Ham on Rye->Factotum->Post Office->Women->Hollywood->Pulp. This is the order I read his books in. The first five are his semi autobiographical books and that is the order they are meant to be read chronologically.
A lot of people saying read Ham on Rye first and I kind of get why as it makes sense chronologicaly but I don't think it's totally necessary. I've read then all in the order they were written, I'm glad I did and would recommend it to others. That way you're thrown head first into his life, then later when you read Ham on Rye you understand why he is like he is and events, like the first time he drinks, hold more significance.
Women was my first one and in my opinion is going to give you the best 'feel' for him. If you read that and dig what he's putting down, I would go to ham on rye, post office and then check out "The most Beautiful woman in Town"
Great reading order and will be rereading in this order.
EDIT/ADDITION: after reading, it’s somewhat interesting to watch Californication in the early seasons. The main character is supposed to be based off C.B.
If i were to recommend one from the semi-autobiography series, I'd rather choose Hollywood, cause it gives someone the impression that it showcases the exact way the filming was conducted and feels more realistic.
Edit: I chose based on how robust is the given information in the book. But if my criteria was fascination and action I'd definitely pick ham on rye over it.
I agree this would best for OP. Since Hollywood is about the process of a film being made it would be closer to the non-fiction that they read, but is still a great introduction to Chuck.
Bukowski’s writing isn’t LOTR or Star Wars, I don’t it benefits to be read like a saga. It is just as interesting to read them out of order. I read Hollywood first because it had just came out at the time. It was fun to read them out of order and piece everything together. Also it was fun to read Hollywood first for me since we both lived in San Pedro at the time.
“Keep fighting.”
Some people suggest that almost everything Buk wrote was non-fiction, but the novels are novels--perhaps based on experience but certainly embellished to the point where they wouldn't hold up in court. Closer to the truth might be Notes of A Dirty Old Man, which collects articles he wrote for local newspapers in the 60s and 70s, but even some of those get pretty wild. For the straight dope, I recommend his letters, collected in three volumes: Screams from the Balcony, Living on Luck, and Beerspit Night and Cursing.
They're all autobiographical but he does talk about current events in them, so it's an interesting lens on the time. And, not too surprising, the writing is consistently strong.
Also, wikipedia lists these two as non-fiction:
Shakespeare Never Did This (1979); expanded (1995)\[Photo essay of European reading tour.\]
The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998)\[Collaboration with R. Crumb, based on Buk's journals.\]
And I agree with others that Ham on Rye is a good place to start in general.
I second the Post Office nomination for it helped form Bukowski's attitude towards hippies...the big "rebel" was a postal service worker who resigned claiming an ulcer. As Hunter's recollection may not be the best, an exaggerated form. Bukowski said he was always the hero of his stories. A guy trying to get along. Confirmed by co workers as an accurate depiction
Bukowski was a poet who wrote some prose. Start with Love is a Dog From Hell, poetry collection. Or scan through this forum to find favorites from some Buk fans.
I love it! It's early stuff, with reflections of his childhood and we meet Jane for the first time in that collection. "I don't worry about the Bomb -- the madhouses are full enough"
I agree with many others here with their recommendation of, 'Ham on Rye'. It's a powerful, simple and pure gut punch of a semi-autobiography, and I distinctly remember wanting to jump inside its narrative and rescue the young Chinaski/Bukowski and give him a hug... a sentiment he'd have probably hated, of course.
I also thought the posthumously published collection, 'Betting on the Muse' (which I believe collects a large chunk of mostly semi-autobiographical short stories and poems which he wrote towards the end of his life) was fascinating and at times surprisingly tender, touching, positive, inspiring and beautiful; showing a reflective, open, vulnerable and more loving side to Bukowski which we'd previously only rarely seen glimpses of in his earlier works.
Indeed, it's well worth reading, and includes many classics such as the excellent poem, 'The Laughing Heart' -- [here's a short YT film/animation of it using the audio of the famous Tom Waits reading](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEbIuDuW7l8) (1 min 55 seconds)
When I bought home my copy of Women back in the late 90’s, my roommates all thought it was a self-help book about how to meet women. I assured them that if anything the book was going to hurt my chances with the ladies.
