Ham On Rye: A Novel

Written by Charles Bukowski

Narrated by Christian Baskous

In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, Ham on Rye offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Aug 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062302908

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski is one of America’s best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in 1920 in Andernach, Germany, to an American soldier father and a German mother, and brought to the United States at the age of two. He was raised in Los Angeles and lived there for over fifty years. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp. Abel Debritto, a former Fulbright scholar and current Marie Curie fellow, works in the digital humanities. He is the author of Charles Bukowski, King of the Underground, and the editor of the Bukowski collections On Writing, On Cats, and On Love.

Reviews for Ham On Rye

[booknerd06 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is Bukowski's best work of fiction. Unlike Women and Post Office, Bukowski really allows the readers of Ham on Rye a glimpse into his heart and not just his liver

[stef7sa-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Life stories of a real cynic, raw and funny at times, of a man who does not fit in with society. He just cannot stand the hypocrisy and falsehood of society and refuses to play a role in it. This is understandable given the family in which the author grew up, but towards the end he resorts more and more to senseless violence. Straightforward fast and entertaining read.

[phillynyc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though Bukowski has become the cult hero of modern libertines, Ham on Rye shows why Bukowski became "Bukowski." This book with change your impression of Buk if you've read him before, and it will make you wanting more if this is your first Bukowski experience.

[Mr. B · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best narrations I’ve ever heard—I combined the audiobook with ebook and it was one hell of a combo!

[dandelionroots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is so ugly. But it resonates, uncomfortably. I get why Bukowski has groupies. Intrigued by his poetry...---They were soft, they had never faced any fire. They were beautiful nothings. They made me sick. I hated them. They were part of the nightmare that always haunted me in one form or another

[salmondaze · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski's inimitable style gets altered in his fourth novel to mirror the thoughts of a younger person and it works brilliantly. Even better is how he slides from that style into the more familiar style of Post Office and Factotum by the end of the novel to give it continuity with those other books. It definitely has humor enough to spare, but the style makes it a higher achievement than his other novels.

[paulrx04 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Now people are waking up to how good he was.
See the excellent docu on him!

[caklr650 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Liked it. One of Bukowski's better novels.

[rimbo90 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is Bukowski's magnum opus in my opinion. This is a very special book. It is powerful, harsh and raw but has odd moments of charm and humour. I would not say it is an easy, casual read. It is grim in parts but, Bukowski being Bukowski, he takes it in his stride.He is one of my favourite writers and, in my opinion, one of the most important writers of the last century. This book shows why.Highly recommended.

[skwoodiwis · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Book Review of Ham on RyeBy Charles BukowskiI found myself avoiding the book. I plowed through the end and was grateful for the very abrupt end. I was discussing the book with my Mentor – Jon encouraged me to stay away from Bukowski. I’m still not convinced that Jon is correct but I am going to give it a rest. I am almost through a book of poetry – and I will say that I like the man’s poetry better than this novel. It was not poorly written – but again as Jon points out the title itself is damning – Ham is correct – it seemed to me the sort of book a scorned woman would write – and yet I blush at that because what the author portrays in the young man’s life is truly awful.The protagonist was a sweet, young boy and in the end a slug fest, alcoholic young man. And I will give Mr. Bukowski this – we don’t necessarily walk away chalking one more causality up to the demons of society and parental disaster – no maybe we do.The book is brutal – no love, very little compassion and an animalistic view on sex and self-satisfying sex. And in the end we have a young alcoholic moving into skid row – the book left me cold.

[kimmykay_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

strange yet somewhat addicting.

[mcolv9890 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski learns to fight, socialize, play football, and be tough. He learns how to take a beating and become stronger in spite of it. He hates his father and all of his father's philosophy. He starts to drink. This novel is one of the great coming of age stories the 20th century despite its crude nature.

[eshannon12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Definitely a depressing book, but gives an essential background to Chinansky that will help you understand the rest of Bukowski's work.

