Charles Bukowski’s Hollywood, Summary

The novel was published in 1989. Charles Bukowski brought his own experience working on the film "The Drunkard" to its pages, coding real Hollywood figures under similar names.

The book is the fifth installment in the autobiographical series about Henry Chinaski. The series also includes the novels Post Office (1971), Factotum (1975), The Women (1978), and Ham on Rye (1982).

A script commission and bohemian get-togethers

Director John Pinchot calls poet and novelist Henry Chinaski with an offer to write a feature-length script. Hank and his wife, Sarah, drive to the coastal area of Marina del Rey in an old Volkswagen. They are greeted by composer Paul Renoir, who discusses avant-garde operas and sips vodka with lime. Soon, an exalted woman named Popppy appears in the room. She calls herself a Brazilian princess and promises to provide a ten-thousand-dollar advance.

A few days later, Pinchot hosts a private screening of his documentary, "The Laughing Beast." The film is about the brutal African dictator Lido Mamin. At the studio bar, Chinaski meets the eccentric German director Wenner Zergog. Actor François Racine sits at an electric roulette wheel, complaining about pop singer Tab Jones and explaining his losing gambling system.

At the Musso restaurant, Hank accidentally runs into producer Harold Pheasant. He announces a biopic about Mac Derouac under the absurd title "Broken Pieces." The writer rudely mocks the project and loses potential financing. At the Beverly Hills Hotel, the couple meets Jean-Paul Sanrach, his pale brother Henri-Léon, and the taciturn director John-Luc Modard. Sanrach paces the room, curses the world, and demands that Pinchot suffer before handing over the money.

Searching for housing and the first version of the text

German agent Karl Vossner calls to announce a lucrative deal at a book fair. Chinaski receives a substantial transfer and buys a black BMW. The sixty-five-year-old writer sets out to find his own home.

A strange woman named Layla from a real estate agency takes the couple to Topango Canyon. The road winds among chasms and hippie shacks. Darlene lives in a dilapidated wooden house with her bearded husband, nicknamed Double Quartet. Horrific graffiti hang in the filthy bathroom, and Sarah, horrified, recognizes the site of one of Charles Manson’s crimes. The guests immediately leave the canyon.

Chinaski settles down at his IBM typewriter, listening to symphonies by Brahms and Shostakovich. The text about his autobiographical drinking sessions in cheap bars flows easily and quickly. Soon, Pinchot loses his home when bulldozers demolish it. The director temporarily moves in with Chinaski and then moves to a dangerous ghetto in Venice with Racine. There, the French build a chicken coop, guard the birds from street gangs, and board up the holes in the walls.

Casting and the machinations of filmmakers

The finished script received the working title "The Jim Beam Dance." The first choice for the lead role was young actor Tom Pell. He agreed to act almost for free, but set a strict condition: his friend Mac Austin had to direct. Pinchot fiercely resisted this concession. That night, John called his lawyer in Paris and inserted a will prohibiting Austin from directing the film.

Soon, Jack Bledsoe approves the script. Hank meets Jack and his burly friend, Lenny Fidelo, in a rented apartment in North Hollywood. Francine Bowers is cast as the lead female role. The independent company Firepower Productions, headed by Harry Friedman and Nate Fishman, is set to secure the budget.

Before Friedman’s celebratory banquet, the Chinaskis stop by the Château Marmont to visit novelist Victor Norman. The writers share wine and discuss literary royalties. At the raucous party, Friedman greedily devours pasta while a woman in a police uniform performs a provocative striptease for him. Studio executives immediately begin demanding shorter filming days and the dismissal of co-producers Tim Ruddy and Lance Edwards.

Blackmail with a chainsaw and authorship disputes

Friedman suddenly freezes production of the film due to the company’s stock price plummeting. John Pinchot sits down on a folding chair across from the studio office and declares a hunger strike, holding a sign across his chest. The director then goes to a hardware store to buy a Black & Decker electric saw.

A furious bargaining session unfolds in lawyer Nili Zutnik’s office. Pinchot plugs in a power tool and threatens to saw off his own pinky finger right in front of his horrified secretary, Rose. The lawyer gives in and immediately removes the unfavorable clause from the contract.

New producer Edleman attempts to sell the project behind the creators’ backs for seven million dollars. Following this, director Hector Blackford and lawyer Fletcher Jaystone stake claims to the perpetual rights to Henry Chinaski’s character. Hank personally calls Blackford and reminds him of their former friendship. The claims are dropped. Firepower renews the contract.

Filming process and financial collapse

Filming begins in Culver City. Actual local drifters are recruited as extras at the hotel bar. Jack Bledsoe arrives on set in a luxury car and flawlessly imitates the gestures of the young Chinaski.

A complex bathroom scene on Alvarado Street turns into a torment. Francine Bowers is self-conscious about her age and demands special lighting, while cinematographer Hines is drinking heavily. Sarah Chinaski prepares a stimulant for the actress, and it’s not until the nineteenth take that the shoot is successful.

A late-night corn theft is filmed on the grounds of an alcohol rehabilitation center. Suddenly, Firepower announces complete bankruptcy and cancels all projects. Chinaski retreats to the Hollywood Park racetrack, escaping the chaos with his usual betting calculations. A couple of weeks later, the studio secures a dubious Italian loan and brings the crew back to work.

Director Manz Loeb and actress Rosalind Bonelli arrive to film a street fight in an alley. Renowned photographer Korbel Wicker stages an expressive photo shoot on an old sofa. Bledsoe suddenly refuses to sign the photos for publication.

Editing, Cannes failure and premiere

Editing continues nonstop for fourteen hours a day. Chinaski finds a blatant falseness: on screen, Jack pushes away a half-full bottle of beer, citing a lack of money. Hank forces the director to insert a shot of an empty glass, explaining the habits of bar patrons.

The Cannes Film Festival fails to bring the film any awards. Bledsoe locks herself in her hotel room and boycotts the press. A date for the American premiere is set.

A snow-white limousine with chauffeur Frank arrives at the writer’s house. A rainy evening creates traffic jams on the San Diego freeway. In the movie theater, the sound is deafening and tinny, and the screen proportions distort the actors’ faces. Female audience members in the front loudly complain about the characters’ behavior.

At a crowded reception at Copperfield’s restaurant, Chinaski runs into an old friend, the poet Big John Galt, and his new companion, Lisa. Bledsoe stops by for a few minutes to shake the writer’s hand. The couple leaves the stuffy banquet and races home to San Pedro in a limousine to their cats. Hank decides to write a novel about all this cinematic hustle and bustle and call it "Hollywood."