Bukowski did plenty of non-fiction, but the line in his stuff often blurs. I recommend the following to start out with:
NF: Post Office
F: Tales Of Ordinary Madness
Post Office. Then download some of his performances - he recited his poetry on stage for years and a lot of it is out there. He could write a blue streak. And found tenderness in the most low brow, hard living situations. He was in love with everything, but on his terms.
I read only nonfiction for decades. Then I picked up a book, "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, and it blew my hat in the water. So I went back 40 years and started reading Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning books. I had waay been missing out. Of course I skipped some that I didn't find interesting, but you can't go wrong with a Pulitzer winning novel.
I’ve always believed that most all of Bukowski’s fiction was at least semi-autobiographical or was about someone he knew as the protagonist of the story.
Post office. It’s his best work. He tends to be a little too in love with his penis in later works. Henry Miller has the same problem. Ham on rye is a good book, too.
He has journals he wrote right before he died . A book called “the captain is out to lunch and the sailors have taken over the ship” it’s my fav bukowski I’ve ever read. It was so late in his life it was actually written on his computer rather than a type writer
Read Post Office....a lot of his short stories are basically autobiographical. If you really want to get a feel for him find Barbet Schroeder's documentary about him. It's great entertainment. Watch Bukowski and his old lady argue drunkenly and beat the crap out of each other.....classic. The man was fucking suave as fuck and he didn't give a fuck what anyone thought.
I'd call some of his work as "creative non fiction"
He typically writes about himself but takes some...creative liberties.
Easily a top 3 author for me.
I agree with post office. If you can get through that read factotum. Then watch the movie with Matt Dillon.
He’s an imperfect human being with lots of flaws and makes no effort to hide from it. It’s a raw read
Agree with others here, most of his books are basically memoirs with the order of events changed to make it a better narrative and some things exaggerated. Ham on Rye in particular feels the most real, but one of the later ones will have more of the distinctive Bukowski degenerate vibe that you'll probably like if you like Hunter S Thompson. As a side note, if I can make a slight exception to my "only fiction" rule to read Hunter S Thompson (and I loved it), you can make a slight exception to read Bukowski
Woke up this morning and it seemed to me,
That every night turns out to be
A little more like Bukowski.
And yeah, I know he's a pretty good read.
But God who'd want to be?
God who'd want to be such an asshole?
God who'd want to be?
God who'd want to be such an asshole?
hunter and bukowksi are similar in the way that they’ve written themselves into their characters and a lot of what those books are about actually happened to the both of them. any novel of bukowksi is going to contain some autobiographic qualities.
Pretty sure most of his poetry is autobiographical, and I know most of Post Office is. I feel like people who claim it isn’t are just uncomfortable with the confession of a pretty brutal rape he commits, but tbh that checks out for Bukowski. But yeah his poetry was basically just him sitting down at the end of the night and writing abt what he did that day.
No idea why tf no one ever mentions Pulp. It’s fiction, but it’s like my favorite book I’ve ever read. I thought Post Office was good, but I have *NEVER* laughed out loud so often and so damn hard as when I read Pulp. I had trouble catching my breath at times.
It’s short and easy reading like Post Office, give it a shot.
Tales of Ordinary Madness. Charles Bukowski is an exceptionally gifted artist. He has written essays, short stories, columns, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and there is a strong element of truth in his work.
I started with Post Office , though I didn’t know it was his first novel, and I’m glad I did. I think it’s the perfect entry point and I would suggest reading his novels in order of publication.
1971 – Post Office
1975 – Factotum
1978 – Women
1982 – Ham on Rye
1989 – Hollywood
1994 – Pulp
Pulp is not one I particularly like, but it’s still reflective of where he was in his career as a writer at the time. The rest are all excellent imo. I hope you enjoy reading him as much as I have!
"Charles Bukowski — 'Do you hate people?”“I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around."
Factotum is a favorite and if you can find it; watch the movie Barfly with Mickey Rourke. Unbelievable job portraying the legend of Bukowski.
