A compilation of Charles Bukowski's underground articles from his column "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" appears here in book form. Bukowski's reasoning for self-describing himself as a 'dirty old man' rings true in this book. "People come to my door—too many of them really—and knock to tell me Notes of a Dirty Old Man turns them on. A bum off the road brings in a gypsy and his wife and we talk . . . . drink half the night. A long distance operator from Newburgh, N.Y. sends me money. She wants me to give up drinking beer and to eat well. I hear from a madman who calls himself 'King Arthur' and lives on Vine Street in Hollywood and wants to help me write my column. A doctor comes to my door: 'I read your column and think I can help you. I used to be a psychiatrist.' I send him away . . ." "Bukowski writes like a latter-day Celine, a wise fool talking straight from the gut about the futility and beauty of life . . ." —Publishers Weekly "These disjointed stories gives us a glimpse into the brilliant and highly disturbed mind of a man who will drink anything, hump anything and say anything without the slightest tinge of embarassment, shame or remorse. It's actually pretty hard not to like the guy after reading a few of these semi-ranting short stories." —Greg Davidson, curiculummag.com Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany on August 16, 1920, the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose, including Pulp (Black Sparrow, 1994), Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters 1960-1970 (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992). Other Bukowski books published by City Lights Publishers include More Notes of a Dirty Old Man, The Most Beautiful Woman in Town, Tales of Ordinary Madness, Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook, and Absence of the Hero. He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9, 1994.

"He loads his head full of coal and diamonds shoot out of his finger tips. What a trick. The mole genius has left us with another digest. It's a full house--read 'em and weep."--Tom Waits After toiling in obscurity for years, Charles Bukowski suddenly found fame in 1967 with his autobiographical newspaper column, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," and a book of that name in 1969. He continued writing this column, in one form or another, through the mid-1980s. More Notes of a Dirty Old Man gathers many uncollected gems from the column's twenty-year run. Drawn from ephemeral underground publications, these stories and essays haven't been seen in decades, making More a valuable addition to Bukowski's oeuvre. Filled with his usual obsessions--sex, booze, gambling--More features Bukowski's offbeat insights into politics and literature, his tortured, violent relationships with women, and his lurid escapades on the poetry reading circuit. Highlighting his versatility, the book ranges from thinly veiled autobiography to purely fictional tales of dysfunctional suburbanites, disgraced politicians, and down-and-out sports promoters, climaxing with a long, hilarious adventure among French filmmakers, "My Friend the Gambler," based on his experiences making the movie Barfly. From his lowly days at the post office through his later literary fame, More follows the entire arc of Bukowski's colorful career. Edited by Bukowski scholar David Stephen Calonne, More Notes of a Dirty Old Man features an afterword outlining the history of the column and its effect on the author's creative development. Born in Andernach, Germany in 1920, Charles Bukowski came to California at age three and spent most of his life in Los Angeles. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994.

Charles Bukowski didn't write about high society or the life most people will never live; he wrote about the ordinary man--the ones you are more likely to see living next to you than glamorized on TV. He wrote what he knew and he wrote it well. Bukowski knew Los Angeles—women—the drudgery of work—and drinking…lots of drinking! This biography takes you inside the life and times of Bukowski, and helps you understand how he composed some of the greatest fiction and poetry of the past 50 years.

An author of racy novels heads to picturesque Vermont to finish his manuscript—but finds his retreat less than peaceful—in this “bright, slapstick comedy” (The New York Times). Told through a sequence of exchanged letters, this comic novel introduces softcore pornographer “Guy LaDouche” as he heads to the wilderness in the hope of solitude and concentration to write his next book under a looming deadline. Instead of peace, he finds harassment and distraction—from his publisher, his old girlfriend, and an angry father convinced that LaDouche’s last novel, featuring a genuine nymphomaniac, was based on the man’s daughter. Soon, the author also finds his quiet getaway plan beset by a lawsuit and investigation by the FBI and local sheriff. Clever, satirical, and at times over-the-top absurd, The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books has been delighting readers since its first publication in 1964. “A very funny tale. . . . It would not be quite true to report that The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books contains no word capable of bringing the blush of shame to the cheek of modesty, but it is perfectly true that the thing is neither a dirty book nor about them.” —The Atlantic

“A lively portrait of American literature’s ‘Dirty Old Man’.” —Library Journal A former postman and long-term alcoholic who did not become a full-time writer until middle age, Charles Bukowski was the author of autobiographical novels that captured the low life—including Post Office, Factotum, and Women—and made him a literary celebrity, with a major Hollywood film (Barfly) based on his life. Drawing on new interviews with virtually all of Bukowski’s friends, family, and many lovers; unprecedented access to his private letters and unpublished writing; and commentary from Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, R. Crumb, and Harry Dean Stanton, Howard Sounes has uncovered the extraordinary true story of the Dirty Old Man of American literature. Illustrated with drawings by Bukowski and over sixty photographs, Charles Bukowski is a must for Bukowski devotees and new readers alike. “Bukowski is one of those writers people remember more for the legend than for the work . . . but, as Howard Sounes shows in this exhaustively researched biography, it wasn’t the whole story.” —Los Angeles Times “Engaging . . . Adroit . . . revealing.” —The New York Times Book Review “A must-read for anybody who is a fan of Bukowski’s writing.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

In the gripping conclusion to the New York Times­­–bestselling Transitions trilogy, Drizzt Do’Urden comes face-to-face with a power that will change Faerûn forever With the collapse of Mystra’s Weave and the onslaught of the Spellplague, all of Faerûn is thrown into chaos. But as magic turns more dangerous and unreliable, an even greater foe presents itself: the Ghost King, an entity that contains the combined might of a dragon, a mind flayer, and the Crenshinibon—the demonic crystal shard thought to be destroyed years ago. When Jarlaxle, a drowmercenary, is targeted by the Ghost King, he knows his life hinges on finding the Deneir priest named Cadderly Bonaduce. But to find Cadderly, he must travel to the cathedral in Spirit Soaring, the very place from which he is banned. And to enter Spirit Soaring, he must first his recruit his old enemy Drizzt Do’Urden to his cause. When Catti-brie is struck by an errant strand of the Weave, Jarlaxle is able to convince Drizzt and Bruenor that their plights are one and the same. Together, they travel to Spirit Soaring, where the priests and mages of Deneir—led by Cadderly—rush to arm themselves against the Ghost King. But with many losing faith and time quickly running out, the battle ahead looks more than dire than ever. The Ghost King is the third book in the Transitions trilogy and the twenty-second installment in the Legend of Drizzt series.

Including drawings, cartoons, manuscripts, personal letters and illustrations as well as prose and poetry by Bukowski, this pictorial and textual biography of the great polemicist also features revelations gleaned from FBI documentation.