Hollywood
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Hollywood Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Charles Bukowski (Author), Christian Baskous (Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,054 ratings
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Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, returns, revelling in his eternal penchant for booze, women, and horse-racing as he makes the precarious journey from poet to screenwriter. Based on Bukowski's experiences when working on the film Barfly, the absurdity and egotism of the film industry are laid bare in this deadpan, touching, and funny glimpse into the endless negotiations and back-stabbings of la-la land. Hollywood is an irreverent jaunt that serves up the beating heart of Hollywood with razor-sharp humour.

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  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 24 minutes
  2. Author
    Charles Bukowski
  3. Narrator
    Christian Baskous
  4. Audible release date
    August 13, 2013
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  7. ASIN
    B00E659TXE
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 24 minutes
Author Charles Bukowski
Narrator Christian Baskous
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date August 13, 2013
Publisher HarperAudio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00E659TXE
Best Sellers Rank #64,658 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#223 in Biographical Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#904 in Biographical Fiction (Books)
#2,451 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,054 global ratings
The Decline of the Hollywood Empire, according to Bukowski.
5 Stars
The Decline of the Hollywood Empire, according to Bukowski.
Okay, maybe not a decline, but a rotting, stinking, stagnant demise, never to be seen upright and afloat this side of the millennium. This was Hollywood, the mid 80's, during Bukowski's time writing a screenplay for one of his stories, Barfly. The writer's satire and stark whimsical reality-based fiction (fiction-based reality?) abounds. Highly recommended. Rating A-
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Top reviews from the United States

Chris I
5.0 out of 5 stars Bukowski being pure Bukowski
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2023
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Funny, candid, crazy account of Bukowski's experience with getting BARFLY filmed. As writer, his role straddled that weird line of 'very involved', and 'not involved at all' with the movie's production -- which is the perfect place for a person like Bukowski, who shows us all of the behind-the-scenes ridiculousness one could imagine for this project. He stays true to himself throughout, which gives us someone to cheer for, throughout the various misadventures. This book is a quick read, and a good one, for anyone who is a fan.
4 people found this helpful
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Rob Errera
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny Satire of 1980s Tinsel Town
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2014
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Charles Bukowski's intrepid hero / alter ego Hank Chinaski is back in this funny satire of Tinsel Town in the late 1980s.

Culled from his experience writing the screenplay for the film Barfly, Bukowski’s Hollywood rips into the shallowness of show business. The plot twists are so absurd, the characters so vapid and vain, they must be based on real life.

Bukowski’s cynical take on movie audiences (“People became so used to seeing s*** on film that they no longer realized it was s***,”) versus novel/poetry readers is insightful (“Almost anything upsets or insults a movie audience, while people who read novels and short stories love to be upset and insulted.”)

The best bits of Hollywood happen when Bukowski looks at the role of the writer in the film business.

“Who ever photographed the writer? Who applauded? … It was damn sure just as well: the writer was where he belonged: in some dark corner, watching.”

Bukowski’s portrayal of Barfly leads Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway as characters Jack Bledsoe and Francine Bower is particularly interesting, especially since he’s depicting a fresh-faced Rourke, when the rollercoaster of Rourke’s career was cresting the top its first hill.

Like the town it is named after, Bukowski's Hollywood is fun, funny, droll, and pathetic. There’s a lot of wine drinking, and the love affair between Hank and Sarah — the only two “normal” characters in the novel — is sincere and sweet.

Hollywood doesn’t pack the emotional wallop of Ham on Rye, or the laughs of Post Office, but it is still vintage Bukowski, and you can’t go wrong with that. As Hank Chianski notes:

"Maybe writing was a form of bitching. Some just bitched better than others.”

Bitch on, Bukowski, you beautiful bastard!

