Editing Charles Bukowski (section)

== Biography ==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2025}}
=== Family and early years ===
[[File:Bukowski Geburtshaus.jpg|thumb|upright|Bukowski's birthplace at Aktienstrasse, [[Andernach]]]]
Charles Bukowski was born Heinrich Karl Bukowski in [[Andernach]], [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Weimar Germany]]. His father was Heinrich (Henry) Bukowski, an American of German descent who had served in the [[Occupation of the Rhineland#American Forces (1918–1923)|U.S. army of occupation]] after [[World War I]] and had remained in Germany after his army service. His mother was Katharina (née Fett). His paternal grandfather, Leonard Bukowski, had moved to the United States from [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]] in the 1880s. In [[Cleveland, Ohio]], Leonard met Emilie Krause, an ethnic German, who had emigrated from [[Danzig]] (now [[Gdańsk]], [[Poland]]). They married and settled in [[Pasadena, California]], where Leonard worked as a successful carpenter. The couple had four children, including Heinrich (Henry), Charles Bukowski's father.<ref name="Miles">''Charles Bukowski'' (2009) Barry Miles. Random House, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-7535-2159-5}}{{page needed|date=June 2013}}</ref><ref>Neeli Cherkovski: Das Leben des Charles Bukowski. München 1993, p. 18-20.</ref> His mother, Katharina Bukowski, was the daughter of Wilhelm Fett and Nannette Israel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jan-07-me-martinez7-story.html|title=Do we need to admire Charles Bukowski to honor his poetry?|date=January 7, 2008|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Al |last= Martinez| author-link= Al Martinez}}</ref> The name ''Israel'' is widespread among Catholics in the [[Eifel]] region.<ref>[https://www.eifelzeitung.de/redaktion/kinder-der-eifel/charles-bukowski-134540/ Charles Bukowski US-Schrifsteller aus Andernach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220213700/https://www.eifelzeitung.de/redaktion/kinder-der-eifel/charles-bukowski-134540/ |date=December 20, 2021 }}, Eifel-Zeitung, August 16, 2016 (in German)</ref> Bukowski assumed his paternal ancestor had moved from Poland to Germany around 1780, as "Bukowski" is a Polish last name. As far back as Bukowski could trace, his whole family was German.<ref>Elisa Leonelli, [https://www.culturalweekly.com/charles-bukowski-its-humanity-that-bothers-me "Charles Bukowski: "It's humanity that bothers me."], ''Cultural Weekly'', August 4, 2015.</ref>

Bukowski's parents met in Andernach following World War I. His father was German-American and a sergeant in the [[United States Army]] serving in Germany after the empire's defeat in 1918.<ref name="Miles" /> He had an affair with Katharina, a German friend's sister, and she subsequently became pregnant. Bukowski repeatedly claimed to be [[illegitimate birth|born out of wedlock]], but Andernach marital records indicate that his parents married one month before his birth.<ref name="Miles" /><ref name="Sounes8">Sounes, Howard. Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life, p. 8</ref> Afterwards, Bukowski's father became a building contractor, set to make great financial gains in the aftermath of the war, and after two years moved the family to Pfaffendorf (today part of [[Koblenz]]). However, given the [[Treaty of Versailles|crippling postwar reparations]] being required of Germany, which led to a stagnant economy and high levels of inflation, he was unable to make a living and decided to move the family to the U.S. On April 18, 1923, they sailed from [[Bremerhaven]] to [[Baltimore, Maryland]], where they settled.

His family moved to [[Mid-City, Los Angeles|Mid-City]], Los Angeles,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://la.curbed.com/2015/5/26/9956946/charles-bukowski-childhood-home|title=Charles Bukowski's Famous Childhood Home in Mid-City LA is For Sale|first=Adrian Glick|last=Kudler|date=May 26, 2015|website=Curbed LA}}</ref> in 1930.<ref name="Miles" /><ref name=Sounes8 /> Bukowski's father was often unemployed. In the autobiographical ''[[Ham on Rye]]'', Bukowski says that, with his mother's [[acquiescence]], his father was frequently [[abusive]], both physically and mentally, beating his son for the smallest imagined offense.<ref name="hor">{{cite book|last=Bukowski|first=Charles|title=Ham on Rye|year=1982|publisher=Ecco|isbn=0-06-117758-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hamonryenovel0000buko}}</ref><ref name="Found">{{cite web|last=Young |first=Molly |url=http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-bukowski |title=Poetry Foundation of America. Bukowski Profile |publisher=Poetryfoundation.org |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref> He later told an interviewer that his father beat him with a [[razor strop]] three times a week from the ages of six to 11 years. He says that it helped his writing, as he came to understand undeserved pain.

