War All the Time

“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.”—Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling author

“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriter

War All the Time is a selection of poetry from the early 1980s. Charles Bukowski shows that he is still as pure as ever but he has evolved into a slightly happier man that has found some fame and love. These poems show how he grapples with his past and future colliding.

This collection captures the Laureate of American Lowlife at a turning point:

• American Poetry Redefined: Raw, direct, and darkly humorous verse that solidified Bukowski’s place as the dirty old man of American letters.
• The Writing Life: A look inside the mind of a writer grappling with newfound fame, trading flophouses and factories for the bizarre world of literary readings and Hollywood.
• Love, Lust, and Loss: Unflinching poems that explore the fleeting beauty and frequent absurdity of relationships with the women who drifted in and out of his life.
• Racetracks and Bar Stools: The sacred and profane world of the racetrack and the bar, where Bukowski finds moments of grace, comedy, and despair among the losers and the lost.