On Life

Henry Charles Bukowski born Heinrich Karl Bukowski August 16 1920 March 9 1994 was a GermanAmerican poet novelist and short story writer His writing was influenced by the social cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans the act of writing alcohol relationships with women and the drudgery of work Bukowski wrote thousands of poems hundreds of short stories and six novels eventually publishing over 60 books The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column Notes of a Dirty Old Man in the LA underground newspaper Open City In 1986 Time called Bukowski a laureate of American lowlifeRegarding Bukowskis enduring popular appeal Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote the secret of Bukowskis appeal is that he combines the confessional poets promise of intimacy with the largerthanlife aplomb of a pulpfiction hero