Bukowski Reads His Poetry

by Charles Bukowski

and who is to say the rose is greater than the thorn?
not I, Henry

Tracklist:
1. The state of world affairs from a 3rd floor window
2. Winter comes to a lot of places in August
3. Sundays kill more men than bombs
4. a 340 dollar horse and a hundred dollar where
5. shot of red eye
6. beer bottle
7. 7th race when the angels swung low and burned
8. on going out to get the mail
9. true story
10. the weather is hot on the back of my watch
11. John dillinger and le chausseur maudit
12. from the Dept. of English
13. fire station
14. no lady godiva
15. don’t come round but if you do..
16. they, all of them, know
17. the tragedy of the leaves

Genres: Poetry

Audio CD

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Henry Charles Bukowski (born as Heinrich Karl Bukowski) was a German-born American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles.It is marked by an emphasis on 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 sixty books

Charles Bukowski was the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, then left school and moved to New York City to become a writer. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. After he developed a bleeding ulcer, he decided to take up writing again. He worked a wide range of jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver and loader, mail carrier, guard, gas station attendant, stock boy, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk, parking lot attendant, Red Cross orderly, and elevator operator. He also worked in a dog biscuit factory, a slaughterhouse, a cake and cookie factory, and he hung posters in New York City subways.

Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose, including Pulp (1994), Screams from the Balcony (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992).

He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9, 1994.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haven't read Bukowski since college and this was thoroughly entertaining. Hadn't heard his voice before... it's just right for his poetry/mystique.

Favorite poem from this performance: don't come round but if you do...
Favorite poem title: the weather is hot on the back of my watch