Factotum by Charles Bukowski

Ah Bukowski, how I love thee. I once told a friend the reason I like Bukowski so much is that he’s an asshole and makes no apology for it. I was comparing him to Jack Kerouac, who I like as well, but not as much as I like Bukowski. Somehow he ends up being a sympathetic character (well Henry Chinaski does) despite the fact that he drinks too much, is lazy, a jerk to everyone, and a real asshole to the ladies who hook up with him. I can’t help but admire someone who will throw all of those warts out there, perhaps even make them worse, and yet still make me actually like the character.

Factotum follows Henry Chinaski again, this time as he drifts from job to job in WWII America trying to make enough money to live on and pretty much making just enough to buy booze and play the horses. The whole novel pretty much consists of his applying for, getting, and losing various jobs interspersed with scenes of drunken stupors, drunken hook ups, and drunken trips to the racetrack.

I don’t know why I find it so appealing, but I do. I mean, when I describe it, it doesn’t sound all of that interesting, but it is. The language, the characters and so gritty, so urban, so dark, and so poetic and somehow Bukowski takes those dark, lost, ugly people and helps you identify with them, in his ability to not care one way or the other, makes you sympathize with them. I really can’t put my finger on just what it is, but he had it. I just wish there were more Bukowski books to read. As it is I have to parse them out here and there to make sure I don’t run out any time soon. Otherwise I would just read them back to back and forgo any other book. I can’t help it. I rarely gush over an author, but this one I totally fan girl over. Bukowski is my genius. I don’t want to be him, but I sure love to read him.

Rating: 4 ½ Purrs for pure, classic Bukowski – ugly warts and all

Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski

Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski (besides having the hardest name ever in the world to type) is another one of those Quality Paperback Book club books that I bought on a whim, and after losing my job a couple of months ago, found even funnier and more full of black comedy than maybe if I were still working. It was truly an enjoyable book - dark, bloody, funny, and so, so satirical it almost burns like razor burn.

One hot Saturday in August, the boss has called in his key personnel into the office for a 9 AM meeting. No one knows why, least of all Jamie Debroux, who has been out the last month on paternity leave. After all, he's not really part of the inner circle; he's just a press writer. When he shows up, the conference room is stocked full of cookies, orange juice, and champagne, and the Knox, the boss, announces something very unexpected. It seems the business is a front for the intelligence community, and they are being shut down. In intelligence-speak, that means everybody has to die. They can choose to drink the mimosas and die quietly, or get a bullet in the head. Naturally, all hell breaks lose, because well, Jamie was in the dark, but not everyone else was. It's a fight to the death, with the clique making more alliances than a season of Prison Break, and no one knowing who to trust. Will Jamie survive to see his family again? You have to read to find out.

Like I said, it's very fun. Think film noir crossed with The Bourne Identity and Quentin Tarantino. It's bloody, characters are simply drawn but end up not being who you thought they were when you first meet them, and it's fairly tightly written. Overall, I would recommend it. It's not brilliant piece of literature, but it's higher on the scale than a worthwhile beach read.

Rating: 4 Purrs for a fast, page turning read. I read this puppy in maybe 8 hours.

Acquisitions to the Library

Even more books. I am on a roll.

• Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
• Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller
• Pulp by Charles Bukowski
• The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories by Charles Bukowski
• Love Is a Dog from Hell by Charles Bukowski
• Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut 

I think I am on a serious Philip K Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, and Charles Bukowski fetish this year.

Recent Acquisitions to the Library

I just picked up some new books:

• Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut (I needed a new copy - mine was falling apart.)
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
• A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
• The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis
• An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
• Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
• The Women by Charles Bukowski
• Factotum by Charles Bukowski

Murder Party

I've been reading and watching as much as I could, but unfortunately work has been draining all of my free time and any desire to expend any extra effort on my part to do much of anything besides, work, eat, sleep.  At least I have loved the guys I am working with, so it's been fun as well as all-inclusive. Ha ha. Anyway, since the Panda prodded me saying I hadn't posted in for-freaking-ever, I am going to sit down and write a post about the movie I just watched - Murder Party. Work be damned! 

I read about Murder Party ages ago when it received some Slamdance Movie award and I thought it sounded like a fun, goofy, gory horror flick, which naturally is right up my alley. I was right. It was hilarious. Now I say that with the caveat that Murder Party is no Shaun of the Dead (I know, I know, I always say that.) , but it was a funny little indie movie for sure.

In Murder Party, Christopher, a lonely traffic cop, picks up an invite to a "murder party" on Halloween night. He builds himself the most awesome knight costume ever out of cardboard and duct tape (it's like the Knights Who Say Ni) and heads out, only to find an old warehouse in a scary part of town and a group of New York Art Scene artists who want to impress a local art king, Alexander. Chris hands them pumpkin bread; they try to murder him. You see, they want to get it all on tape as an "art piece" to impress Alex. It's like this black, black comedy poking all sorts of fun at the "art scene,"  indie films, so much. 

