Slippers, You Fool - pg. 225 - manuscript - 1992
The Voice - pg. 227 - circa 1992
The Bard Of San Francisco - pg. 233
On Biographies - pg. 236
A Real Break - pg. 238
Avoiding Humanity - pg. 240 - circa 1991
What Happened To The Loving, Laughing Girl In The Gingham Dress? - pg. 244
The Luck Of The Word - pg. 259
Bad Form - pg. 261
Last Call - pg. 263 - circa 1992
The Shape Of The Star - pg. 268
Upon Reading A Critical Review - pg. 271
Paris, What? - pg. 273 - circa 1992
A Social Call - pg. 275
The Girls We Followed Home - pg. 277 - manuscript - circa 1991-1994
Slow Starter - pg. 279 - circa 1993
Barstool - pg. 283
Look Back, Look Up - pg. 286 - circa 1991
Paris - pg. 290 - manuscript - 1991
The Good Soul - pg. 292 - circa 1991
Lousy Mail - pg. 294 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - circa 1991-1994
The Suicide - pg. 296 - circa 1985
Confession Of A Genius - pg. 309
Traffic Report - pg. 316 - manuscript - circa 1991-1994 - circa 1991-1994
Hands - pg. 318 - manuscript - 1991
Final Score - pg. 320
The Misanthrope - pg. 322
Putting It To Bed - pg. 325 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - circa 1991-1994 - circa 1991
The Trash Can - pg. 327
Block - pg. 329 - manuscript - 1991
Storm - pg. 331
The Similarity - pg. 333 - circa 1992
My Madness - pg. 334
Pastoral - pg. 337
Finis - pg. 339
That Rare Good Moment - pg. 342 - circa 1992
Doesn't Seem Like Much - pg. 345
Strange Luck - pg. 347
Until It Hurts - pg. 350 - manuscript (differs from Black Sparrow book version) - 1991
Death In The Afternoon - pg. 351
The Gods - pg. 360
Floss, Brush And Flush - pg. 362 - circa 1992
A Great Show - pg. 366
Epilogue - pg. 371
Fante - pg. 373
It Got Away - pg. 375 - manuscript - 1991
The Luck Of The Draw - pg. 376 - manuscript - 1991
Let It Enfold You - pg. 378
The 13th Month - pg. 388
Finis, II - pg. 390
The Observer - pg. 391
August, 1993 - pg. 393
This Night - pg. 394 - circa 1993
Betting On Now - pg. 396
Decline - pg. 398 - circa 1994
In The Mouth Of The Tiger - pg. 399 - circa 1992
The Laughing Heart - pg. 400 - circa 1993
A Challenge To The Dark - pg. 401
So Now? - pg. 402 - circa 1994