Charles Bukowski has a very particular writing style that definitely does not appeal to everyone. It’s written with very plain language and is very vulgar. It can probably be classified as a “dark comedy”. The story is about a drifter named Henry Chinaski (semi-biographical─often said to be Bukowski’s alter ego…). The time period is during World War II and he is seen unfit and is rejected from military service. Chinaski, hailing from LA, is a heavy alcoholic and unemployed for the most part. He has a passion for writing and tries to get his works published by one of the only magazines he respects since he feels he is a better writer than the actual magazine writers.
He drifts from job to job and town to town. He usually loses his job within the first week or month. The jobs are all menial. Factotum, which means a general servant, is derived from the latin words for Do & everything.
You can’t help but take a liking to Chinaski, despite him being quite despicable and entirely self-absorbed. He is a loner with a warped perception of the world. While he encounters many women in the tale, there are particularly two women (Laura & Jan) that he takes a liking to and accepts to live with. All in all, the book is quite amusing (if vulgarity doesn’t bother you) and is an easy read due to the simplicity of the language used. A negative aspect of the book would be the rather uneventful ending. A motion picture based on the novel was made in 2005 staring Matt Dillon. Chinaski is a recurring character in most of his novels such as in Ham on Rye, Post Office, and Women.
