Skid Row: Rediscover Bukowski's L.A. 20 Years After His Death

An oral history celebrating the patron saint of debauchery.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Charles Bukowski, the patron saint of L.A.’s seedy side, died 20 years ago today, on March 9, 1994, of Leukemia. He was a boozehound who was also sometimes a genius, or a boozehound who was also sometimes an asshole, or, more likely, both. It depends on how you look at it. It depends on which of his poems you happen to be reading. It depends on which parts of his persona you are willing to dismiss.

What’s clear is that the poet, novelist, and screenwriter was an unapologetic alcoholic, and a prolific writer. What Bukowski did not have in money—he was down and out  for most of his life—he made up for in ego and drunken chutzpah. A night out in L.A. with Bukowski was guaranteed to be the kind of night you tell stories about 20 years later. And so, marking the 20th anniversary of Bukowski’s death, I reached out to some of Bukowski’s close friends (and ex-girlfriends), who were eager to feed Bukowski’s drunken ghost as he cruises around the city of angels, shouting eight different women’s names at the moon and throwing beer cans at walls.

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The San Pedro House

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The (Last) Wedding

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49'rs Tavern

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The Funeral

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The Red Lion Tavern, Silver Lake

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Shakey's Pizza Parlor

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Terminal Annex Post Office

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Clifton's Cafeteria

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Hollywood Park Racetrack

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Los Angeles Public Library

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The Job Boards

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The Pink Elephant Liquor Store

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California State University at Long Beach

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The Apartment on Carlton Way

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The Troubadour

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Musso and Frank Grille

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Bukowski's Childhood Home

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The De Longpre House

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The Edgewater House

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