Charles Bukowski

A Following

A Following - meaning Summary

Night Call and Small Fame

The poem describes a late-night phone call in which a magazine editor from Denver asks Bukowski's alter ego, Chinaski, for poems while a companion in the background hurls insults. The speaker handles both the crude heckling and the professional request with weary detachment, writing down an address and promising to try. The closing line widens the scene: these interactions are part of the small, lonely dramas that fill other people’s nights.

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The phone rang at 1:30 a.m. and it was a man from Denver: "Chinaski, you got a following in Denver..." "yeah?" "yeah, I got a magazine and I want some poems from you..." "FUCK YOU, CHINASKI!" I heard a voice in the background... "I see you have a friend," I said. "yeah," he answered, "now, I want six poems..." "CHINASKI SUCKS! CHINASKI'S A PRICK!" I heard the other voice. "you fellows been drinking?" I asked. "so what?" he answered. "you drink." "that's true..." "CHINASKI'S AN ASSHOLE!" Then the editor of the magazine gave me the address and I copied it down on the back of an envelope. "send us some poems now..." "I'll see what I can do..." "CHINASKI WRITES SHIT!" "goodbye," I said. "goodbye," said the editor. I hung up. there are certainly any number of lonely people without much to do with their nights.

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