Young Bukowski spoke English with a strong German accent and was taunted by his childhood playmates with the epithet "Heini," German diminutive of Heinrich, in his early youth. He was shy and socially withdrawn, a condition exacerbated during his teen years by an extreme case of [[acne vulgaris|acne]].<ref name="Found" /> Neighborhood children ridiculed his accent and the clothing his parents made him wear. The [[Great Depression]] bolstered his rage as he grew, and gave him much of his voice and material for his writings.<ref>{{cite web|title= Bukowski, Charles (1920–1994)|url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sharpec/bukowski_charles_1920_1994/0|publisher=Routledge}}</ref>

In his early teen years, Bukowski had an epiphany when he was introduced to alcohol by his friend William "Baldy" Mullinax, depicted as "Eli LaCrosse" in ''Ham on Rye'', son of an alcoholic surgeon. "This [alcohol] is going to help me for a very long time," he later wrote, describing a method (drinking) he could use to come to more amicable terms with his own life.<ref name="hor" /> Bukowski attended [[Susan Miller Dorsey High School]] for one year before transferring to [[Los Angeles High School]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Calonne |first=David Stephen |title=Charles Bukowski |date=2012 |publisher=Reaktion |isbn=978-1-78023-023-8 |series=Critical lives |location=London |pages=18}}</ref> After graduating from high school in 1939, Bukowski attended [[Los Angeles City College]] for two years, taking courses in art, journalism, and literature, before quitting at the start of [[World War II]]. He then moved to New York City to begin a career as a financially pinched blue-collar worker with hopes of becoming a writer.<ref name="Found" />

On July 22, 1944, with the war ongoing, Bukowski was arrested by [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents in [[Philadelphia]], where he lived at the time, on suspicion of [[draft evasion]]. At a time when the U.S. was at war with [[Nazi Germany]], and many Germans and German-Americans on the home front were suspected of disloyalty, Bukowski's German birth troubled the authorities. He was held for seventeen days in Philadelphia's [[Moyamensing Prison]]. Sixteen days later, he failed a psychological examination that was part of his mandatory military entrance physical test and was given a [[Selective Service]] Classification of [[Class 1-A|4-F]] (unfit for military service).

=== Early writing ===
When Bukowski was aged 23 (March-April 1944), his short story "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip" was published in [[Story (magazine)|''Story'' magazine]]. Two years later, another short story, "20 Tanks from Kasseldown", was published by the [[Black Sun Press]] in Issue III of ''[[Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly]]'', a limited-run, loose-leaf [[broadside (printing)|broadside]] collection printed in 1946 and edited by [[Caresse Crosby]]. Failing to break into the literary world, Bukowski grew disillusioned with the publication process and quit writing for almost a decade, a time that he referred to as a "ten-year drunk". These "lost years" formed the basis for his later semiautobiographical chronicles, and there are fictionalized versions of Bukowski's life through his highly stylized alter-ego, Henry Chinaski.<ref name="Bukowski, Charles" /> However, Bukowski never fully gave up writing and had occasional pieces published during this period. The “ten-year drunk” was part of the Chinaski Legend, similar to [[Jack Kerouac]]’s Duluoz Legend. 

During part of this period he continued living in Los Angeles, working at a pickle factory for a short time but also spending some time roaming about the U.S., working sporadically and staying in cheap [[rooming house]]s.<ref name=Miles /> In the early 1950s, he took a job as a fill-in [[letter carrier]] with the [[United States Post Office Department]] in Los Angeles, but resigned just before he reached three years' service.

