Charles Bukowski

Don't Try

A lot of people wonder what "Don't Try" means on Bukowski's grave marker. The origin of the inscription can be found in an interview with Linda Bukowski conducted by Mike Watt in the San Pedro zine The Rise and the Fall of the Harbor Area:

Watt: What's the story: "Don't Try"? Is it from that piece he wrote?

Linda: See those big volumes of books? [Points to bookshelf] They're called Who's Who In America. It's everybody, artists, scientists, whatever. So he was in there and they asked him to do a little thing about the books he's written and duh, duh, duh. At the very end they say, 'Is there anything you want to say?', you know, 'What is your philosophy of life?', and some people would write a huge long thing. A dissertation, and some people would just go on and on. And Hank just put, "Don't Try."