Hollywood by Charles Bukowski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hollywood
Book Review: simple eloquence
Summary: 5 Stars
Man could Buk write. But could he write. I suppose we are all just posers and pretenders and wanna-bes in his shadow, but Buk is essential reading for anyone interested in studying the craft and art and technique of writing, of, as Buk would say 'laying down the word,' and when it came to it, Buk could do it better than anyone. I've tried to write a passage with as much simplicity and elegance and attitude as he had and failed completely. His sparse prose and mastery of the obvious and attitude all contribute to a unique style in American letters that exemplify the beauty of our language when wielded by a master. Post Office, Hollywood, Factotum and Ham On Rye are MUST reads for any serious student of modern writing. And damned entertaining stories to boot.Book Review: the master of L.A. sleaze
Summary: 5 Stars
We can't get enough of the Buk! R.I.P. Bukowski lives on forever! One of a kind. Hollywood? You get it all here: the insanity as well as the hilarity as only Bukowski can put it down. Lean and mean, funny and absurd. Nobody writes like him and nobody ever will; oh yes, some might attempt to imitate, but will absolutely fail. Buk has his detractors--and for the most part they are the stuffed shirts, over-paid hacks teaching at some over-rated university or over-paid so-called writers with titles sitting atop some bogus best-selling list, etc. and get this: he did it all with but a high school education! (as did Hemingway). All those turkeys with all those degrees just hate hearing this, that a guy like Bukowski was able to write rings around them! My favorite writers/artists were always self-taught and came up the hard way, writers and artists who beat the greatest odds to become the best at what they did: Dutch van Gogh, Knut Hamsun, Dan Fante, Jack Kerouac, Clarence Cooper, Jr., Iceberg Slim, Chester Himes, Jack Black, Nelson Algren, Pleasant Gehman, Celine, Nat West, Jack London, et al. Read Hollywood, read Ham on Rye and his short stories; it really doesn't matter where you start--but you have been warned: you won't be able to get enough.