Factotum by Charles Bukowski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Factotum
Book Review: 5 star pieces in a 1 star novel making it a 3 overall
Summary: 3 Stars
The book as a whole is a work of garbage unfortunatly. The story is very repetitive and litearly you can read the first quarter and wrap it around its self 4 times and you would not miss much of the book (great for last second high school book reports maybe, you only have to read a quarter of it). All of this and the toilet humor of being plastered drunk and partaking in frequent orgies would make this book a true one star, so why give it three? The answer is that it does have some gratifying humor from time to time, and despite the fact he cant keep his jobs his attitude at work and how he reflects it onto people before being fired has its own humorous merit. It does give you a little insight to the psychology of a problematic drunk, and it is plausible to the point of being probably accurate. these pieces make the book flow, and it is not really a difficult read. If a person wanted a book who does not read a lot and rarely has time to read except in short bursts, I guess the book is perfect. It repitition makes it easy to remember where you left off, and you can get as much plot from a quick 2 page read than a sitdown reading the whole novel. All in all its not a bad novel, but its not a good one either, but it is semi intersting.... definatly not a 5 star read though, those going in with high expectations are bound to be dissapointed.Book Review: A Good Place to Start
Summary: 5 Stars
It's the first Bukowski book I ever read, and it's still my favorite. And while it's not the chronological beginning of his story, it makes a nice introduction. He seems like an angry, godless, drunken, self-loathing Kerouac. I love it.Book Review: A great place to begin the CB paradigm shift
Summary: 5 Stars
Bukowski was coming with text "on the real" way before the documentary-era of the so-called new school of contemporary realists. Brutal. Honest. Frighteningly funny. CB embodies the American dream gone sour. Dirty boxers and beer farts. You must not miss Factotum.Book Review: An Underappreciated Masterpiece of American Literature
Summary: 5 Stars
Factotum is Bukowski at his raw, low, hillarious best. It's a shame and a wonder that this outstanding novel isn't required reading in American Literature courses in our universities. What a great companion piece it would make to On the Road, showing as it does the darker, far more real side of life on the bum.Bukowski was the real thing, a true original, a writer of great and compassionate voice. His work is often brutal but never less than completely, utterly human.
He was as good as Celine, Hemingway, Fante, Kerouac, Hamsun -- and even better to many, many devoted readers. Read Bukowski right now. You must.
Book Review: An Unrecognized Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I identified with this book the second I opened it and I can still remember how it captivated me, how I hoped it would go on forever, how the main character was so much like me in every way imaginable...you must read this wonderful book.