Re: (TV) OT Bukowski

[Ty Burr <tyburr@mindspring.com>]

On Friday, June 25, 2004, at 10:25 PM, Russell Van Rooy wrote:

>  Plan on reading his autobiographical novel about his childhood.
> Seems half jerk half saint....
"Ham on Rye" -- I just finished it, after also seeing the movie. "Ham" 
is great reading but pretty brutal and one-note. I'm already on to 
"Post Office," also autobiographical, about his middle years working 
for the PO, and it's more varied, even funnier. Enjoying it more. You 
might want to see "Barfly," the Barbet Schroder movie, then read 
"Hollywood," Bukowski's book about the experience -- he has some 
nasty/funny things to say about Mickey Rourke among others. As for 
poetry, my sense is that it's all the same across his career -- hot and 
cold, with moments of (drunken) self-indulgence and passages of 
incredible strength. So any collection would do.

There's a one-book overview called "Run With the Hunted" that 
alternates poetry with passages from the novels in roughly 
chronological order. It's a good way to dip into the verse but if you 
like the prose selections you're probably better off buying the books 
themselves.

T.
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