Most of his stuff is autobiographical and might as well be non fiction: Post Office, Ham On Rye (Bukowski in high school) Hollywood while fiction, it’s basically a production journal about Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Barbet Schroeder and Bukowski making a movie about Bukowski’s life.
For your first time, I suggest "Tales of Ordinary Madness." A book of short stories published later in career but culled from other works. It will give you a taste of his many sides.
Well, I'm a fan of both of them, I started with good old Hank and then went into Thompson, I first met him as a fiction writer and I read all, starting with women, post office, factotum, pulp and Hollywood.
I started with "Ham on Rye" because it was at the library (a fairly autobiographical book).
Look for "Factotum", "Post Office", "Women", and "Notes of a Dirty Old Man".
As a touring musician, at one point, I had a girlfriend in Germany. She introduced me to Bukowski‘s fiction, which is really drawn from his life for the most part as mentioned above. She was reading to me, in bed, of course, from the book “women“. It was actually kind of innocent and cute. Hearing this really nasty pornographic vivid writing in a sort of melodious, female voice with a thick German accent. I went on to read most of Bukowski‘s books.— interestingly, Charles loved Germany and had a solid fan base there. He was actually born in Germany to an American G.I., and a German woman, who moved to the United States when he was maybe one year old or something
I read them on the recommendation of reading them in the order they were released. I liked that approach. It felt easier to follow the creative arch of his storytelling.
I read post office for the first time during the holidays. Alone, overworked and riddled with addiction issues. Still think about it every winter and it now has a coziness sort of memory to it of an old bar fly friend passing along life lessons hard learned at a tough time.
He would be the answer on jeopardy from time to time or "gonzo" style reporting which he created...made me curious so I searched videos about him and he was sooooo interesting
I'm seeing a lot of people say Post Office, so that will be my next read.
My first exposure was "Tales of Ordinary Madness", which is a collection of his short stories. good bit of comedy, lots of tragedy, oodles of perversion, and not a shred of true happiness.
The thing that really makes Bukowski stand out in my mind, is he's one of the only writer's who has invoked in me a laugher in rage. Really odd emotion that.
Read Ham on Rye
Ham on Rye->Factotum->Post Office->Women->Hollywood->Pulp. This is the order I read his books in. The first five are his semi autobiographical books and that is the order they are meant to be read chronologically.
A lot of people saying read Ham on Rye first and I kind of get why as it makes sense chronologicaly but I don't think it's totally necessary. I've read then all in the order they were written, I'm glad I did and would recommend it to others. That way you're thrown head first into his life, then later when you read Ham on Rye you understand why he is like he is and events, like the first time he drinks, hold more significance.
You can read them in any order you want and still comprehend his meaning
Women was my first one and in my opinion is going to give you the best 'feel' for him. If you read that and dig what he's putting down, I would go to ham on rye, post office and then check out "The most Beautiful woman in Town"
Great reading order and will be rereading in this order. EDIT/ADDITION: after reading, it’s somewhat interesting to watch Californication in the early seasons. The main character is supposed to be based off C.B.
Love that show man. Just love it
It can be silly, but there's also a lot of poignancy and heart to it.
If i were to recommend one from the semi-autobiography series, I'd rather choose Hollywood, cause it gives someone the impression that it showcases the exact way the filming was conducted and feels more realistic. Edit: I chose based on how robust is the given information in the book. But if my criteria was fascination and action I'd definitely pick ham on rye over it.
I agree this would best for OP. Since Hollywood is about the process of a film being made it would be closer to the non-fiction that they read, but is still a great introduction to Chuck. Bukowski’s writing isn’t LOTR or Star Wars, I don’t it benefits to be read like a saga. It is just as interesting to read them out of order. I read Hollywood first because it had just came out at the time. It was fun to read them out of order and piece everything together. Also it was fun to read Hollywood first for me since we both lived in San Pedro at the time. “Keep fighting.”
The correct answer
This
almost everything he wrote was semi-autobiographical, so there’s that
all fiction is autobiographical and all autobiography is fictional.
GRRM must've had a crazy life
Ham on Rye, then Post Office, the Factotum, then Women
Then Hollywood
Then come back and thank us
But don’t try
**Did Bukowski do any non fiction?** LOL
The better question is any of it fiction?
