Reading: South of No North by Charles Bukowski
Music: Herbie Mann's Memphis Underground
TV/Movie: Rune Soldier Vol. 2
Link o' the Day: J.K. Rowling bio

I finished JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” yesterday, and was impressed. She writes well, and I’m sure I’ll get along to the next book in due course.

I noticed, at the end of the book, that Rowling attended the University of Exeter. Now I was curious. I didn’t know how old she was, but figured that we were near the same age. I wondered if perhaps she attended Exeter the same time I did. (I was there for six months in 1989 studying Anglo-Saxon poetry on grants from the NEH and ESU.) As it turned out after some quick research—no. She and I weren’t classmates (although I didn’t attend any classes, being on an independent research project). She graduated from Exeter in 1987—two years before my grand entrance. I did recognize the name of the Black Horse Pub which was off the High Street in downtown Exeter.

The bio page I found on her was interesting. I wouldn’t mind knowing a bit about her and how she got her career going.

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After reading the charming stories of Harry and his friends, I decided I needed something a bit more brutal. Charles Bukowski definitely fits that bill. I didn’t know much about him until I saw Micky Rourke play him in “Barfly”—easily one of the best movies ever made in the 80s.

Like a down-on-his-luck lightweight boxer, Bukowski writes (fiction and poetry) in a straightforward manner, interjected with occaisional punches of lyric genius. His characters and subject matter are often crude, but they also come across as bleakly real. Reading Bukowski is like getting into a bar fight. It starts with some shoving, and before you know it you’re in too deep and can’t turn back. Fortunately the pummeling doesn’t last too long, and sometimes you win, but gasping for breath. Sometimes you lose and lie bleeding on the floor and in need of a change of pants.

That’s Charlie.

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Finally gotten underway with my next BearManor book. This one is about the Bickersons… stars of radio and television. It looks pretty interesting. There are some layout challenges that are new, but not insurmountable by any means.

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Today’s link is related to the JKRowling stuff above, it’s one of, I’m sure, many websites with bios of her. This one seems pretty comprehensive, well-written, and cited.

Enjoy!