This year marks Charles Bukowski's centennial year and this one-of-a-kind biography is the closest readers will come to meeting the man himself-an unforgettable encounter no one should miss. Cherkovski shares intimate stories from his decades of personal experiences with Bukowski and brings the life-and complexities-of a great American writer into focus. As an additional feature, Cherkovski has written a new preface, This Thing Upon Me Is Not Death: Reflections on the Centennial of Charles Bukowski.

'Cherkovski's access to his subject allows him an intimacy otherwise impossible as he guides us through the poet-author's miserable childhood; his early drinking; his years as a serf in the post office; the poetry readings that became circuses...' - John Rechy, Los Angeles Times

'Cherkovski's major achievement comes as he traces the roots of the heroic, unsung literary movement that wouldn't let Bukowski's work die on the vine.' -Chicago Tribune