Ham on Rye

Many of us writers are subject to the terrible cliché of substance abuse, none so much as Charles Bukowski. Having dabbled in the debauched myself, Ham on Rye sadly reflects what life could be like if the idiocy of adolescence continues into adulthood. This book is hilarious, vulgar, shocking, and oddly insightful. Not only is this my favourite Bukowski book, but it’s the book that introduced me to his work and changed my writing forever.

I recommend Charles Bukowski in general, and Ham on Rye is a classic. Media people these days love to bandy “existential” threats, meaning threats to existence. But existentialists pondered existence and got depressed without much concern for hazards. Berets, baggy pants, coffee, and cigarettes characterized those guys—Camus, Sartre, Kierkegaard, and the rest. Bukowski made existential contemplation more timeless, drinking and screwing in response to life and its challenge. Above all, it’s compelling and entertaining. 

Bukowski's coming-of-age novel depicts his fictional amalgam Henry Chinaski’s upbringing and various assorted traumas, some humorous, some very moving. Of Bukowski's novels that I've read, Ham on Rye is indeed the most focused and nuanced. What is probably its greatest feat is how Bukowski has no trepidation about painting himself (or more accurately, Henry) in a less than flattering light. By contrast, Bukowski does not deviate from his struggles, his apathy, his bitterness, his aimlessness. It's an honest, raw, funny, and very human journey definitely worth taking – especially for Bukowski admirers.