Anyone read anything by these authors?

Getting a job at Barnes and Noble recently has introduced me to a few authors that seem interesting. I'd love to just blindly buy their books but when you're a student and have a job you don't have much leisure reading time. So: tell me what you guys think about these authors:

Charles Bukowski (author of "Post Office" and "Ham and Rye")

and

Christopher Moore (author of "Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story" and "Island and the Sequined Love Nun")

Thanks in advance and feel free to ask about any authors that you have been wondering about!

Modest Mouse has a song called Bukowski and because of said song I want to read one of his books.

If anyone can recomend one of his titles I would appreciate it as well.

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Originally Posted by Opaque

Modest Mouse has a song called Bukowski and because of said song I want to read one of his books.

If anyone can recomend one of his titles I would appreciate it as well.

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This is also one of the reasons I'm interested. Except, according to the lyrics he's an asshole.

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Originally Posted by Tragic

This is also one of the reasons I'm interested. Except, according to the lyrics he's an asshole.

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Exactly why I'm interested.

Well, it does also call him a pretty good read...

For Bukowski: War All the Time (poetry) and Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (short fictions). It's mind-boggling how much he wrote (about as much as your mid-level trashy fantasy writer) and these are great springboards into his work. Everybody should, and will, fucking love "Six Inches," a short story in the Ordinary Madness collection.

Any descriptions of his work? What kind of writing style, what does he write about and what is he all about as an author?

Usually about downtrodden nobodies, but his stories can go anywhere from there. Some are pretty sexual. He writes in really lean tight sentences, but its not like Hemingway or Nathanael West where it's some kind of style to mask emotions. There's definitely a more organic natural feel to it, and the stories comes to you easily, rather than having to work to get to them (like Hemingway or West). And kids go cuckoo for him because he reaches some kind of "real" beauty and truth through his normal basic style. He has quite a reputation (and I'm pretty damn surprised that no one's here read anything by him or wants to speak up).

If you like him, check out Raymond Carver (esp. Where I'm Calling From), who I think is superior. And don't be frugal; just buy a bunch of books on Amazon or something. They're so incredibly cheap.

If you want a more coherant story, as opposed to many many stories or poetry, try 'Women' by Bukowski, it's my favorite and probably his most put-together.

if you're into charles bukowski at all, pick up post office. one of his first novels, and definitely one of his best.