I just finished reading his book 'Women' and was absolutely taken by it. It's my first Bukowski novel and I picked it up not knowing I wouldn't be able to put it down for 2 days straight. I like the review from the Washington Post on the cover; it reads, "The poet laureate of sour alleys and dark bars, of racetracks and long shots."
There's a movie about Bukowski called 'Barfly' (1987) that stars Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke (whom I love):
Mickey Rourke starred in The Wrestler which I saw on Valentine's Day and loved.
He was also in a film called 'Spun' which was scored by The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and starred a million and a half people including Jason Schwartzmann, John Leguizamo, and Brittany Murphy. In 'Spun' Rourke played 'The Cook', a meth-brewing cowboy badass.
He was also in a film with Kiera Knightley about bounty-hunters.
It wasn't so great, but Tom Waits had a cameo appearance in this film, which made it all the better:
Aside from that, Tom Waits is a god and I shouldn't even get started on how much I'd have his babies.
