Drunken writers

[ska invita]

Im a big fan of Bukowski and Jeffrey Bernard (whose collected columns are in now out of print Low Life and More Low Life)

Any other great writing soaks out there? I cant think of any

 

[cesare]

Brendan Behan

James Joyce

 

[the button]

Dylan Thomas.
Malcolm Lowry.

 

[D'wards]

Whilst we're here i've read 4 Bukowski books (Ham & Rye, Factotum, Post Office and Women). All great apart from Women, which was a slog.

I've heard none of his other books are any good - opinions?

 

[teuchter]

Stanley Edwards

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I like all Bukowski's novels to varying degrees except his very last one, which was awful – he changed tack to write properly made-up stuff rather than Chinaski-style alter-ego, but it didn't work.

 

[cesare]

Flann O'Brien

J. P. Donleavy

 

[little_legs]

ernest hemingway

 

[ska invita]

Whilst we're here i've read 4 Bukowski books (Ham & Rye, Factotum, Post Office and Women). All great apart from Women, which was a slog.

I've heard none of his other books are any good - opinions?

Ive read those and Tales of Ordinary Madness, which is short stories and is up there. Notes of a Dirty Old Man is meant to be good: its a collection of his columns from the 60s.
The other novel I know of is Pulp, but havent read that

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Hollywood is his other novel. Pulp's his last one, the one I didn't like.

 

[ska invita]

Ive also read The Rum Diaries by Hunter Thompson and I thought it was great - his first ever book if IRC
FIlm with Jonny Depp of Rum Diaries coming out next year:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376136/

had mixed feelings about Fear And Loathing movie - not really a JD fan - a little too flat and deadpan for me. When Peter Robocop Weller played Burroughs in Naked Lucnh i believed he was just holding down all teh drugs with a deadpan face -not so with JD. Still will see this film i reckon

Books generally about drinking also welcome

 

[Reno]

Carson McCullers
Patricia Highsmith

 

[ska invita]

Carson McCullers
Patricia Highsmith

Flann O'Brien

J. P. Donleavy

Stanley Edwards

tahnks for all these - hadnt heard of before
recommendations and thoughts would be good too

 

[Steel Icarus]

Whilst we're here i've read 4 Bukowski books (Ham & Rye, Factotum, Post Office and Women). All great apart from Women, which was a slog.

I've heard none of his other books are any good - opinions?

He was primarily a poet who was persuaded to write a novel or two to make some money, although he thought of himself as a "writer", not a poet. IMO his poems knock the shit out of his prose. I quite liked "Pulp", although "Ham on Rye" is brilliant.

 

[Reno]

tahnks for all these - hadnt heard of before
recommendations and thoughts would be good too

Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Member of the Wedding, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Patricia Highsmith: the Tom Ripley series, This Sweet Sickness, Edith's Diary, Strangers on a Train, Little Tales of Misogyny

 

[ska invita]

"Ham on Rye" is brilliant.

i found it very sad and a tough read
usually his misery is told with a good dose of good humour - this one felt raw (its about his childhood by teh way)

 

[vauxhallmum]

Ed Reardon.. I may not be as highbrow as some of youse

 

[ska invita]

Ed Reardon.. I may not be as highbrow as some of youse

thats what i like about drunken writers - they're usually down to earth

 

[Steel Icarus]

Kerouac, when he's on form, is phenomenal for use of language and a sense of loss. John Kennedy Toole, for "A confederacy of dunces" and "The neon bible" is a must-read. Bukowski's idol, John Fante, is great reading, too - his "Bandini Quartet" is well worth getting hold of. John Dos Passos' "Manhattan Transfer" is a fine book.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

tahnks for all these - hadnt heard of before
recommendations and thoughts would be good too

Flann O'Brien's most accessible book is probably The Third Policeman, to call it surreal Irish whimsy is a massive insult but it is squared. At Swim Two Birds and The Dalkey Archive are both excellent as well, but a little harder for people who arent expecting it.

Patricia Highsmith writes the Ripley books, you might know the (very good) film adaptations starring Matt Damon and John Malkovich. The books are better, an amoral pyschopathic conman.

 

[ska invita]

Kerouac, when he's on form, is phenomenal for use of language and a sense of loss. John Kennedy Toole, for "A confederacy of dunces" and "The neon bible" is a must-read. Bukowski's idol, John Fante, is great reading, too - his "Bandini Quartet" is well worth getting hold of. John Dos Passos' "Manhattan Transfer" is a fine book.

that has the ring of excellent recommendations - thanks - seem like a bunch of classic bits of US writing - i think im going to start with Ask The Dust by Fante. Looking these all up on the net, did you know JKT was 16 when he wrote The Neon Bible!? You probably did

 

[ska invita]

Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Member of the Wedding, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Patricia Highsmith: the Tom Ripley series, This Sweet Sickness, Edith's Diary, Strangers on a Train, Little Tales of Misogyny

likewise will check these out - i dont read enough female writers for some reason

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Stanley Edwards

Piss artists don't count.

 

[kittyP]

Stanley Edwards

 

[cesare]

tahnks for all these - hadnt heard of before
recommendations and thoughts would be good too

I can't add much to Spanky's great description of Flann O'Brien's work ... but wrt to J. P. Donleavy, you might find his writings dark/sick/humorous - he's been criticised avidly Oh, and whilst James Joyce was an obvious one - are you familiar with Brendan Behan? Hmmm, you might be able to guess that my Irish and at one time fond of the drink himself father influenced my early reading

 

[mauvais]

Stanley Edwards

Actual LOL

 

[HST]

Dashiell Hammett - wrote The Maltese Falcon. Check out his short stories - very left wing for his time.

 

[Steel Icarus]

that has the ring of excellent recommendations - thanks - seem like a bunch of classic bits of US writing - i think im going to start with Ask The Dust by Fante. Looking these all up on the net, did you know JKT was 16 when he wrote The Neon Bible!? You probably did

I did, yeah. Hard to believe, it's that good. I suppose those two at least were in his mind too good to burn before he killed himself.

Oh, and Carson McCullers - The heart is a lonely hunter - fantastic book.

 

[killer b]

julian maclaren ross. worked with dylan thomas at the BBC, and wrote the best short stories i've ever read. was a massive, massive drunk.

 

[rekil]

William Faulkner.