A collection of short stories gives an insight into the dark, dangerous lowlife of Los Angeles that the inhabited. From prostitutes to classical music, the author of this book mixes high and low culture in his 'tales of ordinary madness'. These are angry yet tender, humorous and haunting portrayals of life in the underbelly of Los Angeles.

Tales of ordinary madness

Sharp and moving reflections and ruminations on the artistry and craft of writing from one of our most iconoclastic, riveting, and celebrated masters. Charles Bukowski's stories, poems, and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. In this collection of correspondence-letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers-the writer shares his insights on the art of creation. On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of life-and of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture icon-the "laureate of American lowlife" (Time)-who stoically recorded society's downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: "Don't try."Piercing, poignant, and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with Bukowski's trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos, and intimacy.

On Writing

Avec Au sud de nulle part, des "Contes souterrains" publiés en 1973, Buko replonge à corps perdu dans sa folie ordinaire. Ou, plutôt, il mêle ses délires à ceux d'autres types, restituant ce qu'il a connu, vu, pigé, enregistré, et qu'il recrache aujourd'hui, comme des morceaux de bidoche hachée gros, presque saignante.

Au Sud De Nulle Part

With his characteristic raw and minimalist style, Charles Bukowski takes us on a walk through his side of town in Hot Water Music.  He gives us little vignettes of depravity and lasciviousness, bite sized pieces of what is both beautiful and grotesque.The stories in Hot Water Music dash around the worst parts of town – a motel room stinking of sick, a decrepit apartment housing a perpetually arguing couple, a bar tended by a skeleton – and depict the darkest parts of human existence.  Bukowski talks simply and profoundly about the underbelly of the working class without raising judgement. In the way he writes about sex, relationships, writing, and inebriation, Bukowski sets the bar for irreverent art – his work inhabits the basest part of the mind and the most extreme absurdity of the everyday.

Je t'aime, Albert et les autres nouvelles de Hot water music

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereLow-life writer and unrepentant alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. After decades of slacking off at low-paying dead-end jobs, blowing his cash on booze and women, and scrimping by in flea-bitten apartments, Chinaski sees his poetic star rising at last. Now, at fifty, he is reveling in his sudden rock-star life, running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova.With all of Bukowski's trademark humor and gritty, dark honesty, this 1978 follow-up to Post Office and Factotum is an uncompromising account of life on the edge.

Women

"The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles."-Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling author"He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels."-Leonard Cohen, songwriterPlay the Piano introduces Charles Bukowski's poetry from the 1970s. He leads a life full of gambling and booze but also finds love. These poems are full of lechery and romance as he struggles to mature.

Play the Piano

"The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles."-Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling author"He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels."-Leonard Cohen, songwriterThe Roominghouse Madrigals is a selection of poetry from Charles Bukowski's early work. It shows a slightly softer side to the beloved barfly.

The Roominghouse Madrigals - Early Selected Poems 1946-1966

Ce recueil de chroniques et de nouvelles inédites met en évidence la richesse et la variété de l'oeuvre de Bukowski. Ses deux premières histoires témoignent de la double orientation stylistique qui marquera toute sa carrière de prosateur - « Contrecoup d'une lettre de refus plus longue qu'à l'ordinaire » (1944) trace le portrait imaginaire d'un jeune artiste épris d'idéal, un rebelle doublé d'un amuseur tandis que dans « 20 chars de plus, et Kasseldown tombait » (1946), il change de ton et donne dans la noirceur absolue. Bukowski confronte son personnage de prisonnier à une désespérante solitude spirituelle, comme s'il écrivait lui aussi du fond du souterrain, piégé dans une cellule trop petite pour un homme de sa carrure, mais qui s'en sort grâce à son sens de l'humour et à son goût de l'autodérision.
Dans sa dernière méditation sur l'écriture, « Les Bases », 1991, Bukowski apure les comptes et tire la leçon : « Plus mes phrases se rapprocheraient de la concision et du naturel, moins j'aurais de chances de me tromper et de tricher... Les mots étaient des balles, des rayons de soleil, ils n'avaient d'autre but que de contrarier le destin et mettre un terme à la damnation. »

Tales of ordinary madness

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