Ham on Rye

A Novel

By: Charles Bukowski

Narrated by: Christian Baskous

In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years, and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, Ham on Rye offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression.

©1982 Charles Bukowski (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic reviews

"Very funny, very sad, and despite its self-congratulatory tone, honest in most of the right places. In many ways, Bukowski may have been the perfect writer to describe post-war southern California - a land of wide, flat spaces with nothing worth seeing, so you might as well vanish into yourself. In an age of conformity, Bukowski wrote about the people nobody wanted to be: the ugly, the selfish, the lonely, the mad." ( The Observer)

Disturbing and dark, laced with brilliant quotes

In this loosely disguised autobiography, Bukowski is the protagonist in a dysfunctional family with an abusive father and a mother who does nothing to help him. He quickly turns into a younger version of his father after suffering terrible, scarring boils and acne and the meanness of other children due to his lack of athletic ability.

The remainder of the book feels like the reader is looking at the world through the eyes of a psychopath or a sociopath. He picks fights and his moodiness is terrifying. The life he betrays is a lonely and frightening one where social norms do not apply.

Beautiful quotes line the dark narrative, and those silver linings make it all the more disturbing.

Inspirational to the tortured soul

A book that captivates the sad and the hard times and makes them comical I true Titan of the written word was Charles Bukowski

Classic Bukowski

I’ve always loved Bukowski and his arrogant and yet somehow self-depreciating presentation of his alter ego. This book is definitely more character-study than plot-driven and if you aren’t familiar with his raw this-is-a-real-life style, it might not work for you. But he shows in excruciating detail how a human being can be at once his own hero and worst enemy. This book in particular ends on a poignant note that you can twist around in your head awhile trying to figure out. This and Post Office are great examples of his classic style.

Difficult on the ears.

Unfortunately the narration is difficult to listen to for any amount of time. I made it half an hour.

The narrator has no soul

The whole thing felt rushed... like someone was cracking a whip above his head while he recited the text.

Not PC

There is a great disparity in the reviews for this book, in my review I think I can explain it. I am older and come from a blue collar background. This is not a modern PC/woke novel. It is based on the time it is written. It is written by a sparse writer who says a lot with very few words. It is real dark as opposed to fake dark. If you are easily offended and can not deal with other people point of view then this is not for you. If you find no humor in it, there is the possibility that you might be a snowflake and that is okay. Back in a day the author was considered quit a liberal.
Listening to the narrators monotone drawl you realize it fits perfectly with the writing. You won't find anything like it written recently.

Exciting story and performance

Loved it. Very alive writing. Many details. Lot of emotions. Great street smarts for teens 🥊🔥

blunt, fun and mean

well, at first i thought the narration was extremly dull and the ideas were plainly stated. But as you get a chapter or two in, the narration seems to perfectly mimic the tone of the times and the feeling Bukowski was trying to portray. not the most exciting ride ive ever been on but a good look into the past and a good look at how Bukowski saw himself. ive always loved his poetry and i feel a greater understanding of him as an author and person having given this a listen.

funny

he writes like a real man ought to. gots balls. not like other writers

loved it

I loved this book. It's not suspenseful or mysterious, it's just a highly entertaining story. It reminds me of the way my dad used to tell his old stories. I laughed or at least smiled through most of it, even the sadder parts. Yes, it's totally vulgar but the characters are teenage boys running amock. Some people criticized the narrator but I thought he was the perfect voice to read the story...it's not written for dramatic, award winning narration. I loved it and I'll listen again next time I miss my dad or need a laugh.