Hank and his wife, Sarah, agree to write a screenplay, and encounter the strange world of the movie industry.
reviews
Jan 02, 2011
ablomof
rated it: 
خواندن این کتاب در مورد چندیدن موضوع میتواند شناخت مناسبی ارائه دهد:
اولین موضوع خود هالیوود است! بوکوفسکی سعی نموده که با لحنی طنزآمیز روند نوشتن یک فیلمنامه، تهیهکنندگی و کارگردانی یک فیلم را در فضای هالیوود شرح دهد همچنین از این طریق با بسیاری از اهالی سینما نیز شوخی نموده البته با تغییر اسامی.
به نظر من نوع دیدگاهی که بوکوفسکی از هالیوود ارائه میدهد در نوع خودش جالب توجه بوده و بسیار میتواند به شناخت محیط خاصی همچون هالیوود کمک کند اینکه روابط بین کارگردان و تهیهکننده و More...
اولین موضوع خود هالیوود است! بوکوفسکی سعی نموده که با لحنی طنزآمیز روند نوشتن یک فیلمنامه، تهیهکنندگی و کارگردانی یک فیلم را در فضای هالیوود شرح دهد همچنین از این طریق با بسیاری از اهالی سینما نیز شوخی نموده البته با تغییر اسامی.
به نظر من نوع دیدگاهی که بوکوفسکی از هالیوود ارائه میدهد در نوع خودش جالب توجه بوده و بسیار میتواند به شناخت محیط خاصی همچون هالیوود کمک کند اینکه روابط بین کارگردان و تهیهکننده و More...
Dec 16, 2010
abo
rated it:
Per scrittori, sceneggiatori, registi e attori Hollywood è la Mecca, il trampolino da cui partire verso un futuro fatto di fama e soldi.
Non è così per il nostro Henry Chinaski, che vi approda a 65 anni dopo aver scritto libri di successo che gli sono valsi una certa notorietà, e accettando con una certa riluttanza di cimentarsi con la stesura di una sceneggiatura.
Con "Hollywood, Hollywood!" Bukowski scrive un romanzo in cui l’alter ego Chinaski scrive una sceneggiatura che More...
Non è così per il nostro Henry Chinaski, che vi approda a 65 anni dopo aver scritto libri di successo che gli sono valsi una certa notorietà, e accettando con una certa riluttanza di cimentarsi con la stesura di una sceneggiatura.
Con "Hollywood, Hollywood!" Bukowski scrive un romanzo in cui l’alter ego Chinaski scrive una sceneggiatura che More...
Jan 20, 2010
MAURO
rated it: 
UN CHINASKI YA VIEJO VIVE PLÁCIDAMENTE SUS AÑOS DE GLORIA, JUNTO A SU MUJER, SUS GATOS, SU MÁQUINA DE ESCRIBIR Y SUS BOTELLAS DE VINO. TRAS DECENIOS DE BORRACHERAS SALVAJES, ESCÁNDALOS Y ESCRIBIR COMPULSIVAMENTE, SUS OBRAS HAN ENCONTRADO UN HUECO Y SU PÚBLICO SE MULTIPLICA, LO QUE REDUNDA EN UNA FAMA MÁS QUE MERECIDA Y, NATURALMENTE, UNOS INGRESOS TAN REGULARES COMO SUSTANCIOSOS. CHINASKI ES UNA LEYENDA, ODIADO Y RESPETADO, ADMIRADO Y REPUDIADO, PERO CON EL CARISMA SUFICIENTE COMO PARA QUE UN DI
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May 28, 2011
Sicofonia
rated it: 
Now, this book is quite different from other Bukowski's works I've read before. In here we meet the successful Henry Chinaski, the one who has made it and is finally able to make a living from his writing. In this context, there's no stark or brutal stories as we have known them from previous books.
In this one, Chinaski is a well known author who is offered to write a screenplay. The book tells the story of the process of the screenplay writing, and the production and shooting of the movie More...
In this one, Chinaski is a well known author who is offered to write a screenplay. The book tells the story of the process of the screenplay writing, and the production and shooting of the movie More...
