Charles Bukowski's "Women"

And I didn’t think I would find anything quotable in Bukowski’s “Women”. Oh, me of little faith.

I take it that a number of his novels are fictionalized autobiographies, with Henry Chinaski serving as his protagonist and alter-ego. I suppose these are only very loosely based on his real life, but you get the idea. In “Women” we pick up the story when he is fifty and has just gotten his writing career in gear, after working twelve years as a postal clerk.

He had not had sex in four years. Such is the life of a postal clerk, I guess. But his luck is changing as a published writer. He meets a thirty-year-old fox in tight bluejeans, Lydia Vance, at his first poetry reading. The relationship clicks, but a young woman of today is not shy about what she wants in bed.

_ _ _

“You don’t know anything about women, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can tell by reading your poems and stories that you just don’t know anything about women.”

“Tell me more.”

“Well, I mean for a man to interest me he’s got to eat my pussy. Have you ever eaten pussy?”

“No.”

“You’re over 50 years old and you’ve never eaten pussy?”

“No.”

“It’s too late.”

“Why?”

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

“Sure you can.”

“No, it’s too late for you.”

“I’ve always been a slow starter.”

Lydia got up and walked into the other room. She came back with a pencil and a piece of paper. “Now, look, I want to show you something.” She began to draw on the paper. “Now, this is a cunt, and here is something you probably don’t know about - the clit. That’s where the feeling is. The clit hides, you see, it comes out now and then, it’s pink and very sensitive. Sometimes it will hide from you and you have to find it, you just touch it with the tip of your tongue....”

“O.K.,” I said, “I’ve got it.”

“I don’t think you can do it. I tell you, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

“Let’s take our clothes off and lay down.”

We undressed and stretched out. I began kissing Lydia. I dropped from the lips to the neck, then down to the breasts. Then I was down at the bellybutton. I moved lower.

“No you can’t,” she said. “Blood and pee come out of there, think of it, blood and pee....”

I got down there and began licking. She had drawn an accurate picture for me. Everything was where it was supposed to be. I heard her breathing heavily, then moaning. It excited me.

-- “Women” by Charles Bukowski

_ _ _

I don’t think I will be book-blogging Bukowski, but this little novel is a fun read.

Charles Bukowski's "Women"

And I didn’t think I would find anything quotable in Bukowski’s “Women”. Oh, me of little faith.

I take it that a number of his novels are fictionalized autobiographies, with Henry Chinaski serving as his protagonist and alter-ego. I suppose these are only very loosely based on his real life, but you get the idea. In “Women” we pick up the story when he is fifty and has just gotten his writing career in gear, after working twelve years as a postal clerk.

He had not had sex in four years. Such is the life of a postal clerk, I guess. But his luck is changing as a published writer. He meets a thirty-year-old fox in tight bluejeans, Lydia Vance, at his first poetry reading. The relationship clicks, but a young woman of today is not shy about what she wants in bed.

_ _ _

“You don’t know anything about women, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can tell by reading your poems and stories that you just don’t know anything about women.”

“Tell me more.”

“Well, I mean for a man to interest me he’s got to eat my pussy. Have you ever eaten pussy?”

“No.”

“You’re over 50 years old and you’ve never eaten pussy?”

“No.”

“It’s too late.”

“Why?”

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

“Sure you can.”

“No, it’s too late for you.”

“I’ve always been a slow starter.”

Lydia got up and walked into the other room. She came back with a pencil and a piece of paper. “Now, look, I want to show you something.” She began to draw on the paper. “Now, this is a cunt, and here is something you probably don’t know about - the clit. That’s where the feeling is. The clit hides, you see, it comes out now and then, it’s pink and very sensitive. Sometimes it will hide from you and you have to find it, you just touch it with the tip of your tongue....”

“O.K.,” I said, “I’ve got it.”

“I don’t think you can do it. I tell you, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

“Let’s take our clothes off and lay down.”

We undressed and stretched out. I began kissing Lydia. I dropped from the lips to the neck, then down to the breasts. Then I was down at the bellybutton. I moved lower.

“No you can’t,” she said. “Blood and pee come out of there, think of it, blood and pee....”

I got down there and began licking. She had drawn an accurate picture for me. Everything was where it was supposed to be. I heard her breathing heavily, then moaning. It excited me.

-- “Women” by Charles Bukowski

_ _ _

I don’t think I will be book-blogging Bukowski, but this little novel is a fun read.