In the spring of 1954, Bukowski was treated for a near-fatal bleeding [[ulcer]]. After leaving the hospital he began to write poetry.<ref name=Miles /> The next year he agreed to marry small-town Texas poet Barbara Frye, but they divorced in 1958. According to [[Howard Sounes]]'s ''[[Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life]]'', she later died under mysterious circumstances in India. Following his divorce, Bukowski resumed drinking and continued writing poetry.<ref name="Miles" />

Several of Bukowski's poems were published in the late 1950s in ''Gallows'', a small poetry magazine published briefly (the magazine lasted for two issues) by Jon Griffith.<ref>''"Sheaf, Hearse, Coffin, Poetry NOW"'' by E.V. Griffith (Hearse Press, 1996), pp. 23</ref> The small ''[[avant-garde]]'' [[literary magazine]] ''[[Nomad (magazine)|Nomad]]'', published by [[Anthony Linick]] and Donald Factor (the son of [[Max Factor Jr.]]), offered a home to Bukowski's early work. ''Nomad''{{'}}s inaugural issue in 1959 featured two of his poems. A year later, ''Nomad'' published one of Bukowski's best-known essays, ''Manifesto: A Call for Our Own Critics''.<ref>Debritto (2013), p.90.</ref>

=== 1960s ===
By 1960, Bukowski had returned to the post office in Los Angeles and began work as a letter filing clerk, a position he held for more than a decade. In 1962, he was distraught over the death of Jane Cooney Baker, his first serious girlfriend. Bukowski turned his inner devastation into a series of poems and stories lamenting her death.<ref name="Bukowski, Charles 2003 pp. 363">Bukowski, Charles ''Run with the hunted: a Charles Bukowski reader'', Edited by John Martin (Ecco, 2003), pp. 363–365</ref>

[[File:Bukowski Court, 5124 DeLongpre Avenue, Los Angeles.jpg|thumb|5124 DeLongpre Avenue, Los Angeles, now Bukowski Court, where Bukowski resided from 1963 to 1972]]
E.V. Griffith, editor of Hearse Press, published Bukowski's first separately printed publication, a broadside titled "His Wife, the Painter," in June 1960. This event was followed by Hearse Press's publication of "Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail," Bukowski's first [[chapbook]] of poems, in October 1960. "His Wife, the Painter" and three other broadsides ("The Paper on the Floor", "The Old Man on the Corner" and "Waste Basket") formed the centerpiece of Hearse Press's "Coffin 1", an innovative small-poetry publication consisting of a pocketed folder containing forty-two broadsides and [[lithograph]]s which was published in 1964. Hearse Press continued to publish poems by Bukowski through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s.<ref>''"Sheaf, Hearse, Coffin, Poetry NOW"'' by E.V. Griffith (Hearse Press, 1996), pp. 30, 32</ref>

Jon and Louise Webb, publishers of the literary magazine ''[[The Outsider (magazine)|The Outsider]]'', featured some of Bukowski's poetry in its pages. Under the Loujon Press imprint, the Webbs published Bukowski's ''It Catches My Heart in Its Hands'' in 1963 and ''Crucifix in a Deathhand'' in 1965.

In 1964 a daughter, Marina Louise Bukowski, was born to Bukowski and his live-in girlfriend [[FrancEyE|Frances Smith]]. She would be his only child.<ref name="Bukowski, Charles 2003 pp. 363"/>

Beginning in 1967, Bukowski wrote the column ''[[Notes of a Dirty Old Man]]'' for Los Angeles' ''[[Open City (newspaper)|Open City]]'', an underground newspaper. When ''Open City'' was shut down in 1969, the column was picked up by the ''[[Los Angeles Free Press]]'' as well as the hippie underground paper ''[[NOLA Express]]'' in [[New Orleans]]. In 1969, Bukowski and [[Neeli Cherkovski]] launched their own short-lived [[mimeograph]]ed literary magazine, ''[[Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns]]''. They produced three issues over the next two years.

