James Joyce, known for Ulysses, battled alcohol addiction during his exile in France and Switzerland, driven by personal insecurities and writing pressures, yet his groundbreaking work remains influential
Ernest Hemingway, renowned for novels like The Old Man and the Sea, was known for his heavy drinking, which worsened his depression and contributed to his 1961 suicide, though his literary legacy endures
F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, battled alcoholism alongside his 1920s lavish lifestyle, leading to erratic behavior and professional setbacks, which some believe limited his full potential despite his portrayal of the American Dream
Charles Bukowski's raw, gritty writing, including works like Post Office and Factotum, was deeply shaped by his alcoholism, which he used as a form of rebellion and escape, becoming a central part of his hard-living literary persona
William Faulkner, celebrated for his Southern Gothic novels like The Sound and the Fury, struggled with severe alcoholism, which fueled his creative output but also led to periods of depression and self-destructive behavior
Jack Kerouac, famed for On the Road and the Beat Generation, embraced a life of spontaneity and heavy drinking, which fueled his writing but led to dependency, health decline, and his early death from cirrhosis at 47
Truman Capote, renowned for In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s faced a decline in his writing and social life due to alcohol addiction, which ultimately contributed to his death from liver disease in 1984
Edgar Allan Poe, celebrated for his Gothic tales like *The Raven*, struggled with alcoholism amid a tumultuous life marked by loss and instability, with his drinking contributing to his erratic behavior and potentially playing a role in his mysterious death at 40