Love is a Dog From Hell: Bukowski’s Raw Poetic Reflections on Life and Heartbreak

Aside from watching the excellent movie adaptation of his largely autobiographical novel, "Factotum," I knew little about Bukowski before reading this collection of poetry. "Love Is a Dog From Hell" collects his works from the mid-1970s (1974-1977). Bukowski was in his fifties and fairly successful as a writer by this point. The poems often center on his problematic relationships with women, whom he usually treats as sex objects. His views on women are clueless and offensive but capture what so many men (especially of his generation) seem to think. His greatest insights are usually in some of his crudest and most off-putting poems. Other poems concern his writing process, what he sees in his seedy L.A. neighborhood, and his drinking.The humor in his poems sometimes stems from a "I can't believe he wrote that" sense of disbelief, but much of the time it comes from seeing such a flawed man bare his soul and write so fearlessly. He's a depressive sad sack who drives away women with his outrageous behavior ("I had resigned myself to dying alone in a small room"). Yes, some of his work is no more than simple potty humor, but at times, his lines are quite wise (e.g., "there is always one woman to save you from another").I strongly suggest that the prospective reader sample a few of his poems before purchasing a full collection. Also, I found it most effective to read in relatively small dribs and drabs. Too many of the poems in one sitting was a bit stultifying.This review is of the Kindle version. The text is formatted well and was very easy to read; I did not find any obvious errors. On the Kindle Fire, the Table of Contents includes a link to each poem, so you can immediately skip to your favorites.

Imagine if Hemingway was much cooler, more eloquent and insightful, grittier, dirtier, and wrote poetry. Bukowski may, in my opinion, be the best American poet. "the fools will win, but break like a horse out of the gate."

Great stuff...I'd put it a notch below "The Last Night of the Earth Poems"

Bukowski’s poetry is dark and cynical in a way that I’ve yet to find elsewhere. I greatly enjoy his manner of writing and some of his poems have really sat with me. That being said, I have to be in a certain mood to read his work as some poems are extremely misogynistic and have certainly skewed my views of people/the world.

One of my all time favorite books. Great read for the summer. Highly recommend.

I am happy with the purchase... although, I wish the listing stated every poem included.I was looking for a particular poem from that time range of this book... and a Google search stated it was in this book. Unfortunately it is not.Not a huge issue as I love bukowski...But, if the listing included the poem titles, I'd have purchased a different book. Now I have to order a different book to get that poem.

If you like poetry and are dealing with stress from love, this book will validate your heartache. Bukowski is a genuis.

It's not often that I read a book in it's entirety on the same day that I receive it. But Bukowski's collection slowly painted his world before me and I couldn't stop until it was over.