Charles Bukowski (1920–1994)
Author of Post Office
About the Author
Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany, on August 16, 1920. He came to the United States with his parents when he was three years old and spent his early years in poverty. As a young man he was a transient, doing odd jobs. He lived most of his live in boarding houses in the Los Angeles show more area. He attended Los Angeles City College briefly. He worked for the United States Postal Service for about ten years. Bukowski was at home with street people and his work contains a brutal realism and graphic imagery. He began publishing short stories in the mid-1940s. Starting with Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail in 1959, he produced poetry collections almost once a year. His following had grown by the time his collection of poetry about down-and-outers titled It Catches My Heart in Its Hands appeared in 1963. His short story collections include Dirty Old Man and Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness. His novels, with an autobiographical character called Henry Chinaski, include Post Office and Factotum. Bukowski wrote the screenplay for the 1987 motion picture Barfly. He later wrote about the filming of Barfly in his novel, Hollywood. Bukowski died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: public domain
Series
Works by Charles Bukowski
Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit (1979) 631 copies, 3 reviews
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (Bukowski Stories) (1967) 542 copies, 3 reviews
Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook: Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990 (2008) 212 copies, 5 reviews
Penguin Modern Poets 13: Charles Bukowski, Philip Lamantia, Harold Norse (1970) — Author — 68 copies
Charles Bukowski: Sunlight Here I Am: Interviews and Encounters 1963-1993 (2003) 47 copies, 1 review
Quando Eravamo Giovani: Quando Eravamo Giovani: Poesie (Universale Economica) (Italian Edition) (2000) 24 copies
Escritos de un viejo indecente, La maquina de follar y Erecciones, eyaculaciones, exhibiciones (2015) 18 copies
The Charles Bukowski Tapes 7 copies
Sobre o Amor - Formato Convencional 6 copies
King of Poets 6 copies
SPARROW 30: Africa, Paris, Greece 5 copies
70 minutes in hell 4 copies
As Buddah Smiles 4 copies
Toca el piano como un instrumento de percusión hasta que los dedos te empeincen a sangrar un poco (Visor de… (2014) 4 copies
The Laughing Heart 4 copies
The New Censorship Vol. 3 No. 1 3 copies
Three More By Bukowski 3 copies
SPARROW 54: Maybe Tomorrow 3 copies
Listonosz 3 copies
LAST STRAW (DVD) 3 copies
Traz teu amor pra mim 3 copies
Niente canzoni d'amore 3 copies
Ham on Rye (Flyer No. 8) 3 copies
A Mulher Mais Linda da Cidade e Outras Histórias - Coleção L&PM Pocket 64 Páginas (Em Portuguese do Brasil) (2012) 3 copies
Pink Silks 3 copies
Anthology of L.A. poets, 3 copies
The Devil Was Hot 3 copies
The Simple Truth (NYG 2002) 3 copies
439 Gedichte: Eine Kinoreklame in der Wüste /Western Avenue /Gedichte aus dem Nachlass (2009) 3 copies
To Lean Back Into It (NYG 1998) 3 copies
Den Göttern kommt das grosse Kotzen 2 copies
Short Stories of Charles Bukowski 2 copies
There's No Business (Flyer No. 12) 2 copies
Upon This Most Delivate Profession 2 copies
A Mulher Mais Linda da Cidade e Outras Historias - Coleção L&PM Pocket (Em Portuguese do Brasil) (2016) 2 copies
Kediler 2 copies
Si prega di allegare 2 copies
A Love Poem 2 copies
be cool, fool 2 copies
The Bluebird 2 copies
100 Poemas 2 copies
A NEW YEARS GREETING 1986 2 copies
I Saw A Tramp Last Night 2 copies
A Conversation Not to Remember 2 copies
Bring Me Your Love (Flyer No. 11) 2 copies
Roll the Dice (poster) — Author — 2 copies
Med det hele - Hollywood Kvinder 2 copies
Art 2 copies
Nachtschicht und versoffene Tage 2 copies
Bukowski Poems & Insults! (CD) 2 copies
Self Portrait of Inner Man 2 copies
A New War (NYG 1997) 2 copies
Factotum (Flyer No. 7) 2 copies
In Memory of Charles Bukowski - Memorial Service pamphlet — Author — 2 copies
Sretan slučaj 1 copy
The outsider 1 copy
Love Poem to Marina. 1 copy
Stories und Romane 1 copy
Broadside from Black Sparrow Press announcing The days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills. 1 copy
Blow 6 1 copy
Burlesque 1 copy
Jaggernaut: A Short Story. 1 copy
Básně 1 copy
14 intervjua 1 copy
Bukowski essencial 1 copy
55 POEZI 1 copy
Storie di ordinaria follia 1 copy
Hino da Tormenta 1 copy
Audio Files 1 copy
Seduto nel bordo del letto 1 copy
Histórias de Loucura Normal 1 copy
CRAZY LOVE(DVD) 1 copy
The Captain Is Out to Lunch( The Crowley Family Journey of Strength Hope and Joy)[CAPTAIN IS OUT TO LUNCH][Paperback] (2002) 1 copy
La Senda del perdedor 1 copy
The Return of the Left in Post-Communist States: Current Trends and Future Prospects (Studies of Communism in… (1999) 1 copy
Bludni sin 1 copy
Alter Alter Almanacco 1984 Supplemento 13 California — Author — 1 copy
נשים 1 copy
Night work 1 copy
Il crimine paga sempre 1 copy
O piću 1 copy
Mannequins 1 copy
Đavo je bio vruć 1 copy
Success? 1 copy
Another Academy 1 copy
Bukowski Charles 1 copy
Delírios Cotidianos 1 copy
Flower Fist and Bestial Wail 1 copy
Romane und Stories 1 copy
Pył 1 copy
Poem for Dante 1 copy
Talking to My Mailbox 1 copy