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Dec 29, 2010
eliafen
rated it:
هر چقدر فکر میکنم نمیتونم متعادل به این کتاب نگاه کنم. از یه نگاه خیلی خوشم اومد و از نگاه دیگه اصلا خوشم نیومد. اینکه خود ِ نویسنده یه مرد ِ عاشق ِ مشروبه و داستانی هم که می نویسه راجع به خودشه و تو داستان هم یه فیلمنامه می نویسه که باز راجع به خودش و مست کردنها و بار و بارمن هستش. این محیط برام زیاد ملموس نیست. اما نگاه سادهش به محیط و بیان ِخیلی جالبش باعث شد خیلی راحت این کتابرو بخونم و ترغیب شم تا کتابای ِدیگهای از بوکفسکیرو هم بخونم. به نظرم گفتن جملات خیلی جدی میون ِیه پاراگراف ِ ن
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May 10, 2011
Matthieutc
rated it:
This book came out in 1989 and is one of the last novels written by Bukowski (alongside 'Pulp'). He wrote it later in life at around 65 years old. I thought it came off as less bitter, or at least more at ease with bitterness, than the rest of his books. As Bukowski says one page 38: "Within an hour I was 45 thousand dollars richer. 30 years of starvation and rejection were starting to kick in."
The book is auto-biographical. It covers a period of time where Bukowski is writ More...
The book is auto-biographical. It covers a period of time where Bukowski is writ More...
Jun 19, 2010
Asaucier
rated it:
Inside my used hardback copy of Hollywood, under the front cover, it says:
Paul King
Box 222
Poole's Creek Road #1
Cold Spring, Ky.
41076
Purchased
September 13, 1991
a Friday
Between pages 230 and 231, there is a very small and what appears to be a quite old match that looks as if the end of its cardboard stem was chewed off.
It'll be my last Bukowski novel, but certainly not my least. What I like about this one is that I can More...
Paul King
Box 222
Poole's Creek Road #1
Cold Spring, Ky.
41076
Purchased
September 13, 1991
a Friday
Between pages 230 and 231, there is a very small and what appears to be a quite old match that looks as if the end of its cardboard stem was chewed off.
It'll be my last Bukowski novel, but certainly not my least. What I like about this one is that I can More...
Feb 02, 2012
Venus
rated it:
ناگهان به شکل مسخره ای از همه چیز جدا شدم.با آدم ها که هستم ،چه خوب باشند و چه بد،تمام احساساتم تعطیل و خسته می شوند ،تسلیم می شوم.مودبم.سر تکان می دهم.تظاهر می کنم می فهمم،چون دوست ندارم کسی را برنجانم. این یکی از ضعف هایم است که بیشترین مشکل را برایم درست کرده،معمولا وقتی سعی می کنم با دیگران مهربان باشم روحم چنان پاره پاره می شود که به شکل ماکارونی روحانی در می آید.
مهم نیست.کرکره ی مغزم پایین می آید.گوش می کنم.جواب میدهم و آنها احمق تر از آنند که بفهمند من آنجا نیستم... More...
مهم نیست.کرکره ی مغزم پایین می آید.گوش می کنم.جواب میدهم و آنها احمق تر از آنند که بفهمند من آنجا نیستم... More...
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2008
Will
rated it:
Probably the best I can say about Bukowski is that you get what you expect. That's both praise and diminution. The art of his books is that they can inject his ego directly into your mind. When he's thrilled, your thrilled. When he's disgusted, so are you. The salvation of Hollywood is that most of the time he's bemused and curious. As plans go awry and the world upends, he's playing with a cat---"The cat liked to chase this piece of string."
Of course, that's the exte More...
Of course, that's the exte More...
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 04, 2010
Luíse
rated it:
É um livro bem legal. Não muito indicado para quem não conhece Bukowski, pois pode decepcionar um pouco. Eu gostei porque, apesar de ser o mesmo velho safado, é um livro bastante sossegado, em que o alter ego do autor, Henry Chinaski, escreve um argumento para o cinema e acompanha a produção do filme (como aconteceu com o próprio Buk com o filme Barfly).
Os diálogos são ótimos e os personagens também. O problema é que as complicações do enredo acabam tornando tudo meio arrastado, o que, More...
Os diálogos são ótimos e os personagens também. O problema é que as complicações do enredo acabam tornando tudo meio arrastado, o que, More...
Jan 21, 2011
Sydney
rated it:
Charles Bukowski’s Hollywood wasn’t as good as I was expecting. I’ve read one of his poem collections before, and this book mirrors the sarcasm and aloofness with man-kind that I found in those poems. I enjoyed his characters the most, especially Francois Racine, a gambling, eccentric, alcoholic Frenchmen who is friends with the main character (and Bukowski’s alias) Chinaski. The storyline flowed, but since it was based off his actual life experiences, it had kind of a chronological feel to it w
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Mar 17, 2008
Faith-Anne
rated it:
I heard a lot of good reviews about Hollywood. I'm a fan of Bukowski's poetry, but somehow this novel just didn't hold the magic that his poetry contains.
