Edited by Abel Debritto the definitive collection of poems from an influential writer whose transgressive legacy and raw funny and acutely observant writing has left an enduring mark on modern culture. Few writers have so brilliantly and poignantly conjured the desperation and absurdity of ordinary life as Charles Bukowski. Resonant with his powerful perceptive voice his visceral hilarious and transcendent poetry speaks to us as forcefully today as when it was written. Encompassing a wide range of subjectsfrom love to death and sex to writingBukowskis unvarnished and selfdeprecating verse illuminates the deepest and most enduring concerns of the human condition while remaining sharply aware of the day to day. With his acute eye for the ridiculous and the troubled Bukowski speaks to the deepest longings and strangest predilections of the human experience. Gloomy yet hopeful this is tough unrelenting poetry touched by grace. This is Essential Bukowski. show more