"That was all a man needed: hope. It was a lack of hope that discouraged a man. I remembered my New Orleans days, living on two-five cent candy bars a day for weeks at a time in order to have leisure to write. But starvation, unfortunately, didn't improve art. It only hindered it. A man's soul was rooted in his stomach. A man could write much better after eating a porterhouse steak and drinking a pint of whiskey than he could ever write after eating a nickel candy bar. The myth of the starving artist was a hoax."
—Charles Bukowski, Factotum, 1975
"Drunk at the matinee" is a collection of candid poetry about stupid shit that we all experience from day to day.
i know how motivated to write I feel after a bottle of whisky and a steak..-adam s
ReplyDeleteWell. Just because he is Bukowski doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about. It seems like it, but not really. I personally can't really write when I'm drunk. And I bet Bukowski has never tried fasting, which is similar to starving, but vastly different from living off of just candy. Lots of people experienced enhanced mental clarity and focus and inspiration while fasting.
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