Why Should You Read Charles Bukowski?
Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer who published extensively during his time. However, it was quite late when he got cult status and an unflinching fandom in literary circles. Bukowski is one of the writers who looked deeply at the other side of the American dream and wrote about people who suffered through it. His famous fictional character Henry Chinaski AKA Hank is unimaginably famous among readers. The obnoxiously passive hero goes through the daily drudgery of life while looking at the eye of tragedy. His incessant love for alcohol and women takes him to places where one can experience America’s lesser talked culture.
One of the reasons you should read Charles Bukowski is to experience his rawness and his idea of not caring for literary standards. Bukowski wrote because he wanted to write without caring what others thought of him or his writing. Taking it forward, Bukowski who once was called “The King of American Lowlife” by Time magazine unabashedly puts forth the real face of an American subculture that is mostly missing from its literature. Bukowski is erratic and offensive in his writings, maybe that’s what made him the pioneer of transgressive fiction.
Charles Bukowski has received a tremendous amount of flak from critics and readers for his misogynistic views and skewed idea of masculinity. Although, even amidst all the criticism, Charles Bukowski holds an absurd charm about himself that readers can’t shake off. One can critically dissect Bukowski’s writings but he cannot be ignored mostly because a huge section of readers has turned him into a literary giant.