=== Black Sparrow years ===
In 1969, Bukowski accepted an offer from [[Black Sparrow Press]] publisher [[John Martin (publisher)|John Martin]] and quit his post office job to dedicate himself to full-time writing. He was then 49 years old. As he explained in a letter at the time, "I have one of two choices – stay in the post office and go crazy ... or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve."<ref name=buktro>{{cite web|url=http://www.jaydougherty.com/bukowski/index.html |title=''Introduction to Charles Bukowski'' by Jay Dougherty |publisher=Jaydougherty.com |date=August 16, 1920 |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref> Less than one month after leaving the postal service he finished his first novel, ''[[Post Office (novel)|Post Office]]''. As a measure of respect for Martin's financial support and faith in a relatively unknown writer, Bukowski published almost all of his subsequent major works with Black Sparrow Press, which became a highly successful enterprise. An avid supporter of small independent presses, Bukowski continued to submit poems and short stories to innumerable small publications throughout his career.<ref name="Found" />

Bukowski embarked on a series of love affairs and [[one-night stand|one-night trysts]]. One of these relationships was with [[Linda King]], a sculptor and poet. Critic [[Robert Peters (playwright)|Robert Peters]] reported seeing Bukowski as an actor in King's play ''Only a Tenant'', in which she and Bukowski stage-read the first act at the Pasadena Museum of the Artist. This was a one-off performance of what was a shambolic work.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.bookrags.com/criticism/bukowski-charles-19201994/11/|title=Charles Bukowski – Criticism|work=[[BookRags]]}}</ref> Bukowski's other affairs were with a recording executive and a twenty-three-year-old redhead; he wrote a book of poetry as a tribute to his love for the latter, titled, "Scarlet" (Black Sparrow Press, 1976). His various affairs and relationships provided material for his stories and poems. Another important relationship was with "Tanya", [[pseudonym]] of "Amber O'Neil" (also a pseudonym), described in Bukowski's "Women" as a pen-pal that evolved into a weekend tryst at Bukowski's residence in Los Angeles in the 1970s. "Amber O'Neil" later self-published a chapbook about the affair entitled "Blowing My Hero".<ref>Sounes, Howard. ''Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life''. Grove Press, 1998. 275.</ref>

In 1976, Bukowski met Linda Lee Beighle, a health food restaurant owner, rock-and-roll groupie, aspiring actress, heiress to a small Philadelphia "Main Line" fortune and devotee of [[Meher Baba]]. Two years later he moved from the [[East Hollywood]] area, where he had lived for most of his life, to the harborside community of [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]],<ref>Ciotti, Paul. (March 22, 1987) [[Los Angeles Times]] ''[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-22-tm-14539-story.html Bukowski: He's written more than 40 books, and in Europe he's treated like a rock star. He has dined with Norman Mailer and goes to the race track with Sean Penn. Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway are starring in a movie based on his life. At 66, poet Charles Bukowski is suddenly in vogue.]'' Section: Los Angeles Times Magazine;  p12.</ref> the southernmost district of Los Angeles. Beighle followed him and they lived together intermittently over the next two years. They were eventually married by [[Manly Palmer Hall]], a Canadian-born author, mystic, and spiritual teacher, in 1985. Beighle is referred to as "Sara" in Bukowski's novels ''[[Women (Bukowski novel)|Women]]'' and ''[[Hollywood (Bukowski novel)|Hollywood]]''.

In the 1980s, Bukowski collaborated with cartoonist [[Robert Crumb]] on a series of comic books, with Bukowski supplying the writing and Crumb providing the artwork. Through the 1990s Crumb also illustrated a number of Bukowski's stories, including the collection ''The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship'' and the story "[[Bring Me Your Love (short story)|Bring Me Your Love]]".<ref>Popova, Maria. [http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/10/08/r-crumb-illustrates-bukowski/ "R. Crumb Illustrates Bukowksi"] www.brainpickings.org. Retrieved September 25, 2014.</ref>

Bukowski was also published in ''[[Beloit Poetry Journal]]''.

