“You could sit in there all day drinking coffee and they never asked you to leave no matter how bad you looked. They just asked the bums not to bring their wine and drink it there. Places like that gave you hope when there wasn´t much hope.”

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.