Metafilter and the Case of the Obscured Book Cover

February 24, 2009 12:00 PM

Help me figure out what book this person is reading based on the cover, a mostly obscured title, and guesstimate of letters in the author's last name.

This is a long-shot. Black cover, red rectangle in the middle. The title is in yellow, presumably one word. The title's first letter is probably "B," but maybe "E," and the final letter is definitely "Y." The author's name is in blue font. Someone in the book says, "I can't stand people." The book looks incredibly second-hand, so it might not be a cover currently in circulation. The author's last name most likely begins with "B" and is long-ish (7+ letters). The first name begins with either an "O" or a "C."

posted by zoomorphic to grab bag (12 comments total)

Barfly
by Charles Bukowski
posted by fellion at 12:17 PM on February 24, 2009

Sounds like Barfly, by Charles Bukowski.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:17 PM on February 24, 2009

Beat me to it, fellion.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:17 PM on February 24, 2009

You impress me, Ask Metafilter.
posted by WCityMike at 12:18 PM on February 24, 2009

Jesus fuck you people are fast.
posted by dersins at 12:18 PM on February 24, 2009

Argh! I am deeply, deeply impressed.
posted by JoanArkham at 12:19 PM on February 24, 2009

Barfly
by Charles Bukowski

Ewwwww. This guy at my morning coffee shop has been asking around about me, and I was getting this force field of "do not respond" vibes from him. Thanks for sparing me from an awkward date with a Bukowski fan.
posted by zoomorphic at 12:27 PM on February 24, 2009 [14 favorites]

Bukowski has a lot of brilliant stuff. I think "post office" is amazing.

And one decent thing about a Bukowski fan is that most likely he's a step above in intelligence. I realize it's a stereotype, but the need to bathe artsy set love him, and do many of the (usually male) literary types.

If you're getting "'do not respond' vibes" that's good enough reason to not date him, you don't have to get squicked just because he likes Bukowski.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:06 PM on February 24, 2009

I can't believe no one has posted the cover.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:22 PM on February 24, 2009

Except specialagentwebb, of course. D'oh.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:23 PM on February 24, 2009

Metafilter once again astounds me. I really didn't think anyone would be able to divine that book cover out of my Wheel-of-Fortune description. Bravo, fellion and specialagentwebb.

I realize it's a stereotype, but the need to bathe artsy set love him, and do many of the (usually male) literary types.

I try not be this shallow about something as simple as a book companion, but Bukowski just screams "I need a literary platform for half-baked philosophies regarding women and human relationships but I'm too lazy to read Updike." They can ask the barista about me when they've evolved into Vonnegut readers, at the very least.
posted by zoomorphic at 8:57 PM on February 24, 2009

I need a literary platform for half-baked philosophies regarding women and human relationships but I'm too lazy to read Updike."

ruh roh, shaggy.....

posted by snuffleupagus at 7:46 AM on February 25, 2009