[adamallen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski has always been one of those authors that I've wanted to read but never gotten around to for one reason or another. Ham on Rye was my first Bukowski novel but I suspect that it won't be my last. Having completed the book, one of the things that I find myself wanting to do is to compare it to A Catcher in the Rye since they are both novels about coming of age. I find the "Rye" part of both titles a bit ironic as rye has little to do with either story. In so far as I can remember, neither ham nor rye is anywhere to be found in the tale. Maybe that's oversight on my part but I see the title to be more of a tip of the hat to Catcher. All that to say, while I found Catcher to be rather underwhelming, I enjoyed Ham on Rye very much. I've also heard/read in passing comments that Ham on Rye is (semi-)autobiographical. I don't know much about Bukowski's life (although I do plan on renting the documentary soon) but I suspect that may be true. If so, it was a pretty rough road into adulthood (read: understatement).Henry "Hank" Chinaski struggled with his parents, SEVERE acne, girls, school, work, fighting, and most of all booze. He was a tough kid raised in a tough home and as a result, he walked away with a damaged view of the world. If you're interested in more details about the book, I'll share a few in the SPOILERS section below.As I've mentioned in past reviews, I enjoy books that make you have an emotional reaction. This one succeeded at making me wince on more than one occasion. I laughed aloud a few times and I shook my head a few times as Hank continued to spiral out of control.I rated the book 3.5 stars for me because I enjoyed it. Based on what I've said above, you can probably already tell if you'd like it or not. If you like Hubert Selby, Jr., Kerouac, Hunter Thompson, etc. you'll like it. If you like your fiction neat, tidy, and happy, stear clear.*****SPOILERS HEREAFTER*****Hank Chinaski was raised in an abusive home where his father used the leather shaving strop to whip Hank on a daily basis. One of the more memorable scenes was Hank's father looking for any "little hairs" sticking up from the freshly cut lawn. When putting his head to the ground and finding two missed blades of grass, he proceeded to give Hank his beating. It was at this point that despite his pain, Hank no longer reacted to the whippings. He challeged his father to fight him and the beatings ceased. Hank's mother never stepped in to stop the abuse. You're lead to believe this is a result of her own physical abuse at the hands of the father.Hank learned his street smarts on his own and always reveled in being a tough guy. He liked to fight. He liked being a loner. He liked to offend everyone. Oddly enough, despite all that, he had a difficult time saying no to other exiled kids who latched onto him. You felt there was a kindness somewhere within that never surfaced.Hank's acne and lustful thoughts played a large role in the story. I would expect that of a story about a boy becoming a man. Unfortunately for our protagonist, he suffered acne so bad that it became huge boils. He frequented the hospital for treatment to this ailment but it never really improved. As a result, his lust was at a distance. In the story, he really only had one shot at sex - with a friend's mother - and he was too freaked out when the opportunity arose to do anything about it.The largest part of the story is dedicated to Hank's downward spiral into alcoholism. It grew until he was constantly drunk and struggling for some direction in life. He only knew that he wanted to drink and to write. Given that this may be autobiographical, I suppose he did.

[evanroskos_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though it sorta fizzles out, this is a pretty good autobiography by Bukowski. It's filled with the normal Bukowski stuff -- crazy, mean parents, his acne-scarred adolescence, the development of his tough guy attitude, and the heartbreaking moments where he's just a lonely guy. I suspect only Bukowski fans would really love this, but it does stand on its own pretty well for people who only know his name.

[ptdilloway-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm a little disappointed there's no sandwiches in this book. Anyway, it's a good argument for nurture rather than nature that determines who people are.

[poetontheone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski tackles the bildungsroman and bedecks it with bloody knuckles, booze, and badly executed encounters with women. His loathing for his father, so often mentioned in interviews and biographies, is central here. The tension of that relationship festers throughout the book, set to burst like one of those hideous boils on Chinaski's back. I have to say I found this better than Post Office, though I enjoyed that one thoroughly. This is nothing unexpected from Bukowski in terms of content and subject. If you enjoy him, this novel is among his best work.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My introduction to the novels of Charles Bukowski. I'm not sure if I would like to read the other, more adult adventures of narrator Henry Chinaski, but the author's accessible style and dry wit is very refreshing and funny. 'Ham on Rye' is a darker, sharper take on 'The Catcher in the Rye', preoccupied with the immature concerns of an adolescent boy - sex, and proving how tough he thinks he is. Anecdotal in the telling, every other 'memory' of growing up in LA for Chinaski/Bukowski is about getting into a fight, and whereas some 'memories' ring true, most sound like immature bravado. A product of time and circumstance, Henry is disadvantaged from childhood, living with a bullying father in Depression-era America, but his street smarts and self-deprecating humour help the reader to sympathise with him instead of judging by word and deed alone. An entertaining read.

