Fax to Email
Unlimited Faxes, No Fees, Dedicated Phone Number
Unlimited Faxes, No Fees, Dedicated Phone Number
Charles Bukowski
|
"Bukowski is the laureate of the Los Angeles underground, an eccentric who sees the world with a charity of vision possessed only by artists and madmen." — Los Angeles Times novels |
Poet Charles 'Hank' Bukowski was born 16 August 1920 in Andernach, Germany. His parents moved to Longwood Avenue in Los Angeles, California, where Hank suffered regular beatings from his father and extreme teenage acne; he attended Los Angeles High School – see his novel "Ham On Rye".
From age 18 to 24, he attempted to write for major magazines such as Harper's and Atlantic Monthly, with no success; he stopped writing and then worked odd jobs and drank a lot – see his novel "Factotum". In 1952, the U.S. Post Office hired him to work at Terminal Annex in Downtown Los Angeles; he worked first as a letter carrier and later as a clerk (staying for 18 years) – see his novel "Post Office". After a near-fatal stomach hemorrhage in 1955, he returned to writing with a vengeance. He wrote poetry and was successful in the growing small alternative presses of the time; he wrote a column for the weekly L.A. Free Press – see "Notes of a Dirty Old Man". He lived in East Hollywood, drinking and carousing and writing and socializing at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park race tracks almost daily (in season) – see his novel "Women". During this time, he became an international celebrity.
In 1980, Hank sent his publisher, Black Sparrow Press, a copy of John Fante's "Ask The Dust", demanding republication of Fante's book as a condition of publication of further Bukowski work. The rediscovery of Fante's work and the revival of his reputation revitalised Fante, and even though blind from diabetes and seriously ill, Fante dictated "Dreams From Bunker Hill" to his wife; it was published before Fante's death in 1983.
Hank's first wife, Frances Smith, bore him a daughter, Marina. He met his second wife in the 70s, and they moved to San Pedro (the harbor area south of Los Angeles) in 1978 and married in 1985. The San Pedro years were very different: Hank began eating health food, almost never hung out in bars, and wrote mountains of poetry and prose – he began using an Apple Macintosh in 1990.
In March of 1993, Charles Bukowski was diagnosed with leukemia; he died on 9 March 1994 in Los Angeles, California (officially of pneumonia).
Charles Bukowski catalog at Amazon.com
Charles Bukowski credits at Internet Movie Database
Charles Bukowski entry at Wikipedia
The Novels
 |
"Post Office" [1971]
Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [10/81] for $10.50 Black Sparrow hardcover [12/83] for $17.50 |
 |
"Factotum: A Novel" [1975]
Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [8/00] for $11.20 Anagrama pb [7/95] for $16.15 Black Sparrow 9½x6½ hardcover [1/79] out of print/used see below for info on 2006 feature film adaptation |
 |
"Women" [1981]
HarperCollins 9x5.8 pb [10/81] for $11.20 Black Sparrow hardcover [12/84] out of print/used |
 |
"Ham On Rye" [1982]
based on Hank's childhood thru teenage years Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [9/82] for $11.20 Black Sparrow 9x6 hardcover [9/82] for $17.50 |
 |
"Hollywood" [1989]
based on experiences during the making of 'Barfly' Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [12/89] for $11.20 Black Sparrow 9x6 hardcover [12/89] for $17.50 |
 |
"Pulp" [1994] Los Angeles P.I. Nicky Belane in Bukowski's bent and darker-than-noir celebration and parody of the hard-boiled detective genre. Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [5/94] for $10.50 Black Sparrow hardcover [5/94] out of print/used |
Poems & Stories By Charles Bukowski
