Women: A Novel

for a long time i've resisted reading bukowski becuase i sort of thought it might be a bit adolescent . How wrong can you be .This was superb honest and moving .A real account of real relationships and real existence. It's also very funny at points . The narrator chinski is unfailingly honest about himself and the live he leads which stops the book becoming a series of macho conquests .The women give as good as they get in the main and chinski comes across as less of an aggressor and more of a victim of his own desires (as men in real life generally are ) He also allows himself to be very vulnerable, which is what is missing from almost all literary novels .The authors have the technique down....but not the desire to show themselves in all their disgusting, faded ,glorious, human detail . After reading this i went on to read 'Factotum' , 'Love is a dog from hell and other poems' and 'Ham on rye'. All were quite superb ...particularly ' Ham on rye '. It's been a very long time since i've discovered a writer who makes me want to read book after book ..... and also effects the way you see life . You begin to understand through bukowski that the pain we all feel at times in life, is not some terrible thing fate has singled us out to suffer.... but is a part of life to be accepted. In cocnclusion, I'd give it 6 stars if i could.....

Low-life writer and unrepentant alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. After decades of slacking off at low-paying dead-end jobs, blowing his cash on booze and women, and scrimping by in flea-bitten apartments, Chinaski sees his poetic star rising at last. Now, at fifty, he is reveling in his sudden rock-star life, running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova. it reads well doesnt it.... made me want to buy it... I read this book right to the end and it was consistent. The first thing that first struck me was his repeated use of the 'c' word (with four letters, ending in unt) to describe what others might call 'pussy'. For some reason i found that a bit too much, but i will put that down to social conditioning. The book reads well, i felt like an alcoholic writer by the end of it, put it that way. An alcoholic writer who was getting a lot of sex from all sorts of different women. 3 and half stars mostly because the author is so revered for his other books. I have finished reading 'women' and am looking around for other books in a similar genre which are just as sexy, just as debaucherous and have a common thread sewn into the plot, but not as vulgar and one dimensional. It lacks emotion. Its a fine line between boring sexual dribble and a novel which actually has some emotion and story telling behind it. This was close, but it didnt tick all the boxes for me. Having said that, i would buy it again and read it if i had never read it...this books makes me want to look into his other books.

I read Women immediately following Post Office, and it is also a part of my Esquire 75 Books Every Man Needs To Read reading challenge. Women is the 20th book on the list (not including books I will be rereading). After the death of his postal career along with the love of his life, Bukowski’s Chianski begins to scour trashy America for experience, art, booze, and sex. His career is beginning to take off and he can do more than merely survive in his existence, and he begins to explore himself and his relationships in this semi-autobiographical novel about much the same things as his other novels, but with a marked difference in literary style and execution as well as notoriety and accomplishment as an artist. The focus of this piece is easily the paper-thin relationships that Chianski surrounds himself with. Every escapade leads to some revelation about his manhood, his fame, and his constant brush with the women that seem to constantly contrast with his one vice – a penchant for finding the most emotionally unstable women to have weekend relationships with, and being both unsatisfied with the sex and relationship, and surprised when the women cling to him with fervent desire. In Women, Bukowski has improved and expanded his literary dance with being both anti-pedantic in diction and syntax while at the same time being misleading in his ability to screw intensive literary symbolism and devices into this somewhat simple work. The result is scrupulous, tireless literary and linguistic acrobatics that lead across the wasteland of white-trash slums and heighten Chianski’s vices and sexual escapades to that of religious reverence. Definitely deserves its place on Esquire's list.

Charles Bukowski is an acquired taste and his work isn't something I would recommend to my girlfriend or mother. With that said, "Women" was probably the most entertaining novel I've experienced because of how easy it is to read and the honest humor. Charles lived the way life is meant to be lived: in excess with no regard for the opinion of others or the consequences of his actions. Haha. Reading this book is like having a conversation with the man himself as he shares with you the many triumphs and fewer follies of his insatiable appetite for long legs and alcohol...a true connoisseur of women, he is always able to find something to adore in each woman he met and you get a sense that there were some who he truly wanted to care for--just not enough to be faithful because, unfortunately, God made too many good ones. Give this book a try. You won't believe how much fun you can have by yourself without looking at porn.

