This book is a fairly quick read that chronicles the misadventures of Henry Chinaski, a chronic alcoholic who stumbles in and out of shitty jobs across America during WWII. He is an aspiring writer with zero life aspirations aside from nursing the bottle to help bear the cross of his existence. The writing is succinct and though Henry's trials are repetitive and predictable, Charles Bukowski maintains the reader's interest with enough humor to add variation. This is definitely not a novel you feel you've wasted your time reading, provided you find the storyline appealing.
Some memorable quotes:
"Her triangle of cunt hair was hidden by her dangling, bouncing stomach."
"I was given instructions by a toothless elf with a film over his left eye."
"[Y]oung Mexican girls with beautiful skin and dark eyes; they wore tight bluejeans and tight sweaters and gaudy earrings.... In fifteen years they'd weigh 185 pounds and it would be their daughters who were beautiful."
"Because I had claimed two years of college on my application, I got the job as Coconut Man."
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