Factotum

Factotum
by Charles Bukowski

The second Bukowski book to be made into a movie; the first being Barfly (though I think the book had a different name).

Factotum has protagonist Henry Chinaski bouncing around WWII era U.S.: a 4F who holds jobs for weeks or even days in pursuit of his next drink. His drinking history doesn't help the job search: turned down as a hack when they run a background check and find "eighteen common drunks and one drunk driving."

One of the best exchanges (and one that got watered down a bit in the movie version) is when Chinaski gets out of jail on a public drunkenness charge and his disapproving father comes to pick him up:

"Let's go in and catch a drink."

"What? You mean you'd dare drink right after getting out of jail for intoxication?"

"That's when you need a drink the most."

Reading this, I am struck by Chinaski's inability to hold a job, when a job means money for more booze. Then I get it: his identitiy is made up of being, not just a drunk, but a skid-row drunk. The one thing the movie gets right is, when Chinaski makes a bunch of money betting the horses, he can no longer give his woman her "four f'ks a day," as he puts it. So he quits his job.

The most tragic part of the book is when his drunken love, Jan, has to move in with another man because Chinaski obviously can't support her. Her parting words were "You know, I hate it when he f'ks me," and Chinaski's wondering if she tells the other guy the same thing.

The one BIG difference between the movie and the book is that the movie is set in the present day. No idea why, but I'd assume they knew this wouldn't be a big seller and making things look "old-fashioned" probably costs a lot of money.

Reading this book makes me want to read more Bukowski.