Product Description

John Pinchot, un enloquecido director de cine, se empena en llevar a la pantalla sus relatos de juventud, o sea, la autobiografia de un alcoholico empedernido. Chinaski desconfia del proyecto, aunque acepta a reganadientes escribir el guion de la pelicula. Y comienzan los verdaderos problemas. El autor cuenta las experiencias de su alter ego Chinaski durante la filmacion de la pelicula Barfly, interpretada por Mickey Rourke y Faye Dunaway. Una vision sarcastica, acida y corrosiva de los entretelones de Hollywood en la que desfilan personajes curiosos y excentricos. Un mundo duro donde todo gira alrededor del sacrosanto dolar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134122 in Books
• Published on: 1989-01-01
• Released on: 2002-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Bukowski ( The Roominghouse Madrigals ) has written over 30 books of poetry and fiction in which he uses the persona of the artistic bum with reasonable success. In this flimsy novel, Henry Chinaski is asked to write a screenplay, and thus Bukowski continues his thinly disguised autobiography (Bukowski himself wrote the screenplay for the recent, self-referential Barfly ). When all the Hollywood types Chinaski encounters--directors, lawyers, producers, actors, actresses--fit the same drunken-outcast-but-artistic-genius mold, Bukowski seems to have exhausted his resourcefulness. His characters lose their individuality and the novel lacks force and perspective. This book deteriorates into juvenile satire in which familiar, real-life figures appear with the letters of their names shifted slightly: the famous director Jon-Luc Modard, the philosopher Jean-Paul Sanrah, Frances Ford Lopalla and an obvious Norman Mailer stand-in called Victor Norman.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this hilarious roman a clef, Bukowski draws on his experiences while writing the script for the 1987 film Barfly. Henry Chinaski, the author's alter ego in the film, here returns to write--despite misgivings--a Hollywood screenplay, The Dance of Jim Beam. The film is based on Chinaski's early life as a barfly and brawler, before he became a famous author. As he and his companion Sarah are caught up in the Hollywood whirlwind, Bukowski satirizes a host of well-known movie personalities. While Bukowski fans will welcome the reappearance of Chinaski, with his penchant for booze, women, and horse racing, film buffs should enjoy the novel for its delightful and irreverent portrayal of Hollywood. Highly recommended.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
The movie-making machinations of the title town are exposed in this thinly veiled roman a clef about a hard-drinking poet-novelist tamed screenwriter. Presumably based on his experiences writing the movie, "Barfly," Bukowski lays open the absurdity and egotism of the film industry from the worm's-eye view of a screenwriter. Harry Chinanski has been asked by Jon Pinchot, a French director, to write a screenplay. Pinchot doesn't seem to care what the story is about. Neither does Chinanski; he's more concerned about where his next drink is coming from, and when. Sarah, his wife, is amenable to all this, matching her husband drink for drink and concerned only about getting home in time to feed their five cats. The couple takes a precarious journey through the land of corrupt backers and bizarre creative types where the writer "was where he belonged, in some dark corner, watching." This novel is funny, and it moves quickly. When Chinanski isn't being updated on the movie's progress, he's playing the ponies. Alcohol and its accoutrements have as large a part as any of the characters. Nestled between the progress reports are anecdotes from Chinanski's past which are now enacted in "The Dance of Jim Beam," in part by an actress who insists he write a scene that will showcase her legs. If nothing else, the experience spawned a novel. -- From Independent Publisher

Customer Reviews

great deal great book
The book was a amazing! It was my first Bukowski read. I will purchase from amazon again. shipping was quick and inexpensive.

Entertaining but not his Best
I'm not sure exactly what to say about Hollywood. I certainly enjoyed it and always appreciate Bukowski at some level. In terms of his novels, I'd place this one behind Factotum, Post Office, and Women. Ham and Rye I have not yet read but will...unlike Pulp (whose subject matter does not appeal to me). I think that Hollywood's lack of edge--in comparison with his past achievements--reflects his newfound personal domesticity at the time it was penned. He was living with Linda (Sarah), and moving out of the low rent digs that formed the infrastructure of his life so it's a more sober work than the rest. Indeed, he was an older and more sober man in the eighties and conscious of his own mortality. The narrator mentions that Linda's presence gave him an extra 10 years and he may have been right about that. There's still some of the old joy in these pages though. Several scenes will make you smile and laugh aloud such as the name of his initial screenplay "The Dance of Jim Beam." The bottom line is that Bukowski is always worth the effort.

Good, but don't start here: Bukowski reflects on his brief stint in the film industry....
The act of writing is often a good way for people to consider and relfect on Life, on Ideas, or anything else. Hollywood comes shortly after Bukowski was involved in the making of a film -- barfly: he wrote the script.

Hollywood comes across as a writer trying to comes to terms and reach some sort of conclusion about his exerience in the movie industry.

Bukowski experiences both the good and the bad while he is involved with making the film. He meets fellow artists, gamblers, genius' to whom he feels sympathetic; while he also meets pre-madonnas, buisiness-minded suits. Part of the film business he genuinly seems to like.

The reader shares with Bukowski his enjoyment and pride in seeing something he wrote come alive as actors reinact memorable scenes from his past.

Ultimately, Bukowski decides that he will not write another movie script He is unwilling to compromise his art. And he is disgusted by the business mindedness of so many of the people who have the final say in what movies are going to be made.

One quirk I enjoyed about this book is that it is the first book in which Buk has achieved some success. Bukowski is determined not to let sucess and money change him as an artist. Only, he wonders if that is possible. He's now driving a black BMW instead of an old Jetta; and he has a jewish accountant.

Like any Bukoski novel, this isn't a bad read. The dialogue is a strength, and it's easy to see how Bukowski's dialoge and prose would translate well into film script.

If you haven't read Bukowski, I suggest you start elsewhere. Ham on Rye: A Novel would be a good place to start. Read The Post-Office Girl (New York Review Books Classics) and Women: A Novel I suggest reading before this also. The exception would be if you are less interested in Bukowski's literature and more interested into looking inside indipendent flim making. However, if you haven;t read Bukowski before, it is a sure thing that much of the humor and subtle remarks will not catch on with the reader.