 |
"Come On In!: New Poems" [2006]
Ecco 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2006] for $17.33 |
 |
"Slouching Toward Nirvana: New Poems" [2005]
Ecco 9x6 pb [1/2006] for $11.16 Ecco 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2/2005] for $17.33 |
"As Buddha Smiles" [2004]
"The Flash Of Lightning Behind The Mountain: New Poems" [2004]
"Sifting Through The Madness For The Word, The Line, The Way: New Poems" [2003]
"The Simple Truth" [2002]
"Pink Silks" [2001]
"The Night Torn Mad With Footsteps" [2001]
"Open All Night [2000]
"Popcorn In The Dark" [2000]
"What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire" [1999]
 |
"Charles Bukowski: Uncensored, from the 'Run With the Hunted' Session" [2000] readings by Charles Bukowski 'a fascinating portrait of the artist as an old drunk' Harper Audio UNABR audio CD [10/2000] for $13.00 |
 |
"Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader" [stories & poems 1993] Edited by John Martin Harper 8x5¼ pb [5/94] for $11.20 Black Sparrow hardcover [3/93] out of print/used Harper 9½x6½ hardcover [6/93] out of print/used Harper ABR audio [5/93] for $12.00 |
 |
"You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense" [1986] Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [8/86] for $10.40 Black Sparrow 9¼x6¼ [8/86] for $15.75 |
 |
"Tales of Ordinary Madness" [stories 1984]
City Lights Books 8x5¼ pb [1/84] for $9.72 1981 Italian feature film [dubbed US release 1983]
|
 |
"Dangling in the Tournefortia" [1981] Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [10/81] for $10.40 HarperCollins 9¼x6½ hardcover [10/81] for $25.00 |
 |
"Hostage" [1980]
Rhino/WEA audio CD [6/94] for $14.98 
|
 |
"Play The Piano Drunk Like A Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin To Bleed A Bit" [1979] Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [8/79] for $9.75 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2000] for $15.75 |
 |
"South of No North: Stories of the Buried Life" [1973]
Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [6/80] for $9.75 HarperCollins 9x6 hardcover [7/2003] for $25.00 |
 |
"The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills" [1969]
Black Sparrow 9¼x6 pb [6/80] for $10.20 HarperCollins 9¼x6½ hardcover [1/2000] out of print/used |
Other Works By Charles Bukowski
 |
"Shakespeare Never Did This" [1984]
Hank's journal of his trip to France & Germany, with photographs by Michael Montfort Black Sparrow 8½x10½ pb [4/95] for $12.35 Black Sparrow deluxe edition hardcover [5/95] out of print/rare |
 |
"Notes of a Dirty Old Man" [1976] columns from the [then] underground weekly L.A. Free Press City Lights 8x5½ pb [6/81] for $10.47 |
Works About Charles Bukowski
 |
"Charles Bukowski" [2005] by Barry Miles Virgin Books 9x6 pb [9/2006] for $10.17 Virgin Books 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2005] for $18.96 |
 |
"Tough Company" [2005] by Tom Russell
purchase directly from publisher Mystery Island spiral-bound limited edition [3/2005] for $35.74 pb [3/2005] for $23.84 author website
|
 |
"Hotwalker: Charles Bukowski & A Ballad for Gone America" concept album [2005] by Tom Russell Hightone audio CD [3/2005] for $14.98 author/songwriter website |
 |
Charles Bukowski 2005 wall calendar
12 Guage Press [9/2004] no longer available |
 |
"Visceral Bukowski: Inside The Sniper Landscape of L.A. Writers" [2004] by Ben Pleasants Sun Dog Press 9x5¾ pb [10/2004] for $13.56 |
 |
"The Hunchback of East Hollywood: A Biography of Charles Bukowski" [2003] by Aubrey Malone not recommended; included here for completeness Critical Vision 9¼x6¼ pb [5/2003] for $16.95 |
 |
"Bukowski and The Beats: A Commentary On The Beat Generation" [2002] by Jean-François Duval Sun Dog Press 9x6 pb [4/2002] for $10.47 |
 |