Let's start off by saying...Wow. This book was a rollercoaster! I first heard of this book when I watched a behind the scenes documentary on one of my favorite shows, Californication. It was mentioned that Henry Chilaski, main character in the book, was the model for the show's hank Moody. After I read the book, I could not agree more. nail, coffin, done. The book has a no holds barred atmosphere. Not a few pages in and Henry Chilaski is in a whirlwind of violation drinking, drugs and constant sexual encounters. I found myself sympathizing with the Chilaski character as the story goes on. In moments of the book it reminded me of parts of my life. It has a way off pulling you in and then slamming your fingers in the door. Bukowski's renegade and raw approach to writing is known world wide and this book does not hold any punches. It's fast and full of life. I read it in a two night sitting and it left me yearning for more. This book is definitely worth the pick up. It's funny, charming, entertaining, dismissive, angry and rude all rolled into one. I hope you have as much fun with it, as I did.

I've concluded that most people who discovered Charles Bukowski in their teenage years eventually grow out of the old crank. The few readers who don't go the other way and come to idolize Bukowski even more. When I was 17 or 18, I went on a Bukowski binge, reading "Post Office," "South of No North" and "Factotum" in about a week. This was around the same time that the movie "Barfly" came out. (The picture stars Mickey Rourke in what remains his best performance as Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski.) Bukowski then wrote a novel about the moviemaking experience in "Hollywood," which I also read a few years after the initial Bukowski binge. (For the record, I haven't been exposed to any of Bukowski's poetry.) Well, now twenty years have passed, and I decided to revisit a writer who played a role in my formative years and picked up "Women," which, like many of Bukowski's novels features his stand-in, Chinaski, the former postal worker turned poet and novelist. I can't say I was disappointed by "Women," because I knew what to expect going in. That said, the semi-autobiographical work just didn't connect with me on the same level as the books that I remember from decades ago. This could be for a number of reasons. First, Bukowski works better in short doses. "Post Office" was a breezy, hilarious read. "Women" comes in at almost 300 pages, and quickly turns repetitive. It's basically the same story told 20 times: Chinaski meets a much younger woman, beds her, they argue, break up, get back together, break up again, with lots of drinking and gambling in between. Second, Bukowski/Chinaski was a better read when he was a struggling writer. In "Women," Chinaski has achieved a small amount of fame, so the reader has to put up with endless poetry readings in the narrative. Third, and perhaps most important of all, Bukowski's ranting and raving might strike a chord with younger readers, but to more mature readers, he just comes across as a really mean old man. In short, Bukowski is the same, but I've changed.

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It seems like one of those authors that's supposed to make you look "cool" if you read him. I think I like it simply because it's really really easy to read... but the content was a little much most of the time. I mean, this guy goes around screwing all these different types of women in all these different types of situations and continues to do it while seemingly hooked up to an alcohol IV. It's pretty unrealistic and quite sad... the book did seem to have somewhat of an arc where my interest started to pique with a certain relationship where "Henry" becomes somewhat more of a human being as opposed to a sex crazed drinking machine. But then he lost me towards the end and the buildup to the "resolution" was rushed and thoughtless. It seems as if he wrote without editing it, desperately searching for this tragic tale to end positively. That being said, it was an easy read and pretty intriguing at times, despite the pulp subject matter. Some parts were rather funny, some parts were boring. I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 3 simply because I think I'll read another one of his novels... give the guy a chance.

This was recommended to me recently, so I picked up a copy of my own. I absolutely enjoyed how raw and unfiltered this was. This was packed with life, and at times, uncomfortable honesty. I read that 93% of the story (his writing?) was true. 5-Stars!