Bukowski
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) was an American poet and novelist known for gritty, autobiographical writing about alcohol, sex, gambling, and working-class Los Angeles.
His deliberately crude style influenced underground literature.
As a reference point, Bukowski suggests raw confessionalism and rejection of literary pretension: He writes like a discount Bukowski—all booze and self-pity.
Addiction to drinking
- skid rowImpoverished urban district
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
- barflyHabitual pub patron
- racetrackCourse for competitive speed
horses · gambling · women · womanizer · poverty · blue collar · post office · mailman
Violating accepted boundaries
- confessionalBooth for admitting sins
- autobiographicalConcerning one's own life
- short storiesBrief prose narratives
- novelsExtended prose fiction
prose · barfly · underdog · antihero · raw · unfiltered · gritty · visceral
- Dostoevsky19th-century Russian author
- cult followingPassionate niche audience
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- indieProduced outside majors
Celine · punk rock · Tom Waits · Sean Penn · Mickey Rourke · anti-establishment · rebel · authenticity
Bird mimicking other species
- small pressIndependent book publisher
- chapbooksShort literary pamphlets
- typewriterMechanical printing keyboard
- verseMetered poetic passage
free verse · lowlife · bluebird · working class · everyman · simplicity · accessible · profane
alcoholism
Addiction to drinking
- skid rowImpoverished urban district
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
- barflyHabitual pub patron
racetrack · horses · gambling · women · womanizer · poverty · blue collar · post office · mailman · derelict
transgressive
Violating accepted boundaries
- confessionalBooth for admitting sins
- autobiographicalConcerning one's own life
- short storiesBrief prose narratives
novels · prose · barfly · underdog · antihero · raw · unfiltered · gritty · visceral · minimalist
Hemingway
- Dostoevsky19th-century Russian author
- cult followingPassionate niche audience
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
Celine · indie · punk rock · Tom Waits · Sean Penn · Mickey Rourke · anti-establishment · rebel · authenticity · influence
Mockingbird
Bird mimicking other species
- small pressIndependent book publisher
- chapbooksShort literary pamphlets
- typewriterMechanical printing keyboard
verse · free verse · lowlife · bluebird · working class · everyman · simplicity · accessible · profane · tender
BukowskiHenry James
"The Ambassadors" author
T.S. Eliot · Vladimir Nabokov · John Updike · Edith Wharton · formalist
BukowskiJohn Updike
Saul Bellow · poet laureate · man of letters · T.S. Eliot · Maya Angelou