I’m a huge fan of Bukowski, and an even bigger fan of his writing style – which was in the stream-of-consciousness vein, a la Hunter Thompson. Bukowski often said, “Don’t try,” and some would think he meant just let the words flow, don’t try to make sense of them. His wife, Linda, says it means don’t just try, but rather, DO.

“Dirty journalism” is the phrase some people use to describe Bukowski’s writing. Some of it borders on pornography (let’s just say you wouldn’t want to be reading his novel “Women“ on an airplane and have your neighbor glance down at the words). Calling it misogynistic and crude is to put his prose mildly.

His poetry, however, is quite beautiful. Here is one of my favorites from his book, “You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense“.

“There is a place in the heart that

will never be filled

a space

and even during the

best moments

and

the greatest

times

we will know it

we will know it

more than

ever

there is a place in the heart that

will never be filled

and

we will wait

and

wait

in that

space.”

(The name “Hank” on the grave marker is short for Henry Charles “Hank” Chinaski, Bukowski’s literary alter ego, a character who appeared many times in Bukowski’s books).