Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

5 used from CDN$ 23.94
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Hollywood
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book

Hollywood (Paperback)

by Charles Bukowski (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


5 used from CDN$ 23.94

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Pulp

Pulp

by Charles Bukowski
4.0 out of 5 stars (27)  CDN$ 14.59
Women: A Novel

Women: A Novel

by Charles Bukowski
4.5 out of 5 stars (79)  CDN$ 13.13
Factotum

Factotum

by Charles Bukowski
4.2 out of 5 stars (46)  CDN$ 16.05
Ham On Rye: A Novel

Ham On Rye: A Novel

by Charles Bukowski
4.7 out of 5 stars (105)  CDN$ 13.13
Post Office: A Novel

Post Office: A Novel

by Charles Bukowski
4.4 out of 5 stars (81)  CDN$ 12.40
› Explore similar items

Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Bukowski ( The Roominghouse Madrigals ) has written over 30 books of poetry and fiction in which he uses the persona of the artistic bum with reasonable success. In this flimsy novel, Henry Chinaski is asked to write a screenplay, and thus Bukowski continues his thinly disguised autobiography (Bukowski himself wrote the screenplay for the recent, self-referential Barfly ). When all the Hollywood types Chinaski encounters--directors, lawyers, producers, actors, actresses--fit the same drunken-outcast-but-artistic-genius mold, Bukowski seems to have exhausted his resourcefulness. His characters lose their individuality and the novel lacks force and perspective. This book deteriorates into juvenile satire in which familiar, real-life figures appear with the letters of their names shifted slightly: the famous director Jon-Luc Modard, the philosopher Jean-Paul Sanrah, Frances Ford Lopalla and an obvious Norman Mailer stand-in called Victor Norman.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


From Library Journal

In this hilarious roman a clef, Bukowski draws on his experiences while writing the script for the 1987 film Barfly. Henry Chinaski, the author's alter ego in the film, here returns to write--despite misgivings--a Hollywood screenplay, The Dance of Jim Beam. The film is based on Chinaski's early life as a barfly and brawler, before he became a famous author. As he and his companion Sarah are caught up in the Hollywood whirlwind, Bukowski satirizes a host of well-known movie personalities. While Bukowski fans will welcome the reappearance of Chinaski, with his penchant for booze, women, and horse racing, film buffs should enjoy the novel for its delightful and irreverent portrayal of Hollywood. Highly recommended.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

Hollywood
44% buy the item featured on this page:
Hollywood 4.4 out of 5 stars (25)
Women: A Novel
21% buy
Women: A Novel 4.5 out of 5 stars (79)
CDN$ 13.13
Post Office: A Novel
13% buy
Post Office: A Novel 4.4 out of 5 stars (81)
CDN$ 12.40
Ham On Rye: A Novel
12% buy
Ham On Rye: A Novel 4.7 out of 5 stars (105)
CDN$ 13.13
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

25 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars The original barfly, Dec 28 2003
By James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Hollywood (Paperback)
Bukowski's humor is razor sharp in this book ostensibly on the making of "Barfly." Bukowski was enjoying some measure of success and even respect by this point, and was approached by Schroeder to write the screenplay for a movie about himself. Bukowski was of course flattered and took up the challenge. His books and poetry have always been about himself in one form or another, but here was his big chance to imagine himself on screen.

Bukowski takes you step by step through the making of the movie, with a sardonic eye for the details. Schroeder and his pal tried to get in touch with the lower east side of LA, which Bukowski enjoys poking fun at. He wasn't too keen about having Mickey Roarke cast as himself, he had Sean Penn in mind, but was smitten with the idea of Faye Dunaway as his love interest.

