Charles Bukowskiâs stories, poems, and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. In this collection of correspondenceâletters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writersâthe writer shares his insights on the art of creation.
On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of lifeâand of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture iconâthe âlaureate of American lowlifeâ (Time)âwho stoically recorded societyâs downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: âDon't try.â
Piercing, poignant, and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with Bukowskiâs trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos, and intimacy.
More than a manual on craft, this is a survival guide for the creative soulâ
Charles Bukowski is one of Americaâs best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in 1920 in Andernach, Germany, to an American soldier father and a German mother, and brought to the United States at the age of two. He was raised in Los Angeles and lived there for over fifty years. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.Abel Debritto, a former Fulbright scholar and current Marie Curie fellow, works in the digital humanities. He is the author of Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground, and the editor of the Bukowski collections On Writing, On Cats, and On Love.