On Writing

His book Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground was published by Palgrave MacMillan.

or making a vicious attack on contemporary writers. Through it all, Bukowski remains the same

Stripped of all pretense, his letter writing becomes a crystal-clear snapshot of Bukowski’s mood at the tim

Spontaneity is also obvious in Bukowski’s correspondence. First thought, best thought, he seems to say in most letters

To Bukowski, there was no difference. Letters were a vehicle to express who he was, no matter to whom he was writing.

Poetry, fiction, and correspondence fall into the very same category for Bukowski: art. He is equally intense when addressing people for the first time

Similarly, some of the letters read like stories, as if he were actually writing a well-developed short story

It is as if Bukowski were writing poems in letter form—he repeatedly claims that letters are as important as poems.

Indeed, it’s Bukowski at his best: raw, witty, and deeply moving, taking no prisoners while delivering the goods.

Add to this rare material some of the most passionate letters Bukowski ever wrote, and this volume of correspondence is easily as compelling as any other of his collections.