Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All the Assholes in the World and Mine | 1966 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 2 | Notes of a Dirty Old Man | 1969 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 3 | Shakespeare Never Did This | 1979 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 4 | The Bukowski/Purdy Letters | 1984 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 5 | Screams from the Balcony | 1993 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 6 | Living On Luck | 1995 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 7 | The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship | 1998 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 8 | Reach for the Sun | 1999 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 9 | Beerspit Night and Cursing | 2001 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 10 | Selected Letters Volume 1: 1958-1965 | 2004 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 11 | Selected Letters Volume 2: 1965-1970 | 2004 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 12 | Selected Letters Volume 3: 1971-1986 | 2004 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 13 | Slouching Toward Nirvana | 2005 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 14 | Selected Letters Volume 4: 1987-1994 | 2005 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 15 | More Notes of a Dirty Old Man | 2011 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 16 | On Writing | 2015 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 17 | On Cats | 2015 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 18 | On Love | 2016 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 19 | The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way: On Writers and Writing | 2018 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
| 20 | On Drinking | 2019 | Charles Bukowski | Buy |
Bukowski’s non-fiction covers essays, letters, and themed compilations. Notes of a Dirty Old Man (1969) collects his columns from the underground press, while the four volumes of Selected Letters span most of his career. The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998) is a diary from his final years.
Posthumous themed collections like On Cats (2015), On Love (2016), and On Drinking (2019) gather his writing on specific topics. On Writing (2015) and The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way (2018) compile his thoughts about the craft of writing.