Charles Bukowski — Der deutsche Junge, der Amerikas dunkelster Dichter wurde

Charles Bukowski—the scarred outsider from Andernach on the Rhine, who at almost fifty was still sorting mail at the post office and shortly thereafter became one of the most distinctive voices in 20th-century American literature. In this comprehensive biographical documentary, we follow the life of a man whose fate was torn between two continents, two languages, and two worlds. The story begins in the summer of 1920 in a small Rhenish town, amidst the turmoil of the young Weimar Republic, and leads, via the voyage to America, the impoverished suburbs of Los Angeles, the beatings of a bitter father, and the humiliations of a disfiguring skin disease, into ten lost years of wandering through a country searching for its own soul after World War II. We encounter the young writer who stopped writing for ten years, the alcoholic who narrowly escaped death, the postal worker who spent eleven years trading his life for a salary in a vast sorting facility, and finally the late novelist who forged a literary alliance with publisher John Martin and Black Sparrow Press that would last until his death. This documentary focuses particularly on the question of why Charles Bukowski was received with such enthusiasm in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland that it only emerged much later in his American homeland. Carl Weissner, who translated his work into German, the publishers Maro and Zweitausendeins, who introduced him to German-speaking audiences, and the legendary readings in Hamburg and along the Rhine form a central focus of the narrative. The focus is on the most important stages of his life: his German roots in Andernach, his lonely childhood under a strict father, his formative encounter with world literature in a hospital ward, his destructive love affair with Jane Cooney Baker, the arduous work on his first poems, his breakthrough with the novel *Post Office*, his later successes in Europe, his quiet life with Linda Lee Beighle in San Pedro, and his final work, *Pulp*, which he completed on his sickbed. This biographical documentary is for anyone who wants to learn more about the life and work of one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century, for lovers of great life stories, and for readers who want to discover, behind the cliché of the hard-drinking poet, the keen observer, the wounded soul, and the tireless worker of words. Author and narrator: Alexander Weiss From the series Stories of Great Creators Copyright notice: All content of this video, including the script, narration, image selection, and editing, is copyrighted and may not be reproduced, distributed, uploaded, or used commercially, in whole or in part, without express written permission. Violations will be prosecuted. #CharlesBukowski #Biography #Documentary #LiteraryHistory #AmericanLiterature