Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness, Charles Bukowski. First Edition.
Charles Bukowski is the man. The prolific poet, novelist and short story writer was notorious for his boozing, relationships with women, and all-around bad-assery. Born in 1920 and a prolific writer until his death in 1994, his work focuses on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, writing, alcohol, women and the dullness of work. One critic described his writing as "detailed depiction of a certain taboo male fantasy: the uninhibited bachelor, slobby, anti-social, and utterly free," an image which he certainly strove to live up to.
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness was the first of Bukowski's short story collections to be published, and was released in 1972 by City Lights Publishers. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the owner of City Lights, was one of the first to recognize Bukowski's talents. The collection is dedicated to Bukowski's girlfriend, Linda King. The stories originally appeared in the underground newspapers Berkeley Barb and Open City, men's magazines including Adam, and in literary reviews, including Nova Express. This is the scarce first printing: