Charles Bukowski
Born 16 August 1920 · Died 9 March 1994
From Andernach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany · Nationality: United States, Germany · Writes fiction and nonfiction
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Bukowski's writing was heavily influenced by the geography and atmosphere of his home city of Los Angeles, and is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. A prolific author, Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, and six novels, eventually having over 60 books in print. In 1986 Time called Bukowski a "laureate of American lowlife."
Quotes
“It’s 4:30 in the morning, it’s always 4:30 in the morning.”
Rooming House Madrigals 1954 “I walk through rooms of the dead, streets of the dead, cities of the dead: men without eyes, men without voices; men with manufactured feelings and standard reactions; men with newspaper brains, television souls and high school ideals.”
p. 24 “People in love often become edgy, dangerous. They lose their sense of perspective. They lose their sense of humor. They become nervous, psychotic bores. They even become killers.”
Women “We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors have taken over the Ship “If I’m an ass, I should say so. If I don’t, somebody else will. If I say it first, that disarms them.”
Interviews
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by Charles Bukowski in order
Books by Charles Bukowski in the order they were published, from Notes of a Dirty Old Man (1969) to La senda del perdedor (2015).
- 1Notes of a Dirty Old Man
Notes of a Dirty Old Man1969 - 2The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills
The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills1969 - 3Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Or
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness1972 - 4South of No North
South of No North1973 - 5Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame
Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame1974What's in it (4)
- It Catches My Heart in Its Hands (Poems 1955-1963)
- Crucifix in a Deathhand (Poems 1963-1965)
- At Terror Street and Agony Way (Poems 1965-1968)
- Buring in Water, Drowning in Flame (Poems 1972-1973
- 6Post Office
Post Office1974 - 7Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski1975 - 8Factotum
Factotum1975 - 9Love Is a Dog from Hell
Love Is a Dog from Hell1977 - 10Women
Women1978 - 11Ham on Rye
Ham on Rye1982 - 12Hot Water Music
Hot Water Music1983 - 13Tales of Ordinary Madness
Tales of Ordinary Madness1983 - 14The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories
The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories1983 - 15You Get so Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense
You Get so Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense1986 - 16Hollywood
Hollywood1989 - 17The Last Night of the Earth Poems
The Last Night of the Earth Poems1992 - 18Run with the Hunted
Run with the Hunted1993 - 19Pulp
Pulp1994 - 20Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way
Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way2002 - 21The People Look Like Flowers at Last
The People Look Like Flowers at Last2007 - 22La senda del perdedor
La senda del perdedor2015 - 23Bukowski on Bukowski
Bukowski on Bukowski - 24What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire