Charles Bukowski And Modern Poetry Annotated Bibliography Example

Miles, Barry. Charles Bukowski. London: Virgin, 2009. Print.

Barry Miles is an experienced author, best known for his novel Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats. In this book, he explores the exploits of prolific writer Charles Bukowski. Barry describes Bukowski as a belligerent, hard-drinking “wild man of literature”. This autobiography reveals the life of Bukowski from an early age. The autobiography reveals that Bukowski was brought up by a violent father who subjected him to beatings which caused him to withdraw into moodiness during his adolescence years. The book also describes the neighborhood of Los Angeles in which Bukowski grew up. His heroes are described as being mostly hustlers, panhandlers, hookers and drunks. This book, therefore, serves as a perfect basis of investigating the motivations behind Bukowski’s poems. Most importantly the book helps readers to draw life lessons from Bukowski’s literary works.

Penn, Sean. "Charles Bukowski, American Author ~ Poems, stories, articles and interviews." Charles Bukowski, American Author ~. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. .

This is an excellent source of information on Bukowski’s poetry. It is a presentation of an interview carried out in 1987 by Sean Penn on Bukowski himself! In a candid and lengthy interview, Bukowski explained his motivations when writing on more than thirty issues affecting the society. Some of the issues he addressed include bars, alcohol, smoking, fighting, cats, women and sex, writing, poetry, fame, humor and death, people, leisure, loneliness among many others. Asked about his views on “alcohol” Bukowski humorously said, “Alcohol is probably one of the greatest things to arrive on earth – alongside of me!” In describing each issue, Bukowski expressed his personal experiences and his basic ideas and views regarding all the issues. This source serves to help poem lovers interpret and understand the intentions contained in Bukowski’s poems.

Charlson, David. Charles Bukowski: autobiographer, gender critic, iconoclast. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2005. Print.

This book is based on a doctoral dissertation on the poetry and prose of Charles Bukowski till his death in 1994. The book begins by comparing Bukowski and his literary works to those of influential predecessors such as John Fante and Ernest Hemmingway to those of four contemporaries (Fredrick Exley, Raymond Carver among others). The book also looks as the “negative” sexist and masochistic motivations terming them as knee-jerk reactions of a “dirty old man”. In summary, the book looks at “Bukowski vs. Institution Art” and challenges Bukowski’s poetry as both populist and avant-garde. The book shows Bukowski’s works as befitting of the modern literature terming them as “direct, truthful, daring and funny”. A chapter titled “summing Up: Giving Bukowski His Due” forecasts that Bukowski’s literary works shall be read and applied far into the 21st century.

Sounes, Howard, Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life. New York: Groove Press, 1998. Print.

This novel presents an in-depth look at Bukowski’s life. The book not only explores his prolific works but also looks deeply at the actual life of Bukowski-the man. Gaining an understanding of Bukowski as a person provides an insight into his motivations for the different themes exemplified in his poems. Besides writing about Bukowski, Sounes is a seasoned writer who has written biographies of other cultural American icons such as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney. Sounes’s novel in particular serves to explain how Bukowski channeled his inner anguish and loneliness that the world has ever known.

Young, Molly. "Charles Bukowski: The Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. N.p., N.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.

This article describes Bukowski as a prolific writer who used his poetry to depict the immorality of urban life and that of the downtrodden in American society. This source explains that Bukowski used direct language as well as violent and sexual imagery based on his experiences, imaginations and emotions to write compelling poems on diverse topics. This source explains the uniqueness of Bukowski’s poetry in that Bukowski never sought to make himself look good or heroic. He wrote with a “nothing-to-lose truthfulness which sets his poetry apart from other “autobiographical” poets and novelists. Molly Young the author of this article is a poem analyst who writes for the Poetry Foundation and has also written articles about poetry in the New York Observer Newspaper.