-30-
10 people found this helpful
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Sailor Holiday
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2023
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Fast shipping! Book in Excellent condition. So happy with this purchase! Will shop your shop again!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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A Critic's Eye
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read; Wild Ride
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017
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I'm a Bukowski fan, so this may be slanted. I loved Hollywood. I've worked in the business and still do to some degree. Hollywood, though exaggerated at times, rang true to what I've witnessed and experienced during my time behind the lights. But what really stands out is Bukowski's bits of wisdom that may cause a moment of reflection on the reader's part. He has a way of shining a light on a situation, revealing truth and the absolute bizarreness of the movie business. It's fun to try and figure out who his pseudonyms reference in real life. My advice is to wait until you've finished the book before looking them up. It is a work of fiction based on his experiences making Barfly, a favorite movie of mine, as well. Hollywood is a fun read filled with the bizarre that first time readers of Bukowski will enjoy.
2 people found this helpful
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Sunny Rosario
3.0 out of 5 stars Hank Moody
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2014
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This is only a lightly-toasted Bukowski. Quick, light, fun read. If you missed the last season of Californication you can basically find it here. If this is your first Buk novel, read on because there is so much more to be had and the bulk of his work is grimier and even more fun. I really liked his character in this book because you find you can get close to the lion. A sloppy toast to the writers of the world... Can easily be read in an afternoon.
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Chiseke Chiteta
5.0 out of 5 stars I found pleasure in reading this book
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2022
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Another book by Bukowski that I have found pleasure reading. I just love Bukowski's writing especially that he presents life in a way that shows that he was in touch with the realities. This was an easy read and it gave a glimpse of the Hollywood life. Quite ironic how as someone who doesn't drink I enjoy his stories about drinking. Looking forward to reading his other books.
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lidz
4.0 out of 5 stars The Franco-American New Wave
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2015
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One of my favourite chapters of "Hollywood" was the last -- Chapter 46. This is where Chinaski (Bukowski) seems to really begin to think about things and analyze them. Of course with his last line: "And this is it." it is obvious that Bukowski had this all planned from Page 1. Even with said planning, I would say that "Hollywood" is one of his best books. Much of the essence of the book reads like a primer in the manner of "Dick and Jane" make a movie. The repetition of "the movie's on, the movie's off" is overly simplistic. Although other of Bukowski's works have been published posthumously, "Hollywood" is his next to last novel in his lifetime. It comes off feeling like he had already run out of gas.

The intent is obvious and clever enough. Bukowski invokes the Masters --most thinly disguised with just different name spellings to "protect the guilty and/or innocent. Jon-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Pauline Kael, Jean-Paul Sartre, et. al. So we have a Franco-American farcical satire of the entire Hollywood scene. This includes the references to Musso & Franks, Werner Herzog, Charles Manson, et. al. Just as Fitzgerald knew his Hollywood, so did Bukowski know his. As anyone might say, Bukowski is no Fitzgerald, but Bukowski can stand in as a contemporary Fitzgerald. The drink, the dissolution, the writer's torment and mental and moral struggles, the insecurity. All the extras, the hangers-on, the flunkies and the props and some of the swag are there, too. The Hollywood press such as it was and or is. Bukowski has covered the waterfront in his murky way, and "Hollywood" can be read simultaneously with "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter."
2 people found this helpful
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Personify138
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2022
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This the third novel I've read of Bukowski, and I loved every movement of it.

I saw barfly before reading this one and I had read "Ham on Rye" and "Post Office" which are just as great.

I've been around the film industry and the way it is written is so perfectly said. I do wish he wrote another screenplay or two.
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Top reviews from other countries

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AK
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Bukowski novel
Reviewed in Canada on February 14, 2021
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a very enjoyable bukowski novel

had me laughing a lot
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Derya Kocak
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial!
Reviewed in Germany on February 27, 2021
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Ich habe mal gelesen, dass die Bücher von Charles Bukowski, in den USA, am meisten geklaut werden...ich kann es mir gut vorstellen! Denn seine Bücher sind fernab vom Mainstream, mutig, klug und schonungslos direkt geschrieben. Bukowski Fans kommen auch hier auf ihre Kosten. Eines seiner berühmten Bücher. Es hat Inhalt und ist mit einer gewissen Finesse geschrieben. Er ist der Rockstar unter den Schriftstellern. Ich habe seine Bücher in mehreren Sprachen gelesen und habe sie trotzdem gut verstanden und gefühlt. Ps: Man muss kein Bukowski Fan sein, um seine Bücher bzw. Schreibweise zu mögen!
2 people found this helpful
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Michel Bidault Valle
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
Reviewed in Mexico on July 25, 2019
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El libro llegó en perfectas condiciones, uno más a mi colección de bukowsky
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Jefferson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent et immersif
Reviewed in France on October 6, 2016
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En finissant Hollywood je me suis rendu compte que Bukowski est sûrement mon auteur anglophone favori. A travers ces quelques nouvelles (trop peu à mon goût!) on explore la vie d'un drôle de personnage auquel on finit par s'attacher: il y a l'évolution d'un écrivain qui par de rien et qui rencontre le succès, tout en restant lui même je trouve. Avec Ham on Rye, cette nouvelle est celle que j'ai préférée, je l'ai dévorée le matin dans le train. Ce qui change le plus de la plupart des livres: il nous parle de la vie sans en faire des caisses mais en choisissant les bons mots.

Bref, suite à ça je vais évidemment visionner 'The barfly" alias "The Dance of Jim Beam".
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Poetofbeard
5.0 out of 5 stars From Bar to Tinseltown
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2015
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Another great book from Bukowski. This one is more about the insanity of Hollywood than his own personal madness, or maybe just that no one persons insanity compares to the collective insanity of the world of film. Maybe not his best but it's good to read about a more settled man than the Chiniski of post office, factotum and Women. If you like Bukowski check out his favourite author John Fante and the Bandini Qaurtet
2 people found this helpful
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