# Is "You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense" by Charles Bukowski a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense by Charles Bukowski (Black Sparrow Press, 1986) is identified by: Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa, 1986. True first is the 1986 Black Sparrow Press edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa, 1986
- The collectible first is the trade hardcover (paper-covered boards with acetate dustjacket), issued alongside a signed and numbered limited issue and a smaller deluxe issue hand-bound by Earle Gray with an original signed Bukowski silkscreen print bound in
- A softcover in illustrated wraps also exists
- Title page printed in more than one color; no statement of later printing on the copyright page of the first
- Publisher imprint reads Black Sparrow Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Bukowski |
| Publisher | Black Sparrow Press |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa, 1986 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa, 1986. The collectible first is the trade hardcover (paper-covered boards with acetate dustjacket), issued alongside a signed and numbered limited issue and a smaller deluxe issue hand-bound by Earle Gray with an original signed Bukowski silkscreen print bound in. A softcover in illustrated wraps also exists. Title page printed in more than one color; no statement of later printing on the copyright page of the first.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1986 Black Sparrow Press edition. The signed and numbered and deluxe hand-bound issues are the scarcer states.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition; Black Sparrow was a small literary press.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense* by Charles Bukowski a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/you-get-so-alone-at-times-that-it-just-makes-sense
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.