I just finished Post Office today and read the blurb on back under the picture of Bukowski. It said he didn't get published until he was 35. It was a poem, then the novels came. Supposedly he wrote Post Office in one weekend. I wonder what he would say now about the word processors and e-books and tablets.....etc. I wonder if he would have got stuck writing some obnoxious sitcom and lose his edge.
I hope Bukowski would take a look around this culture and ask "what happened?" I want to know, what happened to creativity? We've made contests out of every form of expression. We tell people that if you cannot win this contest, you're not good. Even cooking shows have a "gong" factor. Cooking is a basic need! We made a business out of music, writing and art. We established a new "reality" where your personal expression has a monetary value. This is bizarre. And I fully admit this is coming from someone whose expression has a low market value. You can't rate an expression of my soul. But I suppose it's like the way certain style of women come and go as the new beauty.
70's- Farrah Fawcett
80's- Brooke Shields
90's- Pam Anderson
00's- Paris Hilton
10's- Kim Kardashian.
The spotlight switched. Is that to say that Brooke Shields is no longer beautiful? No, but she's not the new beauty.
I say all that to say this: Be creative and forget about winning.