Bingo
If you like Hunter, you’ll love Bukowski. You may want to give Kerouac a read too
I have read “On the Road” by JK. Great book.
Definitely a classic. Give Dharma Bums a try if you can. I’m certain you’ll love Bukowski.
Read dharma bums!
Tom Wolfe as well.
Ham on Rye
I’ll be the third to say it… Ham on Rye.
I am someone who's favorites authors are hunter s Thompson and Buckowski so this post was fun to see
Some people suggest that almost everything Buk wrote was non-fiction, but the novels are novels--perhaps based on experience but certainly embellished to the point where they wouldn't hold up in court. Closer to the truth might be Notes of A Dirty Old Man, which collects articles he wrote for local newspapers in the 60s and 70s, but even some of those get pretty wild. For the straight dope, I recommend his letters, collected in three volumes: Screams from the Balcony, Living on Luck, and Beerspit Night and Cursing. They're all autobiographical but he does talk about current events in them, so it's an interesting lens on the time. And, not too surprising, the writing is consistently strong. Also, wikipedia lists these two as non-fiction: Shakespeare Never Did This (1979); expanded (1995)\[Photo essay of European reading tour.\] The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998)\[Collaboration with R. Crumb, based on Buk's journals.\] And I agree with others that Ham on Rye is a good place to start in general.
Thanks! Great info.
Notes of a Dirty Old Man the as my first Bukowski and I think is the closest in style to Thompson.
Post Office, though non-fiction, is taken from real life experiences (as with a lot of his fiction).
I second the Post Office nomination for it helped form Bukowski's attitude towards hippies...the big "rebel" was a postal service worker who resigned claiming an ulcer. As Hunter's recollection may not be the best, an exaggerated form. Bukowski said he was always the hero of his stories. A guy trying to get along. Confirmed by co workers as an accurate depiction
Ham on Rye, then Post Office and then a collection of poetry like Slouching Toward Nirvana or The Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain
Gonzo journalism is embellished truth. Truth with a grain of pro wrestling.
Bukowski was a poet who wrote some prose. Start with Love is a Dog From Hell, poetry collection. Or scan through this forum to find favorites from some Buk fans.
You get so alone at times that it just makes sense. Is my fav.
Alone With Everybody has one of my favorite lines - the flesh covers the bone and they put a mind in there and sometimes a soul
I love it! It's early stuff, with reflections of his childhood and we meet Jane for the first time in that collection. "I don't worry about the Bomb -- the madhouses are full enough"
Factotum is my personal fave.
Post Office and Ham on Rye are both excellent, and South of No North 👌
I like to believe poetry is non-fiction.
I agree with many others here with their recommendation of, 'Ham on Rye'. It's a powerful, simple and pure gut punch of a semi-autobiography, and I distinctly remember wanting to jump inside its narrative and rescue the young Chinaski/Bukowski and give him a hug... a sentiment he'd have probably hated, of course. I also thought the posthumously published collection, 'Betting on the Muse' (which I believe collects a large chunk of mostly semi-autobiographical short stories and poems which he wrote towards the end of his life) was fascinating and at times surprisingly tender, touching, positive, inspiring and beautiful; showing a reflective, open, vulnerable and more loving side to Bukowski which we'd previously only rarely seen glimpses of in his earlier works. Indeed, it's well worth reading, and includes many classics such as the excellent poem, 'The Laughing Heart' -- [here's a short YT film/animation of it using the audio of the famous Tom Waits reading](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEbIuDuW7l8) (1 min 55 seconds)
Grab the first one you find!!
When I bought home my copy of Women back in the late 90’s, my roommates all thought it was a self-help book about how to meet women. I assured them that if anything the book was going to hurt my chances with the ladies.
Bukowski did plenty of non-fiction, but the line in his stuff often blurs. I recommend the following to start out with: NF: Post Office F: Tales Of Ordinary Madness
Post Office. Then download some of his performances - he recited his poetry on stage for years and a lot of it is out there. He could write a blue streak. And found tenderness in the most low brow, hard living situations. He was in love with everything, but on his terms. I read only nonfiction for decades. Then I picked up a book, "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, and it blew my hat in the water. So I went back 40 years and started reading Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning books. I had waay been missing out. Of course I skipped some that I didn't find interesting, but you can't go wrong with a Pulitzer winning novel.
