Synopsis
This work, by legendary barfly Charles Bukowski, follows the path of his alter-ego Henry Chinaski through the high school years of acne and rejection, drinking his way through the Depression, and ends emotionally at the start of World War II. It captures the battered feelings of a true outcast.
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Review
Charles Bukowski's fourth novel, Ham on Rye, is the semi-autobiographical story of the early years of his alter ego Henry Chinaski. It is a finely written and honest account of the painful childhood of a boy marked out from his peers. Regularly beaten by his father, Chinaski is shown growing through his difficult and violent adolescence (struck with the worst case of acne his doctors have ever seen) through to the first jobs he can't and won't hold down. In this moving story of growing up Bukowski disciplines his muscular, concentrated writing and creates a novel that distils his poetry into the finest full-length piece of prose that he ever wrote. Bukowski is often good but in Ham on Rye he's great.
Sadly, best known as the alcoholic inspiration for the film Barfly (an experience he reflected on in his book Hollywood), it is as a poet, rather than a drunk, that Bukowski should be best remembered. His bitter, caustic, direct, humane, damaged poetry reflects a life dominated by poverty and booze. His poetry stretches over many, many volumes but Bukowski also wrote great novels: all of them have many faults but the first four books he wrote shine for similar reasons. Post Office and Factotum both dissect, quite brilliantly, the life of an angry, poor man forced to do mindless jobs, pushed around and considered mindless by the fools who force him to do them. Women, as Roddy Doyle points out in his short introduction, continues the themes but focuses on the numerous women who share his hero's bed and bottle. --Mark Thwaite
Review
"In an age of conformity, Bukowski wrote about the people nobody wanted to be: the ugly, the selfish, the lonely, the mad" (Observer)
"Sometimes funny and always sad, Ham on Rye is written in an admirably hard, bare, vivid style" (Times Literary Supplement)
"Both powerful and, where appropriate, extremely funny" (Sunday Telegraph)
"A scorching account of a childhood, adolescence, a life of ugliness, pain, escape, alcohol, loneliness. Often it is's funny - often it's disturbing - Ham on Rye is a powerful book" (Roddy Doyle)
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Ham on Rye ("Rebel Inc" S.)
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR002184537
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Ham on Rye ("Rebel Inc" S.)
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Ham on Rye ("Rebel Inc" S.) This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. . Seller Inventory # 7719-9780862419936
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Ham on Rye ("Rebel Inc" S.)
Seller: Bahamut Media, Reading, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780862419936
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Ham on Rye ("Rebel Inc")
Seller: medimops, Berlin, Germany
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Condition: good. Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M0086241993X-G
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Ham on Rye
Seller: Metakomet Books, Concord, MA, U.S.A.
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Soft cover. Condition: Good. Mild wear to edges, with small bump to back cover near top edge. Date written to back endpaper. Otherwise, clean, sound, copy. 318 pgs. Thiis edition published in Great Britain in 2000. Seller Inventory # 2900rye
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Ham on Rye
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FEW STAINS ON THE TOP OUTSIDE OF A FEW PAGES. BOOK IS IN GOOD CONDITION. Sold by the U.K Charity Kisharon Langdon. Offering Opportunities and Support for People within the Autism and Learning Disability Community. Seller Inventory # LITFIC/Box13/RS8/230426
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Ham on Rye A Novel
Published by
Rebel Inc, Edinburgh, 2000
ISBN 10: 086241993X
ISBN 13: 9780862419936
Used
Trade Paperback
Seller: Adelaide Booksellers, Clarence Gardens, SA, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Reprint. Very Good + condition - Card Covers. Introduction by Roddy Doyle. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels. 318 pages. A coming of age story - semi-autobiographical written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly veiled alter ego, during his early year. Seller Inventory # 327645
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HAM ON RYE (First UK edition - first impression - paperback original)
Published by
Rebel Inc. (An imprint of Canongate Books), Edinburgh, 2000
ISBN 10: 086241993X
ISBN 13: 9780862419936
Used
Original Wraps
First Edition
Seller: Orlando Booksellers, Lincoln, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Original Wraps. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket, as Issued. First UK Edition. First impression of the first UK paperback edition - a PBO. With a six page introduction by Roddy Doyle specially written for this edition. The book was originally published in the USA by Black Sparrow Press in 1982. ***Very good in colour-illustrated card covers. Edges of covers slightly rubbed. No creases or tears. Corners sharp. Covers clean. There is a small indentation to the back cover edge, affecting the last few pages. There are reading creases to the spine which is slightly curved from reading. Internally also very good with no inscriptions. Spine tight. ***318 pages. 