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Hostage | 
 enlarge | Artist: Charles Bukowski
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $9.98
You Save: $9.00 (47%)
New (3) Used (8) from $7.99
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 93227
Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 71758
UPC: 081227175825
EAN: 0081227175825
ASIN: B0000033CJ
Release Date: June 7, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The San Pedro, California, audience is the hostage referred to in the title of this mid-1980s recording, but clearly they love every minute of it. It's indicative of this infamous, lowlife-lovin' poet's no-nonsense, tough-talking skill that for half the recording the crowd is nearly pissing themselves with laughter. Hostage has to be one of the rowdiest poetry records ever released, which makes sense considering how drunk Bukowski plainly is. The drink never gets in the way of his delivery, the tough, beautiful lines and moronically macho ones always landing on target, on cue. Bukowski delivers odes to dead Roman poets, lands a few good jokes, and--most crucially--offers up a few Raymond Carver-esque glimpses straight into the human soul. No document showcases Bukowski's radiant humor and occasional grace as succinctly as this intoxicating disc. --Mike McGonigal.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amusing at times, but disappointing on the whole May 23, 2006
J from NY (New York)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
After about a half an hour of Bukowski sparring with the audience and getting drunk (admittedly amusing at times, his cynical wit getting more and more depraved as the so-called "reading" goes on), I found myself wishing I had purchased some other spoken record by him.
He makes it clear that he's just making money, just wants to pass the time, that he doesn't think much of the crowd. I love it. But it's not poetry.
He only reads about 10 poems during the entirety of the hour. It seems like he wants to offend the audience, get kicked out, and go finish his booze; his poems were not on his mind that night. Not much was at all, in fact. I love hearing this guy read normally but this is just a marketing ploy and a waste of money. The material he recorded in the 70's is far better, before he became "the working man;s hero poet" officially. This is more like a recording of Lenny Bruce than poetry. Still, it is worth listening to just to get a sense of how charismatic Bukowski was and how he could get away with just about anything.
 Try "Poems and Insults" instead July 18, 2005
P. Couture (Santa Cruz, CA USA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This has some great moments but the poems are weaker than "P&I" and the "rejoinders" with the audience keep derailing things. Maybe you had to be there. Interesting but not essential.
 Hostage will make you laugh out loud in an empty room. May 9, 2004
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This CD is one of a kind. You won't find a better Bukowski CD if not a better CD in general. Bukowski has a relationship with the listeners like no other. He yells at members in the crowd and laughs with others. Bukowski goes from drunk to drunker as the CD goes on which adds to the hilarity of it all. This is an absolute MUST for your bukowski collection.
 Very f-ing funny April 10, 2003
Il Bruce
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Hostage is a hilarious recording of a Bukowski poetry reading that is a treasure to those of us too young to have heard him in person, especially during his heyday. Bukowski gives this reading at the optimum level of intoxication - audibly drunk but still quite lucid. If you have read and enjoyed his books, then this recording is a treat.The version from audible.com comes in 8 tracks, clearly preferable to a CD with one hour long track.
bukowski at his drunken best April 20, 2002
Phillip Nichols (United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
i've had this reading for several years now,and i still love it.i enjoy listening to it on the long drive to new york every month.
the first time i listened i thought,"is this really what hank sounds like?" his voice is a bit like a dirty old man's at times but ,thats what he was.the poetry runs the spectrum from beautiful to perverse as always.if you have more than 2 of his books,pick this up.you'll like it.
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