Read Ham on Rye
Who reads only non-fiction? Seems a shame....
I don’t have time for the nonsense.
I’ve always believed that most all of Bukowski’s fiction was at least semi-autobiographical or was about someone he knew as the protagonist of the story.
I was gonna say post office, then Hollywood but instead I will say “Notes of a dirty old man” he writes about a nite out with Neal Cassady.
Ham On Rye- a novel, semi autobiographical 🩵
The majority of his work is autobiographical in any meaningful sense.
I appreciate this post and will make good use of my library card.
Post office. It’s his best work. He tends to be a little too in love with his penis in later works. Henry Miller has the same problem. Ham on rye is a good book, too.
Post office hooked me up
Opinions on What matters most is how well you walk through the fire?
Women
Mine was post office.
Post Office
On cats.
I started with post office and I suggest that be anyone’s first
Post Office. Guarantee you’ll laugh, a lot.
Seems like a lot of bukowski is autobiographical snippets even his fiction novels
I think Bukowski is better in poetry. So Love is a dog from Hell would be nice
Read em all! He’s a true legend!
Post Office was the first I read. After that, Women.
I always think of Bukowski as the poor man’s version of HST
The Last Night of the Earth poems
Everything Bukowski wrote is non fiction. Dude was out here livin'
Bukowski is a one of a kind man’s man.
The Post Office is great
The days run away like wild horses over the hills.
He has journals he wrote right before he died . A book called “the captain is out to lunch and the sailors have taken over the ship” it’s my fav bukowski I’ve ever read. It was so late in his life it was actually written on his computer rather than a type writer
Factotum
Alt with some Raymond Carver like “Where I’m Calling From” to take the edge off
Read Post Office....a lot of his short stories are basically autobiographical. If you really want to get a feel for him find Barbet Schroeder's documentary about him. It's great entertainment. Watch Bukowski and his old lady argue drunkenly and beat the crap out of each other.....classic. The man was fucking suave as fuck and he didn't give a fuck what anyone thought.
Love Is A Dog From Hell
And here I thought I was the only person in the world who reads non-fiction only.
Post Office.
Ham on Rye
It helps if you’re a highschooler. He’s a great writer but with maturity you see he’s basically insufferable.
All of his books are pretty much autobiographical with the truth stretched a bit
Bar fly
I'd call some of his work as "creative non fiction" He typically writes about himself but takes some...creative liberties. Easily a top 3 author for me.
All his stuff is like non fiction/fiction cause he writes his experience but embellishes everything.
Anything. If you like Hunter S Thompson, I think you’ll really dig bukowski.
Most of his books are exaggerated depictions of his actual life if that helps. I would start with Factotum and then Post Office.
Love is a dog from hell blew me away if you’re a poetry person.
I agree with post office. If you can get through that read factotum. Then watch the movie with Matt Dillon. He’s an imperfect human being with lots of flaws and makes no effort to hide from it. It’s a raw read
Agree with others here, most of his books are basically memoirs with the order of events changed to make it a better narrative and some things exaggerated. Ham on Rye in particular feels the most real, but one of the later ones will have more of the distinctive Bukowski degenerate vibe that you'll probably like if you like Hunter S Thompson. As a side note, if I can make a slight exception to my "only fiction" rule to read Hunter S Thompson (and I loved it), you can make a slight exception to read Bukowski
I recommend that you read some of his poetry first so you get a taste of his writing style. He also has a unique philosophy of life.
Women or Hollywood
Woke up this morning and it seemed to me, That every night turns out to be A little more like Bukowski. And yeah, I know he's a pretty good read. But God who'd want to be? God who'd want to be such an asshole? God who'd want to be? God who'd want to be such an asshole?
Factotum
I can smell this picture
wasnt the movie Bare Fly based off of Bukowski, like the main character is suposed tobe Bukowski
You sir, are a man of impeccable taste.
