Shakespeare Never Did This – Charles Bukowski (City Lights, 1979) – Europe Travelogue w/ Michael Montfort Photos

Description

City Lights—the legendary San Francisco bookstore and publisher founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti—played a pivotal role in giving voice to beat and countercultural writers of the mid‑20th century. Ferlinghetti’s City Lights press championed Bukowski at a time when he was still defining his raw, unapologetic style. This slim, photographic travelogue, Shakespeare Never Did This, represents that vibrant collaboration, capturing Bukowski’s first trip to Europe through his prose and Montfort’s lens—an expression of the transatlantic literary friendship fostered by Ferlinghetti’s legacy.

Michael Montfort, beyond being the book’s photographer, was Bukowski’s longtime friend, traveling companion, and lens to his personal world. His images give readers more than a text—they offer intimate glimpses of Bukowski the man traveling, drinking, writing, and reflecting. Montfort helped shape how Bukowski would visually present his mythos to the world, outside of his words.

A transparent, intimate slice of Bukowski’s late-70s life—charged with mood and movement.