===Live poetry readings===

Bukowski's live readings were legendary, with the drunk raucous crowd fighting with the drunk angry poet. In 1972, Joe Wolberg, who was the manager of [[City Lights Books]] in San Francisco, rented a hall and paid Bukowski to read his poems. A vinyl album was released by City Lights, which was re-issued by [[Takoma Records]] in 1980.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Record Collector Magazine"  May – June 2021 Page 35</ref>

In May 1978, Bukowski traveled to [[West Germany]] and gave a live poetry reading of his work before an audience in [[Hamburg]]. This was released as a double 12" L.P. stereo record titled "CHARLES BUKOWSKI 'Hello. It's good to be back.{{'"}}

His last international performance was in October 1979 in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], Canada, and was released on DVD as ''[[There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here]]''. The reading was produced by fan/friend Dennis Del Torre, who rented a venue, Viking Hall, paid Bukowski and his wife Linda to fly up, hired a video crew, promoted the event, and sold tickets. The crowd and Bukowski were very drunk for the event. A heckler was near the stage and can be heard clearly. Del Torre later went to Bukowski's widow, Linda Bukowski, for permission to license it. He thought it was the last reading Bukowski gave, but Linda told him there was another reading after that in Redondo Beach, CA, in early 1980.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/charles-bukowski-theres-gonna-be-a-god-damn-riot-in-here-live-in-vancouver-perf-474008 |title=Charles Bukowski: There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here! Live in Vancouver (1979) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref>

In March 1980 he gave his very last reading at the Sweetwater music venue in [[Redondo Beach, California]], which was released as ''Hostage'' on vinyl and audio CD, and ''[[The Last Straw (2008 film)|The Last Straw]]'' on DVD, filmed and produced by [[Jon Monday]] for mondayMEDIA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/charles-bukowski-the-last-straw-474007 |title=Charles Bukowski: The Last Straw (1980) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref> In 2010 the unedited versions of both ''The Last Straw'' and ''Riot'' were released as ''One Tough Mother'' on DVD.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

{{Main|There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here }}
{{Main|The Last Straw (2008 film)}}

=== Death and legacy ===
[[File:2014-05-13 Henry Charles Bukowski Jr. gravestone, Green Hills, Los Angeles - USA.jpg|thumb|Henry Charles Bukowski Jr.'s grave in Green Hills Memorial Park]]
Bukowski died of [[leukemia]] on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, aged 73, shortly after completing his last novel, ''[[Pulp (novel)|Pulp]]''. The funeral rites, orchestrated by his widow, were conducted by [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monks. He is interred at Green Hills Memorial Park in [[Rancho Palos Verdes]]. An account of the proceedings can be found in [[Gerald Locklin]]'s book ''Charles Bukowski: A Sure Bet''. His gravestone reads: "Don't Try", a phrase which Bukowski uses in one of his poems, advising aspiring writers and poets about inspiration and creativity. Bukowski explained the phrase in a 1963 letter to [[John William Corrington]]: "Somebody at one of these places [...] asked me: 'What do you do? How do you write, create?' You don't, I told them. You don't try. That's very important: ''not'' to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or, if you like its looks, you make a pet out of it."

Bukowski's work was subject to controversy throughout his career. [[Hugh Fox]] claimed that his [[sexism]] in his poetry, at least in part, translated into his life. In 1969, Fox published the first critical study of Bukowski in ''[[North American Review|The North American Review]]'', and mentioned his attitude toward women: "When women are around, he has to play Man. In a way it's the same kind of 'pose' he plays at in his poetry—[[Humphrey Bogart|Bogart]], [[Erich von Stroheim|Eric Von Stroheim]]. Whenever my wife Lucia would come with me to visit him he'd play the Man role, but one night she couldn't come I got to Buk's place and found a whole different guy—easy to get along with, relaxed, accessible."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fox|first=Hugh|title=Hugh Fox: The Living Underground: Charles Bukowski|jstor=25117001|journal=The North American Review|volume=254|issue=3|pages=57–58|year=1969}}</ref>

In June 2006, Bukowski's literary archive was donated by his widow to the [[Huntington Library]] in [[San Marino, California]]. Copies of all editions of his work published by the Black Sparrow Press are held at [[Western Michigan University]], which purchased the archive of the publishing house after its closure in 2003.

[[Ecco Press]] continues to release new collections of his poetry, culled from the thousands of works published in small literary magazines. According to [[Ecco Press]], the 2007 release ''The People Look Like Flowers at Last'' will be his final [[List of works published posthumously|posthumous]] release, as now all his once-unpublished work has been made available.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/006057707X/ |title=''The People Look Like Flowers At Last: New Poems'' |website=Amazon |date=March 9, 1994 |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref>