Essential Bukowski

Edited by Abel Debritto, this definitive collection of poems from an influential writer and poet whose writing left an enduring mark on modern literature. Few writers have so brilliantly and poignantly conjured the desperation and absurdity of ordinary life as Charles Bukowski has. Resonant with his powerful, perceptive voice, his visceral, hilarious, and transcendent poems speak to us as poignantly today as they did when they were written. Encompassing a wide range of subjects—from love to death and sex to writing—Bukowski’s unvarnished and self-deprecating poetry illuminates the deepest and most enduring concerns of the human condition while remaining sharply aware of the day-to-day. With his acute eye for the ridiculous, Bukowski speaks to the deepest longings and strangest predilections of the human experience. Gloomy yet hopeful, this is tough, unrelenting poetry touched by grace. This is Essential Bukowski.