Ham on Rye

Introduction by Roddy Doyle: “He brought everyone down to earth, even the angels.” Leonard Cohen Charles Bukowski is one of the greatest authors of the twentieth-century. The autobiographical Ham on Rye is widely considered his finest novel. A classic of American literature, it offers powerful insight into his youth through the prism of his alter-ego Henry Chinaski, who grew up to be the legendary Hank Chinaski of Post Office and Factotum.

Reviews of Ham on Rye

* He brought everyone down to earth, even the angels — LEONARD COHEN * In an age of conformity, Bukowski wrote about the people nobody wanted to be: the ugly, the selfish, the lonely, the mad Observer * Sometimes funny and always sad, Ham on Rye is written in an admirably hard, bare, vivid style Times Literary Supplement * Reflective, humane, tremendously evocative and absorbingly readable The Times * Both powerful and, where appropriate, extremely funny Sunday Telegraph * A scorching account of a childhood, adolescence, a life of ugliness, pain, escape, alcohol, loneliness. Often it is's funny – often it's disturbing – Ham on Rye is a powerful book — RODDY DOYLE * This great novel is Bukowski's supremely honest account of a twisted childhood — Howard Sounes author of Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life * The Thing about Bukowski is, when you read what he has to say, he's right — SEAN PENN * Raunchy yet lyrical, occasionally hilarious while abysmally sad San Francisco Chronicle * We all knew Bukowski was a tough guy, but who would have guessed that even the grave could not shut him up? — BILLY COLLINS * There is a real poignancy in the people encountered in Bukowski's work New York Times Book Review * A Laureate of American low life Time