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Charles Bukowski (16 August 1920 – 9 March 1994 / Andernach)
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. It 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. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. In 1986 Time called Bukowski a "laureate of American lowlife". Regarding Bukowski's enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, "the secret of Bukowski’s appeal. . . [is that] he combines the confessional poet’s promise of intimacy ... more »
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Quotations
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''If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself a jail sentence.''
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), U.S. author, poet. Notes From a Dirty Old Man (1969).
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''The pest, in a sense, is a very superior being to us: he knows where to find us and how—usually in the bath or in sexual intercourse or asleep.''
Charles Bukowski (b. 1920), U.S. author, poet. "Notes on the Pest," Tales of Ordinary Madness (1967).
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The whole LSD, STP, marijuana, heroin, hashish, prescription cough medicine crowd suffers from the "Watchtower" itch: you gotta be with us, man, or you're out, you're dead. This pitch is a continual a...
Charles Bukowski (b. 1920), U.S. author, poet. "The Big Pot Game," Tales of Ordinary Madness (1967).
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''You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.''
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), U.S. author, poet. "Too Sensitive," Tales of Ordinary Madness (1967).
I think most of these comments about his writing are off base and annoying. Are any of you even poverty level? Or just sitting in your corner office eating xanax and googling Bukowski and kiddy porn...
I'd sit on his face for a while. N.S.
Unfortunately most beat writers seem to think exactly as this poem states. I feel that he hit home on this one. No one likes to speak of it but writers sometimes die old and alone or kill them selves. I can feel his pain. Yes, I do relate... but have hope in the next life with Jesus.
Michele Kostelnik Parrillo His poem Alone with Everybody is so original and suddenly becomes appreciable by certain poets-that walk down unusual paths.
cool and by the way my name is Landsley Alexandre and I was hoping you could read my poems thank you