Best poetry books by charles bukowski biography

1.     Post Office (Black Sparrow Press, 1971)

Post Office was Bukowski’s very first novel.

It was published in 1971 when Bukowski was fifty years old and it's probably his best novel. It tells the tale of Bukowski’s alter ego Henry Chinaski finding a job at the Los Angeles Post Office.

Best poetry books by charles bukowski biography wikipedia

The writing is gritty, funny, unpretentious and gripping. It features one of the all time classic opening lines: ‘It began as a mistake.’ In my opinion Post Office is up there with the modern classics Bukowski himself admired: Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, Louis Ferdinand Céline’s Journey to the End of the Night and John Fante’s Ask The Dust.

If you haven’t already read Post Office, do yourself a favor and go down to your local library or bookshop and get it. It’s a classic.

2.     The Last Night of the Earth Poems(Black sparrow Press, 1992)

These poems were written when Bukowski was in his