[chrystal_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting. I enjoy reading "coming of age" novels, but this one left me slightly depressed, but I enjoyed the writing.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A sad and funny look at the author's life from his first memory, until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For me it started slowly, mostly because I was horrified with his father's behavior and the poor kid's suffering with boils. But as he gets older, his thoughts and actions become sort of outrageous, and for me, makes a much better read! The rawness and coarseness of the language is both startling and comforting. The ending seemed a little truncated, but I overall enjoyed this strangely bizarre life story!

[margaretfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Semi-autobiography of Bukowski's childhood and early years.

[Haliee Hadley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The glorious and the grotesque. Wonderfully disgusting, and charmingly repulsive

[nancyboy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty decent stuff.

[aannttiiiittnnaa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski's formative years laid bare. No shirking from a fully detailed relation of his torment and tormentors. A writer unafraid to tell it like it is. Disarms all with frank statements and vivid recollection of mood, emotion, settings, names and places, his excellent memory is part revenge on all those that crossed him over the years. As always he manages to capture all those thoughts and feelings, that for most people are purposefully buried deep down beyond retrieval, expose them on the page with seemingly no effort, definitely no pretense and sign his name.

[Hugo Oswaldo Ortiz Pantoja · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book by the master Bukowski!
If you want to know more about Chinaski, you need to read this book

[ericj4dixon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This memoir-style novel is shocking, irreverent, hilarious, tragic, and (bare your soul in all it's faults) real. I love an underdog. This is the novel of a self-aspiring underdog with few aspirations and even less means to make something of himself. Some portions of the novel will deeply disturb readers, but I found that these sections added authenticity to the Chinaski character and served to reinforce the flow and general direction of the novel. I found this novel to be deeply touching; it can resonate on many levels with an individual's battle to overcome the multitude of obstacles that can be found in life.

[derfla3101980 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is a great read, except it makes you feel edgey and dirty once your done with it. And made me want to drink more and fuck.

[Emerson Doerksen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic piece of modern American Lit narrated expertly by Christian Baskous. Bukowski may not be for everyone, and his writing is expectedly crude, but clean and direct. Highly recommended.

Also check out Post Office, his first novel if you haven’t already. I could write a considerable amount on these books, but it’s best if you just read (or listen) for yourself.

[copyedit52 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bukowski comes clean on some things in this book, compared to the others I've read. In this one we actually learn about some of his influences (other than John Fante), and some of the writers he recoiled from. Perhaps he tells the reader less later on (this book has the feel of being written earlier) because his detachment by then had become a style, a manifestation of the pretension that gives his Chinaski alter ego life: a style that pushes aside some of the vulnerable details that peek out in Ham and Rye. Bukowski hates pretense. It's what makes him fascinating, and laudable. He hates it with such passion it brings to mind Celine, another misanthrope who knew how to write, and perhaps the greatest hater to be taken seriously by a literate audience. (I think he's the best.) And, like Celine, there are signs that because of it, Bukowski can be a nasty MF. His takedown of Henry Miller in another book, for instance--a transparent aka living in Pacific Palisades, an old man at the time, trying to cadge money from his young visitor. But back to Ham on Rye: Somewhere along the way I realized I was taking it all in as if reading a noir mystery--a Jim Thompson--which is a genre I like, but whose limitations I understand. And I realized too, a moment later, that I'd lowered my expectations, to better accept Bukowsky for what he is: a very good but not a mind-blowing writer. Hence the four stars.

[verge0007 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic book from a brilliant writer. Thumbs Up.