(1920 – 1994) German-born American and Californian fiction writer, prose poet and misanthrope, Bukowski published more than forty books, many with small presses. Chronicler of the seamy his narrators define angry drunks (he wrote the movie Barfly), unapologetic macho men and beat geniuses too deeply invested in “real life” to be appreciated by critics. In Bukowski’s monotonous poems, speakers celebrate booze, bad sex and bitterness as if they are being brutally honest, but Bukowski did not invite readers to join him in his America. His appraisal may be summed up as follows: “Fuck You. You couldn’t take it.”