"Bukowski In Pictures" [2000] Edited by Howard Sounes Canongate 9x8¾ pb [1/2002] for $11.87 Grove Press 9.3x9.3 hardcover [12/2000] for $17.50
|
 |
"Charles Bukowski: Laughing With The Gods" [2000] 1980 interview by Fernanda Pivano Sun Dog Press 9x6 pb [4/2000] for $14.95 |
 |
"Bukowski For Beginners" [2000] by Carlos Polimeni, illustrated by Miguel Rep Writers & Readers 9x6¼ pb [3/2000] for $9.56 |
 |
"Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life" [1999] by Howard Sounes Grove Press pb [6/2000] out of print/used Grove Press 9¼x6.3 hardcover [5/99] out of print/used |
 |
"Charles Bukowski" [1997] by Gay Brewer Twayne 8¾x5¾ hardcover [7/97] for $33.00 |
 |
"Bukowski: A Life" [1997] by Neeli Cherkovski
(updated version of "Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski" [1991] from Random House) Steerforth Press 9x6 pb [7/97] for $12.60 publisher bookpage |
 |
"Against The American Dream" [1994] by Russell Harrison Black Sparrow 9x6 pb [12/94] for $17.50 Black Sparrow 9.3x6.3 hardcover [12.94] for $21.00 |
Bukowski On Film
Beatnik Film Festival
includes movies & videos about other beats, plus rare & obscure films
 |
"Factotum" feature film [Norway 2005, USA Aug 2006]
Produced, co-written & directed by Bent Hamer of Norway; adapted from Bukowski's second novel [see above]; starring Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Fisher Stevens, Marisa Tomei, Didier Flamand, Adrienne Shelley & Karen Young IFCfilm color DVD [12/2006] for $21.99 full credits from IMDb official movie websites: U.S.A. & U.K. |
 |
"Bukowski At Bellevue" [1995]
Recently-discovered student documentary footage of Hank's 1970 performance/reading at Bellevue Community College in Washington State. Screen Edge b&w DVD [7/2004] for $17.99 credits at IMDb |
 |
"Bukowski: Born Into This" documentary film [Magnolia May 2004] Directed by John Dullaghan Magnolia color DVD [4/2006] for $17.99 full credits from IMDb distributor's page 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
 |
"Barfly" feature film [Cannon/Zoetrope Dec 1987]
Directed by Barbet Schroeder; script by Charles Bukowski; starring Mickey Rourke & Faye Dunaway Warner color VHS [9/2002] for $14.95 Warner widescreen DVD [9/2002] for $17.38 full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 |
 |
"Poetry In Motion" documentary [Canada Sept 1982] Directed by Ron Mann besides Bukowski, participants include William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Ed Sanders, Gary Snyder, Tom Waits & Anne Waldman Public Media color DVD [7/2002] for $17.96 full credits from IMDb |
 |
"Crazy Love" {aka "L'Amour Est un Chien de l'Enfer" or 'Love Is A Dog From Hell' [Belgium 1987]
Directed & co-written by Dominique Deruddere [based on several stories by Bukowski]; starring Josse De Pauw & Geert Hunaerts W.E.A. color DVD [10/2004] for $17.96 full credits from IMDb |
 |
"Tales of Ordinary Madness" [Italy 1981; dubbed US release 1983]
Directed by Marco Ferreri; starring Ben Gazzara, Ornella Muti & Susan Tyrrell Image Ent. widescreen color DVD [2/99] out of stock/used Image Ent. widescreen color VHS [2/99] out of stock/used Warner color VHS [2/99] out of stock/used full credits from IMDb Book: "Tales of Ordinary Madness" [stories 1984] City Lights Books 8x5¼ pb [1/84] for $9.72 |
Bukowski Links
RealBeer fansite
'100% Bukowski' site
LitKicks fansite
Damon's Levee67 fansite
'Bukowski Lives!' at Black Sparrow Press
Czech-language fansite
Colby's all-gray fansite
Norway fansite
CC's 'Bukstuff' fansite
GT of Sweden's fansite
Bukowski at Famous Poets & Poems website
Books & tapes for sale in Association with 
back to Maison d'Être 'The Beat Generation' Page
back to Maison d'Être Beatnik Coffeehouse main page
back to Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore homepage