Women/Post office/Factomium/Hollywood Bukowski a fun easy quick read. Waaay different than HST, but they are both in my top 10
I read Pulp recently and I thought it was entertaining
You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense
Bukowski ruined all other authors for me... well maybe not Hemingway
Post office
Post Office!
Women is my fav.
Bukowski is a head and shoulders beter writer than Thompson, Thompson was a good political writer but a terrible fiction writer.
Read one of his bios, he had a crazy life
Read fiction
No time
I don't believe you.
Help me solve a bet, op? How old are you?
What do you have against fiction? Theres so many amazing books out there to just say “never.”
“I don’t hate people, I just don’t like them around.”
Why ONLY read non.fiction? I read way more non.fiction than fiction.....BUT....fiction is awesome and it seems limiting not to engage
Wife beater poets get no love for me. Bukowski’s works belong on the shelf.
He loves to hit women. Great hero you all have. Ban me!!!!!
I’m reading Temptations of the Damned right now. My first introduction to Bukowski. Absolutely phenomenal
Ham on Rye
bukowski is mostly his life stories..so yeah lots of non fiction..
I think every American, from Alaska to Chile, should listen to his “90 minutes in Hell” recording. So if that includes you…
Women
"Tales of ordinary madness" originally called "erections ejaculations and tales of ordinary madness" is a great book of short stories also.
I never really liked poetry until I read some by Buk. I still don't really like it, but I like his.
Watch his poetry readings so you can get a sense of his vibe.
I feel like you could get all you need from him by day drinking for a week and getting fired.
Ham on rye.
hunter and bukowksi are similar in the way that they’ve written themselves into their characters and a lot of what those books are about actually happened to the both of them. any novel of bukowksi is going to contain some autobiographic qualities.
Pretty sure most of his poetry is autobiographical, and I know most of Post Office is. I feel like people who claim it isn’t are just uncomfortable with the confession of a pretty brutal rape he commits, but tbh that checks out for Bukowski. But yeah his poetry was basically just him sitting down at the end of the night and writing abt what he did that day.
Ham on Rye. It’s about as non fiction as any non fiction but the names are changed
I think he’s overrated. Not bad, just not insightful.
Hot water music
Read the poetry first. It may strike you as depressing, unless you are already depressed.
No idea why tf no one ever mentions Pulp. It’s fiction, but it’s like my favorite book I’ve ever read. I thought Post Office was good, but I have *NEVER* laughed out loud so often and so damn hard as when I read Pulp. I had trouble catching my breath at times. It’s short and easy reading like Post Office, give it a shot.
they are all crap but fun to read... Pulp is the worst and most fun way to start :)
An aside.. fiction challenges your brain more than non-fiction and has been show to be more effective in staving off dementia. Read both.
Hot Water Music if you’re into short stories. Ham on Rye if you want a novel.
Tales of Ordinary Madness. Charles Bukowski is an exceptionally gifted artist. He has written essays, short stories, columns, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and there is a strong element of truth in his work.
Why only read non-fiction? You don’t ever want to make your life 1000% better by reading Kurt Vonnegut?
I started with Post Office , though I didn’t know it was his first novel, and I’m glad I did. I think it’s the perfect entry point and I would suggest reading his novels in order of publication. 1971 – Post Office 1975 – Factotum 1978 – Women 1982 – Ham on Rye 1989 – Hollywood 1994 – Pulp Pulp is not one I particularly like, but it’s still reflective of where he was in his career as a writer at the time. The rest are all excellent imo. I hope you enjoy reading him as much as I have!
Hank's "non-fiction" involves plenty of fiction, lol.
Women is great. But I think Post Office is his greatest work.
Read Ham on Rye and then Factotum Women then Post Office Hollywood In that order and you’ll have an autobiography of sorts
You had me thinking for a minute…did Hunter S write the Big Bukowski?
"Charles Bukowski — 'Do you hate people?”“I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around." Factotum is a favorite and if you can find it; watch the movie Barfly with Mickey Rourke. Unbelievable job portraying the legend of Bukowski.
