Henry Chinaski, Ham On Rye
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How big of a fan of Charles Bukowski are you?
I've read so many of his books and own some of his newer poetry anthologies. I've been to his grave at Green Hills and I live in the town where he died, San Pedro (but, I was born here, so I didn't have a choice; it was just a coincidence that the ol' Buk and I ended up in the same place). Plus, I toured with Esotouric recently!
Bukowski doesn't fit a genre in literature, because it's a lifestyle. I loved reading his books a few summers ago (after I was introduced to John Fante's Ask the Dust) and I loved watching "Barfly." It's a classic movie and it captures L.A. in a way I've never seen before, either with my own eyes or by movie. I definitely recommend you try touring with Esotouric if you're interested in beating your friends out on who's the better fan of Angeleno authors and their history here. Rumor is, they'll be visiting Vroman's in Pasadena this summer, a place where Bukowski was a usual. But if that's too far off, they have trips focused around Raymond Chandler and the Black Dahlia scheduled for pretty soon.
PHOTO: With the Esotouric group on March 9th, celebrating Bukowski's 14th year death anniversay. Here we stand in front of the Reading Room at the downtown L.A. Public Library, where Buk disvored his God, John Fante.
{Visit ESOTOURIC online. Just click HERE.}
Also be sure to visit the library's Special Collections (2nd floor, to right off the elevators) where you can find Gerald Locklin's memoirs on how he got to know the great ol' Buk in "A Sure Bet." Locklin, a retired English professor from Cal State Long Beach, helped me create today's '5 to Try,' which was dedicated to the greatest barfly of all times, Charles Bukowski.
Cheers!
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