FACTOTUM, by Charles Bukowski

I'd heard of Charles Bukowski, of course, and had read some of  his poetry, but this was the first novel I read by him. It was suggested to me as a good introduction to his style. Set in the WWII and immediate post-war period, I couldn't help comparing it to Kerouac's On The Road, in that both books trace the random cross-country wanderings of unattached young men in the same historical period. There is a huge difference between the two books though, as all the youthful and romanticized enthusiasm of On The Road is totally lacking in Factotum, which is cynical and debased in tone. Factotum's protagonist, an aspiring writer, loner and total loser named Henry Chinaski, drifts across country and back, stumbling through one lousy job after another, usually drunk, engaging in hit-or-miss sexual adventures but always disdainful of the women involved. He's a loner by choice, ambition-less, except for a generalized desire to be a writer. Written in the first person in 1976, perhaps it's a thinly-disguised self-portrait?

For a review of the book by the NY Times, click  here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/12/26/specials/bukowski-factotum.html

Here's a good source on Bukowski, compiled by NY Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/12/26/specials/bukowski.html

THE GOLDEN GIZMO, by Jim Thompson

I stumbled upon this book while looking for a different title,The Alcoholic by the same author, pulp writer Jim Thompson. Golden Gizmo traces the meanderings of a con-man character by the name of Tod(dy) Kent, itinerant gold buyer and loser. Written in 1954, the book has an entertaining ambiance and reads somewhat like a detective novel of the period. In an alternative universe inhabited by a talking dog and a chinless man, Kent unwittingly uncovers an elaborate neo-Nazi plot involving international gold smuggling. Sounds far-fetched but it actually works, in a way. Worth a read if only for the bizarre story line and characters.

For a review of the book from Broad Street Review, click here: http://www.broadstreetreview.com/books-movies/Jim_Thompsons_Golden_Gizmo

ALL THAT FOLLOWS, by Jim Crace

All That Follows is a very engaging book by the gifted British writer Jim Crace (2010). It's the second book by him that I have read, the first being the very different The Gift of Stones set in the cusp between the stone and bronze age. In All That Follows, the protagonist  named Lennie is a somewhat self-absorbed and passive Jazz musician who finds himself, on his 50th birthday, embroiled in some unexpected intrigue involving an old acquaintance from his "radical days", and that man's estranged 17-year-old daughter, Lucy. The other main character is Lennie's wife, strong-willed with a streak of wildness that is usually under raps, due to her mundane schoolteacher job and the grief caused by her teenage daughter's running away. The trigger event in the plot centers around a hostage-taking incident involving Lennie's "friend" Max, and complications ensuing from an aborted plan to mitigate the situation. Interestingly, the story is mainly set in London in the late 2020's but also flashes back to 1980s Texas, when Lenny met Max and his girlfriend, Nadia, whom he had a crush on at the time. It's a well-written book with an unpredictable plot and lots of good characterization, not to mention witty satire and humor.

For a review of the book from       click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/apr/24/all-that-follows-jim-crace

JACK MAGGS, by Jim Carey

Jack Maggs is an entertaining novel set in 19th Century England. It's a story about a mysterious protagonist, Jack Maggs, who turns up in London from criminal exile in Australia, searching for someone closely connected to him.(don't want to spoil the plot). It reads like a Dickens' novel, with lots of local atmosphere (muddy, smokey London town)  and a range of colorful characters of both the servant and the ruling class. There is also the sub-theme of hypnosis, that fuels the beginning of the plot. It's a fun novel with a strong plot. The story is told vividly and with wit. All-in-all, a well-written book worth reading.

For a review of the book by NY Times , click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/reviews/980208.08jamest.html

THE SISTERS BROTHERS, by Patrick DeWitt

The Sisters Brothers is a strange, darkly comic Western (or is it a parody of a Western?) that was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize in 2011. One review joked that it would be the sort of Western the Cohen brothers would write. The style is terse and narration contains the stilted 19th C. English that is not exactly dialect speech but heavily colored nonetheless. It usually rings true and suits the character. The journey described in the book is a bizarre one - basically told episodically. Not all episodes seem relevant to the main plot (the brothers, who are hit men, track and find a man who has discovered a formula for separating gold from the dirt in which it is embedded, with the intention of stealing the formula and killing him). The dark events, some grotesque and not clearly linked to anything in the plot (like the scooping out of the damaged eye of the narrator's sad-sack horse, and the meeting with the "weeping man") effectively set the tone. It's hard to know what to make of the book, but it is often funny, often disgusting, and always interesting.

For a review of the book by the NY Times, click here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/books/review/the-sisters-brothers-by-patrick-dewitt-book-review.html?_r=0

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, by Juniot Diaz

I was impressed by the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. It's not perfect technically (for example, there are some inconsistencies in the narration) but it is highly spirited, humorous and touching. The story of the nerdy, needy Dominican young man, in the final analysis, is a sad one, with an unmistakable air of  tragic inevitability. But despite the potential for a dark tone (as several other characters such as Oscar's mother and indeed, the collective tragedy of the Dominican Republic could color it darkly), the book sparkles with wit and slick street-smart style. Oscar is a sympathetic but frustrating character. Family and friends make up a strong support set of colorful characters. All-in-all, the book is a strange mixture of humor and tragedy. It's energetic and at times laugh out loud funny, very impressive as a first novel and definitely worth reading.

For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here:    

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/feb/23/featuresreviews.guardianreview20

THE KNOWN WORLD, by Edward P. Jones

The Known World, winner of the 2003 Pulizer Prize for fiction, is a moving depiction of the lives, deaths, loves and sheer survival of a group of slaves inhabiting the fictional Manchester County, Virginia in the antebellum south. A special twist on this theme is the fact that the important characters in the book are free black slave owners and their slaves. However, the brutalization of slavery to all who come into contact with it is strongly portrayed and painful to read. Jones situates the main story in events occurring in 1855 but freely jumps across time boundaries to tell the stories of the old age or death of characters, their ancestors or descendants. There are several ways to understand the title: the "known world" was the only familiar one for the slaves, many of whom were resigned to accept the brutal and degrading slave life as their only option. It also suggests, ironically, that this world is still not very well know by an American society in collective denial of both the past and the present legacy of the awful, corrupting and inhumane institutionalized system of racism known as slavery.

For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jul/31/history.pulitzerprize