Essential Bukowski : Poetry

If the poet Charles Bukowski were half as dissolute as he claimed to be, how in the world did he write the great poems featured in this volume, let alone some other forty-four books? Well, he is certainly a genius. Bukowski wrote five thousand poems in fifty years. The ninety-five poems collected in this book are scathingly original and so vibrant they seem to have slid off the pen. One of his lines can stop this reader in her tracks. It is not beautiful, and then somehow it is. He writes of women, cats, drink, and rough work that tests a hardy man. He writes of his father’s death, and we are with him in that room as he tries on the blue suit. He cautions the aspiring writer to “not write poetry.” Many of his poems are illustrated in an original and quirky fashion, but only two illustrations are included in this book.

Bukowski lived around the Los Angeles area for seventy-three years. He died in 1994. This is a perfect gift for the poetry lover during this holiday season. It would be essential for any poetry collection.