Charles Bukowski Books in Order
Charles Bukowski is a celebrated American poet, novelist, and short story writer of German descent. Born to an American soldier and a German mother, Bukowski moved to the United States at three years old and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, before abandoning his studies to pursue a writing career in New York City. After an initial period of publishing struggles led him to give up writing in 1946, Bukowski returned to his craft following a health scare and a decade of heavy drinking. Throughout his life, he held various jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver, and mail carrier. Bukowski published his first story at twenty-four and went on to write thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. His writing is characterized by its unflinching portrayal of everyday life, love, and the human condition.
Bibliography verified: January 2026
Book Series by Charles Bukowski
- #1AmazonAll the Assholes in the World and Mine(1966)
- #2AmazonNotes of a Dirty Old Man(1969)
- #3AmazonShakespeare Never Did This(1979)
- #4AmazonThe Bukowski/Purdy Letters(1984)
- #5AmazonScreams from the Balcony(1993)
- #6AmazonLiving On Luck(1995)
- #7AmazonThe Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship(1998)
- #8AmazonReach for the Sun(1999)
- #9AmazonBeerspit Night and Cursing(2001)
- #10AmazonSelected Letters Volume 1: 1958-1965(2004)
- #11AmazonSelected Letters Volume 2: 1965-1970(2004)
- #12AmazonSelected Letters Volume 3: 1971-1986(2004)
- #13AmazonSlouching Toward Nirvana(2005)
- #14AmazonSelected Letters Volume 4: 1987-1994(2005)
- #15AmazonMore Notes of a Dirty Old Man(2011)
- #16AmazonOn Writing(2015)
- #17AmazonOn Cats(2015)
- #18AmazonOn Love(2016)
- #19AmazonThe Mathematics of the Breath and the Way: On Writers and Writing(2018)
- #20AmazonOn Drinking(2019)
- #1AmazonPost Office(1971)
- #2AmazonFactotum(1975)
- #3AmazonWomen(1978)
- #4AmazonHam on Rye(1982)
- #5AmazonBarfly(1983)
- #6AmazonHollywood(1989)
- #7AmazonPulp(1994)
- #8AmazonRun With the Hunted(1962)
- #9AmazonIt Catches My Heart in Its Hands(1963)
- #10AmazonCrucifix in a Deathhand(1965)
- #11AmazonCold Dogs In The Courtyard(1965)
- #12AmazonAt Terror Street And Agony Way(1968)
- #13AmazonThe Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills(1969)
- #14AmazonErections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness(1972)
- #15AmazonMockingbird Wish Me Luck(1972)
- #16AmazonSouth of No North(1973)
- #17AmazonPoems written before jumping out of an 8 story window(1974)
- #18AmazonBurning in Water, Drowning in Flame(1974)
- #19AmazonLove Is a Dog from Hell(1977)
- #20AmazonPlay the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit(1979)
- #21AmazonDangling in the Tournefortia(1981)
- #22AmazonThe Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories(1983)
- #23AmazonTales of Ordinary Madness(1983)
- #24AmazonHot Water Music(1983)
- #25AmazonWar All the Time(1984)
- #26AmazonYou Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense(1986)
- #27AmazonThe Roominghouse Madrigals(1988)
- #28AmazonA Bukowski Sampler(1988)
- #29AmazonSeptuagenarian Stew(1990)
- #30AmazonIn the Shadow of the Rose(1991)
- #31AmazonThe Last Night of the Earth Poems(1992)
- #32AmazonBetting on the Muse(1996)
- #33AmazonBone Palace Ballet(1997)
- #34AmazonWhat Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire(1999)
- #35AmazonOpen All Night(2000)
- #36AmazonThe Night Torn Mad With Footsteps(2001)
- #37AmazonSifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way: New Poems Book 1(2002)
- #38AmazonSifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way: New Poems Book 2(2002)
- #39AmazonNew Poems Book One(2003)
- #40AmazonNew Poems Book Two(2003)
- #41AmazonNew Poems Book Three(2003)
- #42AmazonNew Poems Book Four(2003)
- #43AmazonThe Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain(2003)
- #44AmazonCome On In!(2006)
- #45AmazonThe People Look Like Flowers At Last(2007)
- #46AmazonThe Pleasures of the Damned(2007)
- #47AmazonPortions from a Wine-Stained Notebook(2008)
- #48AmazonThe Continual Condition(2009)
- #49AmazonAbsence of the Hero(2010)
- #50AmazonThe Most Beautiful Woman in Town(2013)
- #51AmazonThe Bell Tolls for No One(2015)
- #52AmazonStorm for the Living and the Dead(2017)
About Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski is a celebrated American poet, novelist, and short story writer of German descent. Born to an American soldier and a German mother, Bukowski moved to the United States at three years old and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, before abandoning his studies to pursue a writing career in New York City. After an initial period of publishing struggles led him to give up writing in 1946, Bukowski returned to his craft following a health scare and a decade of heavy drinking. Throughout his life, he held various jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver, and mail carrier. Bukowski published his first story at twenty-four and went on to write thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. His writing is characterized by its unflinching portrayal of everyday life, love, and the human condition.
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