30 Pages Left of Hollywood... (1 Viewer)

So I started reading Bukowski seven months ago and have since become obsessed with the man and his writing. I have never found another writer whose outlook on life seemed so similar to my own. I mean every insight he makes, every line of dialogue rings true with me. I am currently finishing up Hollywood and have really enjoyed it, despite many thinking that the man slipped a little in his old age.

I'm now thirty pages away from reading all the novels involving the Chinaski alter ego, and I have to say I feel a little depressed about it. I have several of his poetry books and short stories which I've enjoyed to some degree, but there's something about the part-autobiographical/part-fictional novel that really does it for me.

Are there any other authors out there that have a similar outlook and approach in their books? Just looking for ideas of where to head next. Perhaps I should read the screenplay to Barfly? Then I could hang on just a little while longer...sniff...

-brad
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have read Ask the Dust and really enjoyed it, so I'll definitely be getting into Fante more. I'm interested in Dan Fante as well, though it bothered me a bit when he slagged Bukowksi in an interview claiming he was overrated. Any favorite books of his to start with?
 
I love Dan's writing and found that each book gets better than the last. That being said, you could start with any of the novels. Maybe try "86'd." If you like that book, then you can get the whole back catalog and should like them too.
Bill
 
Don't worry - as you get older his book will age just fine with time, and with you. Yes, i read(25+ years), and still reading his books over and over again...My wife thinks I am crazy - I think I (might) be crazy. But I never heard anybody being tired of Bach, Mozart or Beethoven?
 
Are there any other authors out there that have a similar outlook and approach in their books? Just looking for ideas of where to head next.

i urge you to check out the work of IRVINE WELSH, the scottish writer. even he talks a lot about alienation and drug and alcohol intake (mostly drugs rather than alcohol). welsh and bukowski are two of my favorite writers.

here are a list of novels you could read once you're done with the bukowski novels:

TOUGH GUYS DONT DANCE by norman mailer
THE BEACH by alex garland
ASK THE DUST by john fante
TRAINSPOTTING by irvine welsh
THE RUM DIARY by hunter s thompson
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE by raymond carver
REHEATED CABBAGE by irvine welsh
MARABOU STORK NIGHTMARES by irvine welsh
A SCANNER DARKLY by philip k dick
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by jd salinger
 
Thank you everybody for the suggestions, I appreciate it. It's strange, I've never up until now thought to re-read a book. Yet, I've watched the same movies and heard the same songs time and again. And you make a good point - new insights and perceptions emerge depending on where you're at in life. This definitely makes me feel better.

And thanks for the list of books beerbelly666. I've only read Ask the Dust and Catcher, but loved them both. Liked Trainspotting the movie, can't wait to read the book and some of the others you suggested.
 
bradpax, no problem man. i would also like to recommend FAT CITY by leonard gardner (a novel i just finished reading). i think fans of bukowski might like its. its a very bleak novel about the life of two boxers in a small town in california. i loved it. hope you like it.
 
I really recommend Dirty Havana Trilogy by Pedro Juan Gutierrez. As tough-minded, funny, clear sighted and sexual as anything Buk wrote. Set in Cuba, the protagonist - Pedro Juan - is obviously a stand in for the writer, much the way Chinaski stood in for Buk. Subsequent books by Gutierrez with the the Pedro Juan aren't as good, but they're still great reads.
 
I really recommend Dirty Havana Trilogy by Pedro Juan Gutierrez. As tough-minded, funny, clear sighted and sexual as anything Buk wrote. Set in Cuba, the protagonist - Pedro Juan - is obviously a stand in for the writer, much the way Chinaski stood in for Buk. Subsequent books by Gutierrez with the the Pedro Juan aren't as good, but they're still great reads.

I've read that a few times. My love of anything Cuba and the seedy underbelly of life drew me to that boom like a duck to an orange. You're right though, the books that followed failed to recapture the original (at least the ones translated into English.

Wiki-Wiki-Wa-Wa probably gives a good account of why he could be compared to Buk:

Named master of "cuban dirty realism", movement, like Zoé Valdés and Fernando Velázquez Medina, Gutiérrez depicts life in the shady alleys of Havana in a direct, visceral style. His books describe contemporary Cuba from his semi-autobiographical perspective as a disillusioned journalist. Gutiérrez' narrative voice is skeptical, intellectual, humorous, crass, sardonic, and bluntly frank. His literary persona is chiefly concerned with escaping poverty and the pursuit of sex, rum, and writing.

Gutiérrez' stories are typically gritty, tragicomic accounts of himself and his countrymen hustling for money, searching for pleasure and happiness, and struggling in desperate situations. Most chapters incorporate heavy use of a form of irony. His stories illustrate the difficulty of achieving self-sufficiency and contentment in a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken society living under paternalistic government.

Despite his grim depiction of many aspects of Cuban life, Gutiérrez' writing stresses his overriding love for Cuban culture. He frequently praises Cuban music, resourcefulness, and joie de vivre. Gutiérrez writes scornfully of people who avoid risk and self-expression in exchange for smothering safety and boredom-inducing banality.
 
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