RUN WITH THE HUNTED: A CHARLES BUKOWSKI READER

RUN WITH THE HUNTED: A CHARLES BUKOWSKI READER Charles Bukowski (HarperCollins, $27.50) After spending almost 50 years penning squalid tales drawn from his dark and sordid life, Charles Bukowski has firmly established himself as the elder statesman of down-and-drunken debauchery. What makes this nearly 500-page collection so interesting is that its entries- culled from more than 20 novels, books of short stories, and volumes of poetry-are arranged chronologically, not by original publication date, but by the period of Bukowski's life each selection covers. More than a sampling of Bukowski's best work, Run With the Hunted serves as an inspired and bittersweet autobiography tracing the author's outrageous path from Depression-era wayward youth to modern-day dirty old man. A -Daron H. Murphy