Factotum
richly deserves its critical reception, Charles Bukowski's FACTOTUM is a minimalist, deadpan, alcoholic memoirish piece of stripped down prose exploring a series of dead-end jobs and dead-end outcomes amidist skid row. somewhat in the tradition of Hemingway (see Hemingway's almost all-dialogue novels) and the 'anti-Europe' of prose (few adjectives, little theory, not a single aristocrat, no lush details and no placement in history), Bukowski arguably defines American letters although whether he is better or worse than [a:Raymond Carver|7363|Raymond Carver|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201118985p2/7363.jpg] is a topic of argument.this short novel is about failure and perhaps the tiniest exaggeratted degree of very low paying and short-lasting employment across a number of US cityscapes. Bukowski gives voice to a socioeconomic segment that does not treat its women right and to a degree its international appeal (CB has been translated into 15+ languages) is a function of its honesty. CB's style is also distinctive and perhaps in many ways the opposite of the 'thriller' genre, the 'romance' genre, all the pay-for-word-count paperback styles that generate a known number of sales and known paycheck for their practioners. is Bukowski a genius? well... maybe not. but it's unique and in its own way rich prose.
better than movie