Editing Charles Bukowski (section)

=== Poetry editorial controversy ===
Over half of Bukowski's collections have been published posthumously. Posthumous collections have been known to have been 'John Martinized' <ref>{{cite web |title=Bukowski's poems were mangled by editors after his death. Now you can read his originals |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/bukowksis-poems-were-mangled-by-editors-after-his-death-now-you-can-read-his-originals |website=PBS |date=November 6, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="LARB">{{cite web |title=Charles Bukowski's Posthumous Poetry: As the Spirit Wanes, Shit Happens |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/charles-bukowskis-posthumous-poetry-as-the-spirit-wanes-shit-happens/ |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=March 2, 2018 |access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref>,{{fv|date=December 2024|reason=Term 'John Martinized' not found in the sources.}} with the poems having been highly edited, at a level which was not present during Bukowski's lifetime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mjpbooks.com/blog/the-senseless-tragic-rape-of-charles-bukowskis-ghost-by-john-martins-black-sparrow-press/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230411173619/https://mjpbooks.com/blog/the-senseless-tragic-rape-of-charles-bukowskis-ghost-by-john-martins-black-sparrow-press/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2023-04-11|title=The Senseless, Tragic Rape of Charles Bukowski's Ghost by John Martin's Black Sparrow Press|date=June 18, 2013|website=mjp Books Blog via archive.is}}</ref> One example of a popular poem, "Roll the Dice" (when comparing the original manuscript to "What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire"), themes such as [[hell]] and [[alcoholism]] are removed. The creative editing present includes changing lines from "against total rejection and the highest of odds" <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bukowski.net/manuscripts/displaymanuscript.php?show=poem1991-00-00-roll-the-dice.jpg&w=2597|title=Charles Bukowski poem manuscript: Roll The Dice|website=bukowski.net}} {{dead link|date=December 2024}}</ref> to "despite rejection and the worst odds".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/what-about-roll-the-dice.6699/|title=What about 'Roll the Dice'?|website=Charles Bukowski – American author|date=August 23, 2011 }}</ref>{{bcn|date=December 2024}}