215mm x 130mm. ***'"Ham on Rye" follows the path of legendary barfly Charles Bukowski's alter-ego Henry Chinaski through the turbulent years of high school and college and into the beginning of a long and successful career in alcoholism. "Ham on Rye" is Charles Bukowski's fourth novel and the most moving of all his books, dealing with his early years in Los Angeles, and in particular with his difficult relationship with his father. The novel begins against the backdrop of an America devastated by the Depression and takes the Chinaski legend up to the bombing of Pearl Harbour. ***"This Rebel Inc edition marks the first UK publication of what is arguably Bukowski's finest work and has a specially commissioned introduction by Roddy Doyle." ***"A scorching account of a childhood, an adolescence, a life of ugliness, pain, escape, alcohol, loneliness. Often it's funny - often it's disturbing - Ham on Rye is a powerful book." Roddy Doyle (Quote and review taken from the back cover) ***'Henry Charles Bukowski [Aug 16, 1920 - Mar 9, 1994] was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column Notes of a Dirty Old Man in the LA underground newspaper Open City. Bukowski published extensively in small literary magazines and with small presses beginning in the early 1940s and continuing on through the early 1990s. As noted by one reviewer, "Bukowski continued to be, thanks to his antics and deliberate clownish performances, the king of the underground and the epitome of the littles in the ensuing decades, stressing his loyalty to those small press editors who had first championed his work and consolidating his presence in new ventures such as the New York Quarterly, Chiron Review, or Slipstream." Some of these works include his "Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window", published by his friend and fellow poet Charles Potts, and better known works such as "Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame". These poems and stories were later republished by John Martin's Black Sparrow Pres as collected volumes of his work. Regarding Bukowski's enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, "the secret of Bukowski's appeal [is that] he combines the confessional poet's promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero." Since his death in March 1994, Bukowski has been the subject of a number of critical articles and books about both his life and writings, despite his work having received relatively little attention from academic critics in the United States during his lifetime. In contrast, Bukowski enjoyed extraordinary fame in Europe. (Wiki) ***A nice copy of the first UK edition of this classic work by Bukowski - published as a PBO. Surprisingly uncommon. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. Seller Inventory # PB192
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HAM ON RYE (First UK edition - first impression - paperback original)
Published by
Rebel Inc. (An imprint of Canongate Books), Edinburgh, 2000
ISBN 10: 086241993X
ISBN 13: 9780862419936
Used
Original Wraps
First Edition
Seller: Orlando Booksellers, Lincoln, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Original Wraps. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket, as Issued. First UK Edition. First impression of the true first UK edition - a paperback original. With a six page introduction by Roddy Doyle specially written for this edition. The book was originally published in the USA by Black Sparrow Press in 1982. ***Near fine in colour-illustrated card covers. Edges of covers just slightly rubbed. No creases or tears. No bumps. Corners sharp. Covers clean. No reading creases to the spine. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. Spine tight. ***318 pages. 215mm x 130mm. ***'"Ham on Rye" follows the path of legendary barfly Charles Bukowski's alter-ego Henry Chinaski through the turbulent years of high school and college and into the beginning of a long and successful career in alcoholism. Ham on Rye is Charles Bukowski's fourth novel and the most moving of all his books, dealing with his early years in Los Angeles, and in particular with his difficult relationship with his father. The novel begins against the backdrop of an America devastated by the Depression and takes the Chinaski legend up to the bombing of Pearl Harbour'. ***"This Rebel Inc edition marks the first UK publication of what is arguably Bukowski's finest work and has a specially commissioned introduction by Roddy Doyle."' ***"A scorching account of a childhood, an adolescence, a life of ugliness, pain, escape, alcohol, loneliness. Often it's funny - often it's disturbing - Ham on Rye is a powerful book." - Roddy Doyle (Quote and review taken from the back cover) ***'Henry Charles Bukowski [Aug 16, 1920 - Mar 9, 1994] was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column Notes of a Dirty Old Man in the LA underground newspaper Open City. Bukowski published extensively in small literary magazines and with small presses beginning in the early 1940s and continuing on through the early 1990s. As noted by one reviewer, "Bukowski continued to be, thanks to his antics and deliberate clownish performances, the king of the underground and the epitome of the littles in the ensuing decades, stressing his loyalty to those small press editors who had first championed his work and consolidating his presence in new ventures such as the New York Quarterly, Chiron Review, or Slipstream." Some of these works include his "Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window", published by his friend and fellow poet Charles Potts, and better known works such as "Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame". These poems and stories were later republished by John Martin's Black Sparrow Pres as collected volumes of his work. Regarding Bukowski's enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, "the secret of Bukowski's appeal [is that] he combines the confessional poet's promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero." Since his death in March 1994, Bukowski has been the subject of a number of critical articles and books about both his life and writings, despite his work having received relatively little attention from academic critics in the United States during his lifetime. In contrast, Bukowski enjoyed extraordinary fame in Europe, the UK and particularly in Germany, the place of his birth. (Wiki) ***A nice near fine copy of the first UK paperback edition of this classic work by Bukowski - published as a paperback original. Surprisingly uncommon. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc. Seller Inventory # PB157x