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 23, 2011
Joe
rated it: 
The narrative in this novel is so crisp, clean, and compelling, I could cry my pants and shit my face. Bukowski is the motherfucker, taking it to the Hollywoodocracy, thinly disguising his targets. Okay, it's not really a novel. It's a novelized retelling of his writing of the screenplay for Barfly. I would have finished it much faster, but it's so damn good that my heart sinks about 10 feet below the surface of the earth after reading just a few pages. I have to put it down and wallow in the sl
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Apr 09, 2010
Pat
rated it:
This was given to me with caveats about it's quality, and maybe that colored my perceptions, but it seems it's way easier to sympathize with Chinaski's essential bastardness when you read about his miserable shitty childhood, and frustrated, or drunken, nihilistic youth, than when he's relatively well off, respected, and with a woman who he really doesn't seem like he deserves.
Even Bukowski seems to prefer it, as he waxes nostalgic for his time as a stew bum at the shithole bar where More...
Even Bukowski seems to prefer it, as he waxes nostalgic for his time as a stew bum at the shithole bar where More...
Apr 04, 2009
Sage
rated it:
I'm a big fan of Ham On Rye, Women, and Notes but I COULD NOT finish Hollywood. I've had this book for months and months and whereas I usually finish a Bukowski in a couple of days, I found myself approaching this book as one would approach a much procrastinated homework assignment. (I even skimmed ahead, hoping my then dimming interest would be reignited.) (No such luck.)
I really wanted to like Hollywood but it seems to lack the ugly, prolific and festering honesty that I've come More...
I really wanted to like Hollywood but it seems to lack the ugly, prolific and festering honesty that I've come More...
Oct 07, 2008
Mr.
rated it: 
"I drove north up the Harbor freeway toward Hollywood Park. I'd been playing the horses over 30 years. It started after my near fatal hemorrhage at the L.A. County Hospital. They told me that if I took another drink that I was dead.
`What'll I do?' I asked Jane.
`About What?'
`What'll I use as a substitute for drink?'
`Well, there are the horses.'
`Horses? What do you do?'
`Bet on them? Sounds stupid.'
We went and I won handsomely. I began to go on More...
`What'll I do?' I asked Jane.
`About What?'
`What'll I use as a substitute for drink?'
`Well, there are the horses.'
`Horses? What do you do?'
`Bet on them? Sounds stupid.'
We went and I won handsomely. I began to go on More...
Jun 10, 2008
Dup
rated it:
Okay, having read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as preparation for leaving Greenpoint I picked this up next as prep for arriving in Los Angeles ( Actually we're landing in Laurel Canyon not Hollywood but let's not quibble over this small detail.)
The story of how Bukowski's screenplay Barfly was made into a movie this is a very funny farce with insane Frenchmen and producers making the author look sane by comparison for once. I love behind the scene stories about show business and this one More...
The story of how Bukowski's screenplay Barfly was made into a movie this is a very funny farce with insane Frenchmen and producers making the author look sane by comparison for once. I love behind the scene stories about show business and this one More...
May 18, 2008
Ryland
rated it:
It is not very often that I read a novel in a single sitting - but that is exactly what I did with this very entertaining trip through the filmmaking process from the eyes of a beloved novelist/poet/horserace aficionado/drunk turned screenwriter. Bukowski's prose is quick witted and extremely entertaining. I was laughing out loud throughout - especially at the thinly veiled references to real people such as Wenner Zergog and Frances Ford Lopalla. His characters are so full of life that it is
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Jun 30, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Hilarious, ridiculous, written at a fifth grade level for the most part. Very status quo for Bukowski's work. A little redundant with keeping us up with how full his wine glass is, along with constantly excusing himself for the racetrack and relentlessly bashing in our brains his love and need for the poem. But this book is mainly about the writing of a screenplay, the shooting of the movie and all of the Hollywood figures that Chinaski and his wife find peculiar. Some hilarious, believable
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Jan 13, 2009
Mary-kate
rated it:
could not put this down. just read it if you're at all interested in a hollywood story told by a haunting heart -broken los angelino. It's as if Bukowski traveled, booze in tow, to a foreign country, without knowing the language, and is trying to translate and give a cultured report of his surroundings. it's breath-taking at moments when Bukowski "asides" potentially wine soaked gems of wisdom to the reader. His observations seemed familiar to me.