Kid Stardust im Schlachthof 1 copy
Das Schlimmste kommt noch 1 copy
Second Coming 1 copy
L'incendio di un sogno 1 copy
U čemu je problem gospodo 1 copy
Ljubav i ludilo u LA 1 copy
Duivelstoejager 1 copy
Pansiyon Manzumeleri 1 copy
Bukowski reads Bukowski 1 copy
The poet's muse 1 copy
You kissed Lilly 1 copy
Bukowski poems (in Bangla) 1 copy
You Don't Know 1 copy
Solid Citizen 1 copy
Poems And Drawings 1 copy
SASE - handwritten envelope 1 copy
Los Angeles 462-0614: poesie 1 copy
Three Poems 1 copy
Hot Water Music - BSP flyer 1 copy
Signed photo - Buk 1 copy
Letters to Beat Scene 1 copy
Relentless as the Tarantula 1 copy
Afternoons into night 1 copy
Cartas na Mesa 1 copy
Let's Have Some Fun [Broadside] — Author — 1 copy
Short Stories 1 copy
The Curtains Are Waving 1 copy
Min Oskuld & Pearl Harbor. 1 copy
Son of Satan 1 copy
Antología 1 copy
A Working Stiff 1 copy
What They Want 1 copy
462-0614 1 copy
SPARROW 72: We'll Take Them 1 copy
Associated Works
Drinking, Smoking and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times (1994) — Contributor — 337 copies, 4 reviews
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Contributor — 186 copies, 1 review
The Literary Lover: Great Stories of Passion and Romance (1993) — Contributor — 52 copies, 2 reviews
Buzz Words: Poems About Insects (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) (2021) — Contributor — 38 copies
Onthebus No. 8 and 9 — Contributor — 6 copies
De mooiste verhalen van James Baldwin, John Berger, Jorge Luis Borges, Jane Bowles, Joseph Brodsky, Charles Bukowski,… (1990) — Contributor — 6 copies
Editor's Choice II: Fiction, Poetry & Art from the U.S. Small Press, 1978-1983 (Contemporary Anthology Series) (1987) — Contributor — 6 copies
Antaeus No. 73/74, Spring 1994 - Who’s Writing This: Notations on the Authorial I {magazine} (1994) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Outsider No 2 — Contributor — 3 copies
X-Ray No. 7 — Contributor — 3 copies
The Wormwood Review No. 24 — Cover artist; Contributor — 2 copies
Second Coming, Volume 5, Number 1 — Contributor — 2 copies
The Outsider No 3 — Contributor — 2 copies
The Wormwood Review No. 120 — Contributor — 2 copies
The New York quarterly : NYQ : Number 34, Fall 1987 — Contributor — 1 copy
Nomad Poetry Journal No. 1 — Contributor — 1 copy
Beatitude 16 — Contributor — 1 copy
Mr. Clean and Other Poems — Introduction, some editions — 1 copy
The New York quarterly : NYQ : Number 35, Spring 1988 — Contributor — 1 copy
The New York quarterly : NYQ : Number 36, Summer 1988 — Contributor — 1 copy
X-Ray, No. 10 — Contributor — 1 copy
Hearse #10, 1969 — Contributor — 1 copy
Hearse 4: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead — Contributor — 1 copy
Out Of Sight *90: A Primer of Domestic Poetry — Contributor — 1 copy
Cerberus: A Magazine of SF Writings, Vol.1 No.1 (Fall 1977) — Contributor — 1 copy
Hearse 2: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Bukowski, Charles
- Legal name
- Bukowski, Heinrich Karl
Bukowski, Henry Charles - Other names
- Chinaski, Henry (alter-ego)
- Birthdate
- 1920-08-16
- Date of death
- 1994-03-09
- Burial location
- Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, California, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
Germany (born) - Birthplace
- Andernach, Prussia, Weimar Germany
- Place of death
- San Pedro, California, USA
- Cause of death
- leukemia
- Places of residence
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - Education
- Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles City College - Occupations
- novelist
poet
short story writer
columnist - Relationships
- Bukowski, Linda (wife)
Bukowski, Marina (daughter) - Organizations
- United States Postal Service
Members
Reviews
An account of Charles Bukowski's 1978 European trip. In 1978 Europe was new territory for Bukowski holding the secrets of his own personal ancestry and origins. En route to his birthplace in Andernach, Germany, he is trailed by celebrity-hunters and paparazzi, appears drunk on French television, blows a small fortune at a Dusseldorf racetrack and stands in a Cologne Cathedral musing about life and death.
cw: misogyny; sexual assault
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at first i disliked Henry Chinaski intensely (ironically Bukowski's literary surrogate - we probably wouldn't have gotten along) for the reasons listed in the above cw. my opinion of his character drastically changed by Part Two. ultimately a revealing narrative on gender, class, and masculine workplace culture in the U.S. during the 1950s-1960s.
Bukowski || Good News for People Who Love Bad News || Modest Mouse… (more)
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Bukowski || Good News for People Who Love Bad News || Modest Mouse… (more)
A cool selection about his romance and time writing for a movie and the difficulties it came with.
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 535
- Also by
- 54
- Members
- 48,141
- Popularity
- #327
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 568
- ISBNs
- 1,324
- Languages
- 35
- Favorited
- 377
“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriter
Charles Bukowski's acerbic wit shines through in this dark short story about a cheating lover—accompanied by the illustrations of R. Crumb.