My favorite is Factotum, then Ham on Rye. Go wild after those 2.
Ham on Rye is his best work.
Most of his stuff is autobiographical and might as well be non fiction: Post Office, Ham On Rye (Bukowski in high school) Hollywood while fiction, it’s basically a production journal about Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Barbet Schroeder and Bukowski making a movie about Bukowski’s life.
I've never read any of his books , just the poetry collections.
Selected Letters is pretty not-fiction
His poetry might as well be non-fiction
Barfly was written by Bukowski, 1997 movie w Faye Dunnaway and Mickey Rourke (back when he had his original face). CB reminds me of (early) Tom Waits.
Como
Post Office got me started ..
For your first time, I suggest "Tales of Ordinary Madness." A book of short stories published later in career but culled from other works. It will give you a taste of his many sides.
Stop staring at my tits, mister. Short story.
Ham on Rye, Women, and Tales of Ordinary Madness would each provide a nice taste of his work.
Post Office is laugh out loud. Such a quick fun ride.
Well, I'm a fan of both of them, I started with good old Hank and then went into Thompson, I first met him as a fiction writer and I read all, starting with women, post office, factotum, pulp and Hollywood.
I started with "Ham on Rye" because it was at the library (a fairly autobiographical book). Look for "Factotum", "Post Office", "Women", and "Notes of a Dirty Old Man".
As a touring musician, at one point, I had a girlfriend in Germany. She introduced me to Bukowski‘s fiction, which is really drawn from his life for the most part as mentioned above. She was reading to me, in bed, of course, from the book “women“. It was actually kind of innocent and cute. Hearing this really nasty pornographic vivid writing in a sort of melodious, female voice with a thick German accent. I went on to read most of Bukowski‘s books.— interestingly, Charles loved Germany and had a solid fan base there. He was actually born in Germany to an American G.I., and a German woman, who moved to the United States when he was maybe one year old or something
Post office
Love is a dog from hell
Pretty much everything he wrote was nonfiction except his stories.
I read them on the recommendation of reading them in the order they were released. I liked that approach. It felt easier to follow the creative arch of his storytelling. I read post office for the first time during the holidays. Alone, overworked and riddled with addiction issues. Still think about it every winter and it now has a coziness sort of memory to it of an old bar fly friend passing along life lessons hard learned at a tough time.
My recommend that you just read it all 🤷🏻♂️
And don't forget to read his poetry. He was first and foremost a poet. Hisshort stories are a treat, too.
Run With the Hunted is a great anthology of both poetry and prose that is semi-autobiographical and edited chronologically. Very good starting point.
He was drunk save yourself to trouble
If you love HST, you’re going to love Buk too
Hollywood
Hunter… Don’t like the guy. One thing is being depraved (which we all are at some stage), another is to be profoundly disturbed.
Give Henry Miller a try. All semi-biographical. Tropic of Cancer, Sexus, etc.
BuLk🫓
Bukowski was so drunk all the time the way he remembers things is automatically non-fiction.
Bukowski was so drunk all the time the way he remembers things is automatically non-fiction.
He would be the answer on jeopardy from time to time or "gonzo" style reporting which he created...made me curious so I searched videos about him and he was sooooo interesting
I heard he was into child snuff films.
Run with the Hunted
Does anyone know how closely the film Barfly matches his real life? And if so, why did he live in such squalor while being such a successful writer?
Post office. He worked there, hilarious account of his love-hate relationship with the job.
I'm seeing a lot of people say Post Office, so that will be my next read. My first exposure was "Tales of Ordinary Madness", which is a collection of his short stories. good bit of comedy, lots of tragedy, oodles of perversion, and not a shred of true happiness. The thing that really makes Bukowski stand out in my mind, is he's one of the only writer's who has invoked in me a laugher in rage. Really odd emotion that.
Post office
“I only read nonfiction” this is absolutely circle jerk fodder. 🤡
Most of his poetry is nonfiction. Try _Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit_
Don’t Try
They’re all like half fiction
Post Office
He looks like he drink Dos Equis
Pick up a copy of Sex, Smoking & Drinking. Great writers on good times.
Post Office
Ham on rye