![]() The book, like the movie, looks back at these formative years in a wry way that has a number of amusing twists and turns. Bukowski keeps himself semi-detached from the subject of his early life. ![]() He wasn't too keen about having Mickey Roarke cast as himself, he had Sean Penn in mind, but was smitten with the idea of Faye Dunaway as his love interest.The book doesn't plunge to the lower depths as do his short stories and poetry. Schroeder and his pal tried to get in touch with the lower east side of LA, which Bukowski enjoys poking fun at. His books and poetry have always been about himself in one form or another, but here was his big chance to imagine himself on screen.Bukowski takes you step by step through the making of the movie, with a sardonic eye for the details. Bukowski was of course flattered and took up the challenge. 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.īukowski's humor is razor sharp in this book ostensibly on the making of "Barfly." Bukowski was enjoying some measure of success and even respect by this point, and was approached by Schroeder to write the screenplay for a movie about himself. There's still some of the old joy in these pages though. The narrator mentions that Linda's presence gave him an extra 10 years and he may have been right about that. Indeed, he was an older and more sober man in the eighties and conscious of his own mortality. 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. 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. Ham and Rye I have not yet read but will.unlike Pulp (whose subject matter does not appeal to me). In terms of his novels, I'd place this one behind Factotum, Post Office, and Women. I certainly enjoyed it and always appreciate Bukowski at some level. ![]() I'm not sure exactly what to say about Hollywood.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |