Hollywood by Charles Bukowski

Before I discuss the book, a word about Bukowski. Bukowski has a way of making it seem that a life of sin is good for your soul and that people who live virtuous lives are dull people with dead souls. I am rather skeptical of this philosophy, but every time I read about his adventures with booze and women I tend to feel that I am missing something in life. Bukowski represents the realization of the fantasy most men have of saying fuck you to the system and the routine and getting away with it. This book is a memoir of the making of the movie Barfly, which he wrote the screenplay for and which is based on his early life. Bukowski has a well known contempt for Hollywood types, whom he considers phonies, hacks, hustlers, and hucksters, and his rendering of his immersion in this world is funny and memorable. And by the way, I have seen the movie: the book is better.