'What will you do?'
'Oh, hell, I'll write a novel about writing the screenplay and making the movie.'
'What are you going to call it?'
'Hollywood.'

Henry Chinaski has a penchant for booze, women and horse-racing. On his precarious journey from poet to screenwriter he encounters a host of well-known stars and lays bare the absurdity and egotism of the film industry. Poetic, sharp and dangerous, Hollywood - Bukowski's fictionalisation of his experiences making the film Barfly - explores the many dark shadows to be found in the neon-soaked glare of Hollywood's limelight.

"No other book gets as close to the corrupt heart of American movie-making" - * Guardian *

"A literary immortal" - * Time *

"Bukowski's voice is insistent and affirming but it also has the humble durability of someone who won't stay down . . . His stories help keep people alive" - * Independent *

"A laureate of American low life" - * Time *

"Full of entertaining vignettes of celebrities" - * The Times *