Rob Errera

Writer. Editor. Publisher. Musician. Autism Dad.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

Hollywood by Charles Bukowski

February 22, 2014 by Bob Leave a Comment

Hollywood by Charles Bukowski

Hollywood by Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski‘s intrepid hero / alter ego Hank Chinaski is back in this funny satire of Tinsel Town in the late 1980s.

Culled from his experience writing the screenplay for the film Barfly, Bukowski’s Hollywood rips into the shallowness of show business. The plot twists are so absurd, the characters so vapid and vain, they must be based on real life.

Bukowski’s cynical take on movie audiences (“People became so used to seeing shit on film that they no longer realized it was shit,”) versus novel/poetry readers is insightful (“Almost anything upsets or insults a movie audience, while people who read novels and short stories love to be upset and insulted.”)

The best bits of Hollywood happen when Bukowski looks at the role of the writer in the film business.

“Who ever photographed the writer? Who applauded? … It was damn sure just as well: the writer was where he belonged: in some dark corner, watching.”

Bukowski’s portrayal of Barfly leads Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway as characters Jack Bledsoe and Francine Bower is particularly interesting, especially since he’s depicting a fresh-faced Rourke, when the rollercoaster of Rourke’s career was just cresting the top its first hill.

Like the town it is named after, Bukowski’s Hollywood is fun, funny, droll, and pathetic. There’s a lot of wine drinking, and the love affair between Hank and Sarah — the only two “normal” characters in the novel — is sincere and sweet.

Hollywood doesn’t pack the emotional wallop of Ham on Rye, or the laughs of Post Office, but it is still vintage Bukowski, and you can’t go wrong with that. As Hank Chianski notes:

“Maybe writing was a form of bitching. Some just bitched better than others.”

Bitch on, Bukowski, you beautiful bastard!

charles-bukowski

 

 

 

 

 

-30-

Share the love!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Book Review, Literary Fiction, Novels Tagged With: Barfly, Charles Bukowski, drinking, Hollywood, novel, role of the writer, sanity of poetry, satire, screenplay, writing is bitching

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

New Thriller! The Mud Man!

Born of mud.

Made for murder.

New! Autism Dad 3: Life Skills and Life Lessons!

Get A Job, Son!

Rob Rants About…

age of apology amateur writing autism Autism Dad blogging book review Brian Keene C. L. Holmes College Conjure Wife debut novel digital ban digital literature digitize classics digitize Salinger education Edward Lee family fatherhood Fritz Leiber future of publishing horror horror fiction Jack Ketchum Joe Hill John FD Taff journalism love story Lucky McKee memoir musical fiction mythology near-death experience new book no Salinger ebooks now available Our Great Abbess revenge tale Salinger Estate satire self publishing sensual nightmares short stories Stephen King weird

“Spine-Tingling Tales of Musical Terror!”

New Release! Autism Dad 2!

Autism Dad 2—'Tween Edition: Continuing Adventures in Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood 
Get it @ Amazon!
   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords
Get it @ Createspace! Autism Dad 2: Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood by Rob Errera

“Bloodcurdling Historical Horror!”

Our Great Abbess by C.L. Holmes

Get it @ Amazon!   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords

Dig The Enzertones!

Like It! Click It!

Like It! Click It!

Follow Rob!

Tweets by @haikubob

RSS

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

“Informative, poignant and engaging!”

Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son
Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son, $9.95 trade paperback / $3.99 ebook.
@ Amazon! kindle

@ Barnes & Noble! nook

@ Smashwords! smashwords

@ Createspace! Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son by Rob Errera

More great posts!

Zen and the Art of the Adult Coloring Book

Remember “The Secret Garden?” No, not that stodgy old children’s tale. The adult coloring book! I’m not talking about funnyman Colin Quinn’s latest literary effort, “The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America,” either. That’s a funny book, but not the kind of coloring book I’m talking about. I’m talking about a grab-your-crayons-and-find-a-sunny-place-to-work […]

ereaderVSbooks

Publishing’s Future: Toss the Bookshelf, Keep the Books

 Books are beautiful. Their construction is so basic — paper, ink, glue, and cardboard. But each is a doorway into another time and space, alternate dimensions both real and imagined. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading true crime, historical fiction, or a cookbook; all are woven from the fabric of the human condition. Books are […]

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Twelve is a well-written action thriller, a good, solid novel. But it doesn’t hold a candle to The Passage, the first book in author Justin Cronin’s post-apocalyptic vampire series. The Twelve suffers from the same “middle child syndrome” that plagues so may “Book 2s” in a trilogy series. It’s neither a beginning, nor an […]

“This book rocked my world!”

Hangman's Jam, A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera

Buy it at Amazon! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Barnes and Noble! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Smashwords! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Createspace! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Copyright © 2023 · News Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in