Henry Charles Bukowski Mlađi (Andernach, 16. kolovoza 1920. – San Pedro, 9. ožujka 1994.), američki književnik njemačkih korijena, predstavnik drugog vala beat generacije. Njegov stil pisanja bio je pod velikim utjecajem socijalnog, kulturalnog i gospodarskog ozračja njegovog grada Los Angeles. U svojim radovima opisivao je živote siromašnog čovjeka, alkohol, odnose sa ženama te sve nedostatke i poteškoće posla kao takvoga. Bukowski je napisao na tisuće pjesama, stotine kratkih priča i šest romana, sve u svemu više od šezdeset knjiga.
Životopis
Rođen kao Heinrich Karl Bukowski u Njemačkoj od oca Heinrich (Henry) Bukowski i majke Katharina (rođena Fett), njegov djed doselio se iz Njemačke u Sjedinjene Američke Države 1880. god. Tijekom svoje rane mladosti bio je sramežljiv i povučen, što je bio rezultat zlostavljanja od strane njegovih vršnjaka i njegovog oca koji ga je tukao. U ranim tinejdžerskim godinama prvi puta dolazi u doticaj s alkoholom koji će ga i kasnije tijekom života definirati kao osobu i pisca-"This [alcohol] is going to help me for a very long time"-kako je sam pisao. Nakon što je maturirao u Los Angeles High School , pohađa Los Angeles City College dvije godine, tijekom kojega uzima kolegije iz umjetnosti, novinarstva i književnosti. 9. ožujka 1994. god. umire u San Pedro od leukemije u 73. godini nedugo nakon završetka svojeg zadnjeg romana Pulp.
Radovi
Romani
Post Office (1971) Factotum (1975) Žene (1978), Ham on Rye (1982), Hollywood, Hollywood! (1989), Pulp (1994)
Poezija Flower, Fist, and Bestial Wail (1960) It Catches My Heart in Its Hands (1963) Crucifix in a Deathhand (1965) At Terror Street and Agony Way (1968) Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 story Window (1968) A Bukowski Sampler (1969) The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills (1969) Fire Station (1970) Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (1972), Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame (1974) Scarlet (1976) Maybe Tomorrow (1977) Love Is a Dog from Hell (1977), Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit (1979), Dangling in the Tournefortia (1981), War All the Time (book)|War All the Time (1984) You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense (1986) The Roominghouse Madrigals (1988), 978-0876857335 Septuagenarian Stew: Stories & Poems (1990) People Poems (1991) The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992), Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories (1996), Bone Palace Ballet (book)|Bone Palace Ballet (1998) What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire. (1999) Open All Night (book)|Open All Night (2000) The Night Torn Mad with Footsteps (2001) Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way (2003), The Flash of the Lightning Behind the Mountain (2004) Slouching Toward Nirvana (2005) Come on In! (2006) The People Look Like Flowers at Last (2007) The Pleasures of the Damned (2007), The Continual Condition (2009)
Kratke novele Confessions of a Man Insane Enough to Live with Beasts (1965) All the Assholes in the World and Mine (1966) Notes of a Dirty Old Man (1969) Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (1972) South of No North (1973), Hot Water Music (1983) Tales of Ordinary Madness (1983) The Most Beautiful Woman in Town (1983) Portions from a Wine-stained Notebook: Short Stories and Essays (2008) . Absence of the Hero (2010) More Notes of a Dirty Old Man (2011)
Knjige Shakespeare Never Did This (1979); expanded (1995) The Bukowski/Purdy Letters (1983) Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters (1993) Living on Luck: Selected Letters, vol. 2 (1995) The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998), Reach for the Sun: Selected Letters, vol. 3 (1999) Beerspit Night and Cursing: The Correspondense of Charles Bukowski and Sheri Martinelli (2001) Sunlight here I am: Interviews and encounters, 1963-1993 (2003)
Filmovi i scenariji Barfly (1984) Bukowski at Bellevue 1970 – Poetry Reading Bukowski 1973 – Californian KCET TV Documentary Supervan 1977 – Feature Film (Not based on Bukowski's work but Bukowski had cameo appearance as Wet T-Shirt Contest Water Boy) There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here – Filmed: 1979; DVD Release: 2008 – Poetry Reading The Last Straw – Filmed: 1980; DVD Release: 2008 – Poetry Reading Tales of Ordinary Madness – Feature Film Poetry In Motion 1982 – General Poetry Documentary Barfly 1987 – Feature Film Crazy Love 1987 – Feature Film (Belgium) Bukowski: Born Into This 2002 – Biographical Documentary Factotum 2005 – Feature Film The Suicide 2006 – Short film One Tough Mother 2010 Released on DVD – Poetry Reading Mermaid of Venice 2011
Američki književnici