WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY
Our Background
One of the beauties of Bukowski’s dialogue is his humorous absurdity. He’ll say things that could be either a compliment or an insult—-and are usually both. This is an example of that kind of dialogue. I don’t think you’re going to be able to pull a rational meaning out of it by analysis, but we all “get it.” It’s typical charming Bukowski paying a woman a huge compliment then qualifying it in a way that either makes the compliment even more powerful or else cancels it out completely. You just gotta laugh.
If I had the context I could be more sure. Is he speaking or is it a girlfriend or his publishers.?if he’s talkin to a woman it’s fairly obvious he’s assuring her she is the only woman he is invested in. Bukowski wasn’t exactly monogamous but he ouodbe been for Simeon women at some times in his life. He had a passionate affair with sculptress Linda King who could hold her own with him in every way. . It’s safe to say he loved her . At the time he wrote Woman and his literary star was on the rise, he had a few women in his lif.e. King and. cupcakes, a busty beauty who wasn’t now all that into Bull, but evoked his lust, were two o them. Linda Lee, a woman’s who wasn’t really his type became his wife and there’s no reason to think he cheated on her. She was rumored to be less than faithl to him, but her affairs were allegedly with women. Jane his firstborn love could’ve provoke this remark as well. It may be part of a fictional story or an explanation to a man he didn’t business with like John Martin or Another patron.
Bukowski, known for his antics, irreverance, and mysogynistic character steer here the essense of present tense.
With me denotes a kind of wisdom to the power of now. It invokes a special sense of truth because the character, likely female, is with him
The order of monopoly of hearts is a tragic feature of modern and historical relationships. So cleanly does Bukowski evade thatbtooic and remind that if you are with, imparting physical denoation, then you are number one, no questions asked