“Well it’s good to have a car like that, once in a while somebody’ll say, ‘why don’t you come over for dinner?’ and I can just say, ‘Car won’t make it.’ I don’t have to tell them that time is scarcer than young pussy around here, and I don’t mean time to write POETRY. I mean time to lay in bed, alone, and stare up at the ceiling and not think at all, not at all, not at all…”

German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer

Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. He became closely associated with Los Angeles, the city he made his home, and his work reflects that setting and its pressures. His writing focuses on the lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the grind of work. He wrote with direct attention to everyday hardship and the conditions that shaped it.