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Grigoria Pontiki
I would suggest Ham on Rye too. It's about Chinasky's early life and in my opinion, Bukowski's best book.
Brandon Montgomery
This was the first Bukowski novel I read, and I immensely enjoyed it.
It makes for a very good intro to Bukowski's prose since it bares the hallmarks and stylistic traits (good and bad) that appear in all his other novels and it's short enough to read in an evening, so if you end up finding Bukowski unpalatable you'll only have wasted a couple hours.
So yeah, start here and then read Hollywood, his second to last and best novel.
It makes for a very good intro to Bukowski's prose since it bares the hallmarks and stylistic traits (good and bad) that appear in all his other novels and it's short enough to read in an evening, so if you end up finding Bukowski unpalatable you'll only have wasted a couple hours.
So yeah, start here and then read Hollywood, his second to last and best novel.
Tunde Oyebode
I would recommended Ham on Rye which provides a somewhat autobiographical account of bukowksi's or chinaski's early life. This in my opinion will provide a solid foundation as to why the character henry chinaski, prevalent in most of Bukowski's writing and in fact his alter-ego, is such a despicable, disgusting but yet entertaining, funny and enjoyable character (you will find this out in future readings). Or you can go for a collection called notes of a dirty old man, which contain themes and writing techniques that are constant in most of bukowski's writing. But if you are reluctant to read a whole book as you are just starting out, try his first ever short story called aftermath of a lengthy rejections slip, which can be found online.
Zinny
I think you should just start reading and let us know what you think? Seriously dew it.
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