The book doesn't plunge to the lower depths as do his short stories and poetry. Bukowski keeps himself semi-detached from the subject of his early life. The book, like the movie, looks back at these formative years in a wry way that has a number of amusing twists and turns. He ends appropriately enough with the screening of the movie, with much of the gang invited to attend, making a party of it down in front of the screen as they assessed the film. Not bad, Bukowski concluded.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars Hurray for Hollywood!, Nov 4 2003
By IRA Ross (HOBOKEN, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Hollywood (Paperback)
Drinking and creativity do not necessarily go together. For every O'Neill, Faulkner, Hemingway, and London, there are hundreds of others who live lonely, desparate and short existences, slowly drinking themselves to death in complete anonymity. Luckily, the world was blessed to have had Charles Bukowski whose most creative moments emerged when he sat before a typewriter with a wine bottle in one hand. Bukowski wrote gritty and no holds barred novels and poetry about the things he loved best--drinking, horse racing and women. He also wrote the screenplay for "Barfly," a film about his young manhood, spent hanging around seedy bars, getting into drunken brawls with the bartender, and writing some of the best poems this side of the grave.

Bukowski tells the story of his screenwriting experience through his alter ego Henry Chinaski, a survivor when everyone else in his crowd had already died. It's all there--dealing with easily bruised egos, the Hollywood eccentrics, the on again, off again production problems in making the film, and the continuous inconsistency of cash flow. What lends _Hollywood_ its wonderful resonance is its realness--the boldness and the pluck of its coarse leading player, Charles Bukowski/Hank Chinaski. And of course, his inspiration, the bottle of wine which was, even on the set, never too far off.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars I Wish He Was Still Around, Jun 23 2003
By ardent_lover "ardent_lover" (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hollywood (Paperback)
This had to be one of the most enjoyable books I've read in years. It's actually based on Bukowski's life and the events that lead up to and involve the making of his movie "Barfly." It's totally off the wall, but Bukowski's take on Hollywood's own particular brand of insanity is probably just as true today as it was when Charles Bukowski penned this masterpiece of the absurd. Definitely a great book from one of my favorite writers. Highly recommended!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars barfly movie making process story
excellent story about how charles' BARFLY movie came to be. written in all honest candor and the trials an author has to endure throughout the system of getting this completed
Published on Dec 31 2002 by William D. Tompkins

4.0 out of 5 stars Some True Grit Behind the Vapid Glitz
Although far from Bukowski's best, this is a revealing send-up of what happens when brutal honesty (Buk) interacts with the California entertainment industry. Read more
Published on Nov 25 2002 by Dorion Sagan

5.0 out of 5 stars TINSELTOWN FLAKES
Buk was right. His take on screwie Hollywood. Funny and true. He was smart to stay clear of Hollywood's phonies and neurotics (with the exception of writing Barfly for the big... Read more
Published on May 29 2002 by Kirk Alex

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Bukowski light' describes the making of 'Barfly'
Legendary down-and-out poet Henry Chinaski writes a screenplay for a determined film producer at the risk of his soul in this light, but entertaining novel. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Dave Deubler

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any Barfly fan.
This novel by Charles Bukowski is basically the making of the movie Barfly. All of the people are recognizable even if given not so obvious fictional names. Read more
Published on Oct 29 2001 by Timothy Gager

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite A Romp
BARFLY is what first brought Buk into my life, so this thinly veiled fictional account of its making was a joy to read. Read more
Published on Oct 5 2001 by Mark Begley

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood Trilogy
I have just begun reading books of historical Hollywood fiction and I love it. Even though I don't know who they mean, I can clearly see the characters as described. Read more
Published on Sep 22 2001 by Karen Curry

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the Usual Neighborhood
Bukowski exposes the LA film community as having less intersesting and less upsetting characters than his usual neighborhood of drunks and whores and working stiffs. Read more
Published on Aug 11 2001 by GN Harris, author "Highli...

5.0 out of 5 stars the master of L.A. sleaze
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... Read more
Published on Jun 25 2001 by Kirk Alex

5.0 out of 5 stars Only the drunk and mad survive
This book is a tour de force. It is perhaps one of the most acessible of Bukowski's novels suitable for first time Bukowski readers; it is a loose account of Bukowski's writing of... Read more
Published on Jun 19 2001 by Springwater Books

Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject













i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.