
About the poet: Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) was one of American literature's great outsiders — a poet who wrote unflinchingly about alcoholism, poverty, manual labor, and the Los Angeles working-class underworld, in a voice that was simultaneously brutal and tender. Born in Germany and raised in Los Angeles, he worked as a postal clerk for years while writing in obscurity before City Lights and then Black Sparrow Press brought his work to a wide audience. Collections including Love Is a Dog from Hell (Black Sparrow, 1977) and The Roominghouse Madrigals (Black Sparrow, 1988) cemented his cult status. He remains one of the most widely read American poets internationally.
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