Ham On Rye

RAW ~ REBELLIOUS ~ VULGAR Bukowski's take on the bildungsroman, an anti-coming-of-age story and his finest novel. Lifelong misfit Henry Chinaski grows up downtrodden, stumbling through a world he has only ever known as hostile. Fights, failed romances and humiliations abound; Chinaski toughens up as he grows up, finding solace in books and in the bottle. Savagely funny and profoundly human, Ham on Rye is essential reading for anyone who has ever been ready to quit - and chosen to laugh, drink or fight back instead.

Charles Bukowski, who died in 1994, was the legendary Californian writer who became famous for his semi-autobiographical books about low-life America. Novels such as Factotum and Post Office made this one-time bum, and lifelong alcoholic, rich and famous, and culminated in the making of Barfly, a major Hollywood movie based on his life starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway.