American writer Charles Bukowski died in 1994 at the age of 73. Born in Germany as Heinrich Karl, Bukowski and his family moved to the U.S. in 1923, eventually settling in South Los Angeles. His Germanic appearance and name led to bullying when he was a child and he became socially withdrawn, only breaking this mould when he turned to alocholism.
At the age of 24, Bukowski failed a psychological exam for World War Two service, and turned instead to writing. Thus followed a period of ten years in which Bukowski refused to write, a practice he only resumed having been hospitalised with an almost fatal bleeding ulcer.Yet he went on to produce many famous works, several of which were autobiographical. 'Ham on the Rye', 'Post Office' and 'Women' are perhaps his most well-known novels, and he also wrote the script for film 'Barfly'.
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