Is anything by Bukowski worth reading?

>>10018641
I've got Women and Factotum.

Breddy gud. Debauchery, drinking, loose women.

I've only read one of his short stories collection. Can't remember the name but it wasn't really worth it.

If your time is limited I think you can pass.

>>10018641

If you're in college and a girl

>>10018699
Bukowski's work is masculine as fuck. Women would not like it.

>>10018811
being sad and drunk is pretty much what college age girls do, tho

>>10018641
i picked up pulp and read it a few years ago... it's kinda like if some edge lord hunter S thompson fan rewrote inherent vice. i didnt hate it

>>10018864
Topkek, you never went to college with me.

>>10019114

>masculine as fuck
>sucking on a bottle of liquor like a little baby

>>10019126
I wasn't the guy who made that claim, nor do I claim to have masculine at all. I was a fucking little bitch that hid from everything and everyone. Which is how and why I flunked college and subsequently ruined my life.

Post Office, Factotum and Ham on Rye are easy and enjoyable. Can't say I'd recommend much beyond those.

>>10019193

I'd say a sober person that hides from everyone is better than a loudmouth drunk degenerate

>>10019205
That's where you're wrong.

>>10019219

If they drive God from earth we will shelter him underground.

>>10019205
I don't disagree with you, anon. I hated being a drunk.

>>10019223
lol grow up fagtron

>>10019309

Make me

>>10018641
read his fave book John Fante ask the dust first, then read factotum.

>>10018864
Most college age girls are happy and drunk. They get sad later when they realize their hedonism didn't really help them accomplish anything.

>>10018641
Ham on Rye

Just read it and if you like it, read more. If you don't like, oh well, it's short and you can finish it in a day or two.

>>10019911
I would say don't go past "Post Office" because "Women" is a monotonous fucking nightmare.

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His poetry is good. He might get more respect than he deserves because the whole macho drunk fantasy shtick, but he was a real poet.

>>10019703
Ask The Dusk
My Dog Stupid
Factotum
Pulp

His poetry is very accessible but I can imagine not many /lit/ fags liking it. I do believe he carried the torch from high modernism and unfortunately there've been little to no studies about his influences and technique. He was definitely a student of Ezra Pound like most poets of his generation.

The short stories are great although they can be a bit sloppy because some of them were hackwork typed up for porno mags and other various underground publications. Nonetheless, some are actually pretty good. I recall one he wrote from Hustler that actually reminded me a bit of Dostoevsky about some robbers who break into a rich man's house and rape his wife.

Here's a ranking of his novels.

God-tier
Ham on Rye
Factotum

Hilarious-tier
Post Office (probably the best intro to Bukowski but not his best work)

A bit boring and repetitive with some good bits-tier
Hollywood
Women

Just for the fans-tier
Pulp

>>10020328
I've probably read nearly all of Buk - including all poetry - and I think you are basically right.
Some of his poetry is transcendent - the majority just sort of rehashes a similar formula: Drinking, Betting horses, Strong catchy finish.
Luckily however, he wrote so much that even though only a minority of poems are transcendent, the sheer volume means that he still wound up with 30-40 really great ones.

Regarding Pulp, personally I think its his best work. (a) It ties together nearly everything, (b) It breaks the mold on his previously established themes - or more precisely its almost a self-satire. (c) His writing has never been tighter, more focused and constrained - like hemmingway in haiku form. (d) It was his last work; couldn't believe he was able to crank out that coup de gras as his last work - one that was essentially a sly retrospective as it was.