Reviews

This book did have a charmingly depressive sense of humor, which I liked, but it also had a lot of things that enraged me. It was alright. If I wanted to follow the life of a narcissistic and depressed lead again, well, I liked Bojack Horseman a hell of a lot better.

elaichipod's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book felt the predecessor or forefather of many litfic books with unlikeable main characters. It also reminded me of The Fermata, which is about sexual hedonism. I didn’t like that book and I didn’t particularly enjoy this one, either. It was crazy to me that despite the immense amount of self-sabotage, Henry could just keep moving forward and was almost always able to find a new job. Strangely enough, I always had hope for him and assumed that he would get his act together for the next job.

jumpingjacksofy's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

k3atr0g2608's review against another edition

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4.0

While a lot of people will say that we should "look past the horrible shit Bukowski puts in his books" and "focus only on the beauty," I think both are key components of his writing. Bukowski never pretended to be a good guy, and the stuff he writes makes that clear, but I think he also understood that there was beauty in transgression. But that isn't the point of this book.

I like that this was a scathing critique of the American Dream. The main character never sticks to a job, he travels around and lives like a bum. He understands that WW2 is happening and that the world is going bonkers. But he doesn't do what everyone else around him does; he doesn't get a steady job or marry or move into a suburb or delude himself. He drinks, he writes, he bums, and he fucks. Most importantly, though, he observes.

taylorlanxon's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

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