In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, Ham on Rye offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression.
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"Bukwoski draws on his personal experience to convey a real story that is quite common in families in the USA during a certain period in the 20th century. The language is simple and direct. It makes me want to read more by this author. The narration of the book is very good, with the right rhythm and tone."
— MRC (5 out of 5 stars)
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambiance of his home city of Los Angeles. He published his first story at twenty-four and began writing poetry at thirty-five, publishing extensively in small literary magazines and small presses from the early 1940s through the early 1990s. The “King of the Underground,” he remained loyal to those small press editors who had first championed his work. During his life he wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, and six novels, publishing over sixty books.
Christian Baskous is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. His theatrical credits include numerous roles in the New York Shakespeare Festival, Circle in the Square, the Kennedy Center, and Theater for the New City, as well as other regional theaters. His film and television work includes appearances in Glory, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Law & Order, Swan’s Crossing, and Swift Justice.