Factotum tie-in Paperback – August 15, 2006

Buk at his best. It's Bukowski, if you know you know. Great book

This was my first Bukowski novel. He writes very well. The characters are engaging. This novel doesn't really go anywhere, more like aimless tales from the seedy underside of life. I'm glad I didn't run across this in my formative years... the author makes alcoholism look pretty romantic, because as flawed as the characters are, I still cared about them. I would rather my kid read Kerouac than Bukowski, but as an adult it tells a story of a time and a place that is both fascinating and disgusting. He really is fun to read.

Extolled author Charles Bukowski wrote 'Factotum' in 1975, but with all the references to World War II in it, the tale seems to be about an earlier time, just after the war (though this is more my opinion than fact).Henry "Hank" Chinaski is an alcoholic. One step above skid row (and at times even closer than that) Hank's main concern in life is maintaining a job long enough to feed his addiction. However, because of his addiction and his impulsive tendencies, Hank is never able to keep employment for any length of time. Bukowski takes us with thought and feeling through Hank's life, wandering from job to job and woman to woman. New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Miami; wherever he goes, his addiction never allows any type of fresh start. He walks off one job clearly stating he needed a drink, highlighting his careless outlook about employment in general.'Factotum' takes us step by step through a portion of Hank's life, most of it looking for work, and portraying his dysfunction at work and tapping into his inner reflections about the job and how much he can put up with before folding and getting that next drink. Life slips by Hank as he contemplates his situations. His is an hour-by-hour existence, without much thought to either past or future. His closest female companion of the line-up he wades through with offhand affection is Jan, a woman with a hot temper and a lusty personality. But Hank eventually loses everything he touches, and accepts it with an unrealistic serenity not usually found in human nature. This isn't to say that Hank isn't at times violent, but his attitude about it lacks any firm conviction of it.Bukowski has written a intensely emotional novel in a quietly reflective tone. His prose is almost poetry. Who else could capture the reader so powerfully over the subject of a born loser and a personality normally avoided? The book grabbed me from the beginning and kept me reading until I was finished. They made a movie of the book in 2005, called 'Factotum' after the book, that was very good. The movie reconstructs the order of Hank's life events, and updates the time from '75 to a more modern era.Some interesting quotes from the book are "Slow-paced, low-life urbanity and alcoholism" from the back flap, and "When you drank the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn't have you by the throat" from the content. I loved this excerpt from page 188; "I bought an eight year old automobile and stayed on the job until December. Then came the Christmas party. That was December 24th. There were to be drinks, food, music, and dancing. I didn't like parties. I didn't know how to dance and people frightened me, especially people at parties. They attempted to be sexy and gay and witty and although they hoped they were good at it, they weren't. They were bad at it. Their trying so hard only made it worse."I highly recommend both book and movie. Enjoy!

This is the third book by Bukowski that I have read (the other two being "Women" and "Ham on Rye") and I am yet to be disappointed. It was an easy read and I highlighted so many witty lines (something I like about Bukowski). There's a way that Bukowski writes that I like. The part were he writes from the lower middle class point of view. That to me seals it as I can somehow relate to him. His writings (from what I have read so far) are full of sex and drinking and that may irk some folks but I still enjoy his writings all the same. Looking forward to reading more of his works.

I haven't finished yet, but I like it better than 'Post Office', seems to keep up the pace better and the stories of dead end job hopping and listlessness seems more relevant today than even when it was written, recommend!

The book as a whole is a work of garbage unfortunatly. The story is very repetitive and litearly you can read the first quarter and wrap it around its self 4 times and you would not miss much of the book (great for last second high school book reports maybe, you only have to read a quarter of it). All of this and the toilet humor of being plastered drunk and partaking in frequent orgies would make this book a true one star, so why give it three? The answer is that it does have some gratifying humor from time to time, and despite the fact he cant keep his jobs his attitude at work and how he reflects it onto people before being fired has its own humorous merit. It does give you a little insight to the psychology of a problematic drunk, and it is plausible to the point of being probably accurate. these pieces make the book flow, and it is not really a difficult read. If a person wanted a book who does not read a lot and rarely has time to read except in short bursts, I guess the book is perfect. It repitition makes it easy to remember where you left off, and you can get as much plot from a quick 2 page read than a sitdown reading the whole novel. All in all its not a bad novel, but its not a good one either, but it is semi intersting.... definatly not a 5 star read though, those going in with high expectations are bound to be dissapointed.

I absolutely loved Post Office and also enjoyed Factotum. As great as Bukowski proved himself as a poet, his prose is even better in my opinion.That said, Factotum seemed to be a bit of a watered-down version of Post Office.The main character, Henry Chinaski, bounced around jobs so much that it was sometimes hard to remember where one left off and another began. Where Chinaski in Post Office had clear needs and opposition preventing him from fulfilling those needs, Chinaski in Factotum was just kind of floating through life.Like the unforgettable scene in first book, when Chinaski argues with a superior about filling mail trays, this book also has that one incredible scene when Chinaski talks to his drinking, gambling friend who's looking for a woman. You'll know exactly what I'm talking about once you read it.

Gets redundant but ass kick

Maravilloso libro de Bukowski, altamente recomendado

Au top !

Não canso de ler Bukowski, aproveitei cada página, cada parágrafo.A única crítica vai para a qualidade do material do livro, material de revista em quadrinhos, creio que poderia ser melhor, inclusive pelo preço.

Parecía que iba a hacer una disertación literaria con ese título, pero no. El libro llego correcto y en buen estado.

Bin zufällig über diesen Auto gestolpert. Es gibt 5 Bücher von ihm, dieses ist sein 2. Werk und ich habe es mir kurzerhand, nach dem Lesen der Beschreibung, bestellt.Das Buch ist sehr sehr unterhaltsam. Es spricht auf so vielfältige Art und Weise unsere Urinstinkte an (Machtverlangen, Aggressionen, S**).Vieles ist so plump und direkt geschrieben, aber in meinen Augen genau richtig, um in genau dem richtigen Maße zwischen den Zeilen lesen zu können. Oft lese ich nur ein Kapitel, lege das Buch weg, lasse die Worte auf mich wirken und muss über teils sehr prekären Situationen des Autors längere Zeit einfach nur Schmunzeln. Der Hauptprotagonist findet sich oft in sehr seltsamen Zustanden wieder, wobei einem wahrscheinlich Einige davon bekannt vorkommen, nur hat man sich diese nie richtig vor Augen geführt, geschweige denn schriftlich festgehalten. Der Herr Bukowski beschrieb nämlich mit diesem Buch eigens erlebte Begebenheiten.Dass man dieses Buch lieber in seiner Originalsprache mit seiner Original-Wortwahl liest, versteht sich von selbst. Das Englisch, das er benutzt ist zum Teil recht anspruchsvoll. Der Autor verleiht seinem Ausdruck damit aber den richtigen "Pepp". Das soll aber kein Hindernis sein, sich dieses Buch zuzulegen und damit einmal ein wenig aus dem staubigen Alltag auszubrechen, indem man sich ein wenig klarmacht wie seltsam doch Manches in unserer Gesellschaft abläuft.Wer ihn verstehen will (den Herrn Bukowski), der wird das auch schaffen.Nur zu empfehlen!