Ham on Rye

What it is about

Charles Bukowski’s autobiographical novel follows Henry Chinaski through poverty, bullying, acne, family violence, school, alcohol, and the discovery of writing. The blunt comic surface gradually reveals how humiliation and class harden into posture, appetite, and refusal. I keep it on this shelf because I want to let another life disturb my own habits of thought.

Why I keep it

A childhood like a fistfight. Bukowski's best, I think.

Key ideas

Beside it on the shelf · Literature & Fiction