First published 2018
In the grimy backstreets of Los Angeles, down-and-out poet Charles drowns his sorrows in a haze of booze and cigarettes. As he drifts through dive bars and rooming houses, he wrestles with his creative demons and the harsh realities of life on the margins. But when a mysterious woman enters his orbit, Charles must choose between embracing his last glimmer of hope or succumbing to the darkness that has long consumed him. Through it all, Bukowski's signature raw, uncompromising voice lays bare the gritty costs of the artistic life.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, addiction, 20th-century, contemporary, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-protagonist, redemption
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
305 pages · Kindle Edition · Canongate Books
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse, depression, substance-abuse