Sep 07, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Hollywood is the story of Henry Chinaski after his time on the streets. He has much success in the literary world and to top it off, he writes a screenplay that turns into a movie. This is a fictional account of Buk's time writing the movie "Barfly", as well as his foray into the Hollywood scene, which he reluctantly accepts. It's a good book, but devoid of the usual gritty, lowdown street experiences that you might come to expect from Buk's other works.
Jun 18, 2011
بوکوفسکی را دوست دارم جون جسور است چون زبانش همان چیزی است که خودش میخواهد باشد، چون قواعد را زیر پا می گذارد چون دیوانه وار به یاغی گری! در کتابش پرداخته است
در واقع از شخصیت آنارشیستی جناب بوکوفسکی که از طریق کتابش به من القا شده است خوشم می آید.
در واقع از شخصیت آنارشیستی جناب بوکوفسکی که از طریق کتابش به من القا شده است خوشم می آید.
Aug 30, 2009
Glenn
rated it:
Well I ended up having to read this in Portuguese while on various buses and waiting for buses in Brazil. I don't see what's so good about it. Maybe it's better in English, but I doubt it. You can tell it's being written by a drunk who can't write, so he writes about being drunk. But he doesn't even do that well. The main character is always drinking yet never showing any effects from it. The NY Times said this is close to the great American novel, but if that's the case, the great part went way
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Sep 20, 2011
Toby
rated it:
While not my favorite of Bukowski's books, Hollywood is still a great look into his style. It's easy and hard (if that makes sense), stopping and starting, but clear and concise. He wastes no time on flowery language, opting instead for just storytelling. His content might not be up everyone's alley, but the journey is worth it. It's dark at times, but lighthearted at others and very much a show of his storytelling ability.
Dec 13, 2008
Cwn_annwn_13
rated it:
This is Bukowskis humorous account of the making of the movie Barfly. Its funny to see the subtle name changes of people like Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Tom Jones, Madonna (he referred to her as Ramona) and Bukowskis humorous and not always very complimentry recollections and opinions of them.
Hollywood isn't as good as Ham on Rye, Post Office or Women but its still very good and worth reading.
Hollywood isn't as good as Ham on Rye, Post Office or Women but its still very good and worth reading.
Mar 10, 2011
Sophia
rated it:
I really enjoyed reading this book. One thing that I noticed right away was the resemblance between Hank Moody from Californication and Chinaski (fictionalized Bukowski). And the plot itself made me think of certain episodes of the series. I think a great deal of inspiration for both Californication's plot line and the character of Hank Moody was this very book. And Bukowski himself.
Aug 02, 2011
I thought this later Bukowski novel, a very thinly disguised account of the making of BARFLY, wouldn't be as good as the others I've read but it ended up being my favorite. The Hollywood theme gave him something to focus on besides his own dissipated existence, and there are some very funny scenes. I do wonder, though, how, driving through the ghetto, the narrator could tell that discarded shoes he saw on the street were LEFT shoes....
Jan 05, 2010
Mynameisandycostello
rated it:
This is Bukowski's best novel I've read yet! Over the course of the book, he lives in Hollywood, writes a screenplay (which he doesn't really want to do), and attempts to get the screenplay picked up by a producer. This book has the highest concentration of insight, comedy, and information in any of his novels (that I've read yet at least).
Oct 20, 2009
Luis
rated it:
Fiction. A Henry Chinaski novel about writing a novel about writing a screenplay and making the movie and the absurdities of Hollywood.
I enjoyed this a lot. Some of the turns of phrases were so simple and marvelous. Not Bukowski's best work though, and it is better to read some earlier ones in the Chinaski series before reading this one.
I enjoyed this a lot. Some of the turns of phrases were so simple and marvelous. Not Bukowski's best work though, and it is better to read some earlier ones in the Chinaski series before reading this one.
Dec 20, 2008
Mark
rated it:
Interesting...you'll get to know an older Buk :) He's settled down quite a bit here and it's fascinating to see. It's kind of sad but it's kind of uplifting to see somebody who was so pissed at the world all his life continue to be into his older years but have it result in some type of ludicrous success. An essential for the Bukowski fans; if you haven't read him I'd recommend you save this one till later and you'll enjoy it a lot more. :)
