Comments on: Metafilter and the Case of the Obscured Book Cover

Question: Metafilter and the Case of the Obscured Book Cover

zoomorphic — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:00:31 -0800

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."

By: fellion

fellion — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:17:34 -0800

Barfly
by Charles Bukowski

By: specialagentwebb

specialagentwebb — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:17:39 -0800

Sounds like Barfly, by Charles Bukowski.

By: specialagentwebb

specialagentwebb — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:17:59 -0800

Beat me to it, fellion.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:18:44 -0800

You impress me, Ask Metafilter.

By: dersins

dersins — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:18:51 -0800

Jesus fuck you people are fast.

By: JoanArkham

JoanArkham — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:19:44 -0800

Argh! I am deeply, deeply impressed.

By: zoomorphic

zoomorphic — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:27:32 -0800

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.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:06:26 -0800

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.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:22:17 -0800

I can't believe no one has posted the cover.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:23:16 -0800

Except specialagentwebb, of course. D'oh.

By: zoomorphic

zoomorphic — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:57:00 -0800

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.

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:46:21 -0800

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.....