Charles Bukowski was an alcoholic, and a proud one at that;  born a few years after the close of the first world war and raised during the depression, Bukowski was perhaps the best underground writer of his generation. He was a poet, he published dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories in his life, a writer known most for his harsh and and often cruel take on life. Bukowski was a critic, one that never really never held back, his and his voice hinted at a self awareness. If you couldn’t already guess, he wasn’t a particularly happy person, he didn’t participate in many so-called recreational activities, his life consisted solely of working, writing, and drinking. Bukowski was a recluse, and held much disdain for his fellow man. Many would describe him as a solitary individual, but he never liked that description, he preferred his one company, sitting up writing drunkenly into the night than going out.

Although he published several short stories in various magazines and publications throughout his twenties,and was a prolific writer all his life, his writing career didn’t really start until he was thirty-five, the age he finally started being able to living off of his work, so for the first half of his life, despite his best efforts, he worked a simple 9-5 job. Some of his most known works include; “The Last Night of Earth Poems,” a collection of poetry, if you could imagine it. As well as “Post office,” “Ham on Rye,” and “Love is a Dog from Hell.”

Bukowski was born in Germany, and lived there until he was 2 before his parents brought him to America, he grew up in Los Angelos, went to Los Angelos City College for a short while before moving to New York at 24.

He wrote over 60 novels in his lifetime, “Pulp” was his final piece of work, published in 1994, the  year of his death, which  told the story of a private investigator name Nick Belane, juggling 3 cases at once.

Bukowski was, rather sadly, more appreciated after his time.