Charles Bukowski was many things: an American poet, a novelist, a journalist, a short story writer; He remains a cult figure for realists and cynics of all ages. Unconventional, raw, and impossible to categorize, his work continues to provide powerful criticism of American culture, a society defined by excess and determined to break the human spirit. Born in Germany in 1920, Bukowski did not begin writing until the age of 40. Still, he managed to publish 45 books—six of them novels—capturing the brilliant range of his perspective. His voice was one of dry humor, a general distaste for society, dysphoria, and—from time to time—a bit of madness. Bukowski’s gritty, blunt growl was one of the greatest to rise out of Los Angeles—a city hiding behind fantasies of wealth and progress—and expose its contradictions and delusions. In Bukowski For Beginners, playwright Carlos Polimeni evaluates the life and literary achievements of the man behind the antipathy; the father of words—no, calls to action!—that linger still, rousing and challenging readers globally.