Charles Bukowski Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of ChapBooks

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Mondo Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Charles Bukowski was an American author who passed away in 1994. By then, he had distinguished himself as one of the most intriguing poets of his generation. The author’s works always reflected his poor upbringing.

+Biography

Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany in 1920. His father took him to the United States when he was two-years-old. The pair did not have the best relationship.

Bukowski’s father was certain that firm discipline had to be an essential aspect of his upbringing. As such, he saw fit to beat Bukowski for the smallest offenses. Bukowski said he received at least three beatings a weak.

It didn’t help that Bukowski was such a shy child. His bad acne contributed to the author’s social anxiety. Not only did the boys bully him but the girls rejected him. Discovering alcohol at the age of thirteen is one of the very few shining moments in Bukowski’s childhood.

Life eventually took the author far from home. He was attending Los Angeles College when the Second World War began and he saw fit to move to New York. The move coincided with Charles Bukowski’s decision to become a writer.

And write he did. Of course, his enthusiasm for the activity did not last. The author spent many years writing and receiving rejections. His misfortunate in the publishing field was such that by 1946, he had decided to finally give up on writing as a whole.

The decision nearly cost him his life. Whether he was looking to drown his sorrows or he simply sought excitement, the author took up a heavy drinking habit. The binge lasted a decade and it wasn’t until a near death experience in Los Angeles brought him back to his senses that Bukowski realized he was happiest when he was writing.

And his second attempt at establishing a writing career paid off. The author was 35 when he crafted relationships with the L.A. Free Press, Open City, and other underground newspapers.

Alcohol remained an ever-present aspect of his life. People gravitated to his poems and short stories because most of them were autobiographical and Bukowski was not afraid to use them to bear his soul.

Bukowski’s protagonists always faced challenges that mirrored his own. They struggled to find a place in the word, did a lot of menial jobs, tried and failed to find love with all the wrong women and could not stop drinking.

Besides his hard-drinking ways, Bukowski was popular for his grim view of the world. Bukowski thought contemporary society was a desolate place filled with lonely people struggling to belong.

His works revolved around sex, gambling, and music, and they always had a hard edge to them. His poems, though seemingly independent, had the capacity to blend together to speak with a unified voice.

The short story and poem collections he published kept industry experts guessing and garnered Charles Bukowski quite the cult following.

The author’s death in 1994 was attributed to Leukemia. And while Bukowski’s passing was mourned, his death did little to diminish his presence on the literary landscape. Works like ‘The People Look Like Flowers at Last’ were released after his death and continued to spread the cynical messages that had made Charles Bukowski a star in his heyday.

In the interviews he gave, Bukowski suggested that he wrote for people who suffered through life like he had. He described his audience as demented and defeated, a selection of readers who appreciated his vulgarities and could follow the singular tale that was woven through his many poems and short stories.

Over the years, fans of the author have had the opportunity to see his work collected in numerous anthologies. The most notable of these collections is ‘Run with the Hunted’ which organizes Bukowski’s short stories and poems in order, allowing readers to gain a new appreciation for the narrative that runs through them.

+Adaptations

Charles Bukowski had the opportunity to see many of his works receive film adaptations. The most notable include Factotum, a 2005 film of French and Norwegian origins that Bent Harner directed.

The book was adapted from the 1975 novel ‘Factotum’ and it starred Matt Dillon as Henry Chinaski, a famous character in Bukowski’s books whom he referred to as his alter ego.

Crazy Love, which came out in 1987, directed by Dominique Deruddere from Belgium, used a variety of Bukowski’s writings as source material rather than a single volume. The same is true for Tales of Ordinary Madness, a 1981 Marco Ferreri directed film which utilized many of Bukowski’s poems and short stories.

Barfly, a 1987 Barbet Schroeder-directed film, isn’t an adaptation but, rather, a semi-autobiography of Charles Bukowski. The central character is Henry Chinaski through whose exploits people are allowed a glimpse into Bukowski’s hard-drinking days in Los Angeles.

+Post Office

Henry Chinaski loves women, alcohol and racetrack betting. Those three things are the driving factors of his life. So he isn’t quite sure how, as a middle-aged man, he landed a job with the U.S. Postal Service.

The work is hardly fulfilling and he eventually spends more than a decade of his life trying to survive the trials of his bosses and coworkers even as overcomes the rigors of dragging waterlogged mailbags all over the country.

Post Office is the book that put Charles Bukowski on the map. Henry Chinaski is Charles Bukowski. Through Chinaski, Bukowski reveals the loser he once was. He talks about his alcoholism, womanizing ways and a litany of other self-destructive habits that made his ambition-free life worth living.

The book is written in a conversational style. Bukowski wants readers to feel like he is sitting with them, telling his story.

+Ham on Rye

Henry Chinaski is Charles Bukowski, the celebrated author, and poet. Through Henry, Charles uses ‘Ham on Rye’ to talk about his harrowing childhood and the joys that adolescence eventually brought.

The book is crude and unyielding in its portrayal of Bukowsi’s humorous but ultimately sad life.

Bukowski doesn’t make Chinaski out to be the nicest of individuals. This is despite knowing that the protagonist is basically his stand-in for the tale that unfolds in ‘Ham on Rye’.

Chinaski doesn’t care about anything or anyone else besides himself. He certainly has no patience for moral arguments or dignity. He provides a harsh look at the reality that was Charles Bukowski’s life.

2 Responses to “Charles Bukowski”

1. Mr. Gowan: 11 months ago

   Thank You very much for all the work that went into this page. Now i am able to choose which Bukowski works i want to continue with. 2.24.2024

   Reply
   • Graeme: 11 months ago

     You are welcome 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to write that, much appreciated

     Reply