Murder Party is like Drop Dead Gorgeous mixed with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's low budget, but that works for it rather than against it, because unlike most low-budget horror, these folks can act somewhat well and the movie has a bit of a plot and good dialogue.

If you like the horror comedy genre, Murder Party is worth a rental. I won't buy it, but I am glad I moved it higher up in my NetFlix queue. 

The Tripper

I had a friend recommend this movie to me – he’s even more of a movie geek than I am I believe, which is hard for me to admit, but since he actually watches a lot more “literary” films than I do, I’ll let him have the title for now. (Just kidding Matt.) The Tripper was just plain old fun – a goofball slash fest that had what I would think to be an Academy Award winning scene from Courtney Cox. What more could you ask for?

In The Tripper, a group of nouveau hippies hit the road to attend a music festival deep in the redwood forest. There’s Sam, the sweet girl who just got out of a bad relationship, Ivan, the druggie that might be her new boyfriend, and the rest of the drug addled crew as slasher fodder. They are ready to party, but the problem is there’s a guy out there with an affinity for Ronald Regan masks and sharp implements. He’s not happy that there are hippies in his woods. Not happy at all. Something to do with his childhood and a group of hippies chained to a tree. So he makes with the slash-slash and the chop-chop and the string the naked hippie guy up in a tree while the sheriff tries to shut down the love-in, the music producer tries to take off with the cash, and the locals stand by and laugh.

This movie, to me, sounded funnier than it actually was, but hey, I had pretty high expectations. I can’t help but hold up every “horror-comedy” up to Shaun of the Dead and compare them. There were real moments that were funny, but others felt forced. I love James King, what a beautiful woman, and hey I’m happy to see Lukas Haas and Balthazar Getty again, but really the true scene-stealer was Courtney Cox Arquette’s cameo. That was worth the rental right there. Overall, it’s a bit choppy (ha-ha) and almost too into the agenda, but hey, that cameo, man…

I’d say rent this is you like movies that poke fun at Republicans, or the idea of hippies at a music fest being sliced and diced by a guy in a Ronald Regan mask sounds funny to you. It is a laugh, if not heavy handed on the poking fun at times (hey what can I say, my parents are Republicans…I felt a little guilty laughing.)

Rating: 3 ½ Purrs for the aptly named dogs and James King (love her), plus the “but I’m a Republican” joke – ha ha

Severance

“Shit, I've left Gordon's foot on the coach... sorry mate.”

Severance is one of the many horror comedies that have come out in recent years. It’s not as good as some, but it’s got some funny moments. It’s definitely heavy on the sarcasm and black humor.

In Severance, a group of sales people from an international weapons company head off to a team-building retreat in the deep woods of Hungary. Things start off bad, with the bus breaking down and the group finally finds a lodge out in the woods, but it is certainly not what they expected. Soon, people start disappearing and the group comes face to face with a group of cannibalistic, psychotic commandos carrying the same weapons the group sells. These commandos are bent on the group’s destruction, and the sales people must learn to get out of the office and work together to live to see another day.

I was hoping it would be an even funnier movie than it was. It’s certainly no Shaun of the Dead, but it was worth a rental. In fact, I will probably end up watching it again. Laura Harris is great as the girl everybody wants (she looks remarkably like Kirsten Dunst), Danny Dyer is the drug addled guy every body likes, and Toby Stephens is the suave guy.

If you think the premise sounds good, check it out. It’s not a movie for everyone, and it could have been better, but it’s not bad for a newish time director. Christopher Smith directed another movie I rented awhile back, Creep, which was also pretty good. Franka Potente was in that, and if woman trapped in a subway being chased by a bloodthirsty mutant, check Creep out.

Rating: 3 ½ purrs

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis is one of those writers you either love or hate. (I happen to like him.) He writes about people you can’t really like, and many times his plots are convoluted or just vapid, mirroring his characters. Ellis wrote Less Than Zero while his was still in college, and that alone is enough to make you give this book a look. He peel back any attempt at making the world of this book pretty like you would like Los Angeles, the place of dreams to be. It’s an empty, ugly world, with empty, pretty people.

In 1980’s L.A., Clay is home from New Hampshire for Christmas. His ex-girlfriend Blair is still attracted to him, but that doesn’t keep either of them faithful. His friend Julian has become heavily addicted to heroin and is now selling himself for drugs. Clay hardly knows his family and has no clue about who he is. He does drugs and drinks constantly and spends his days and nights partying with people he doesn’t even know.

The end of the book comes, and you are left just as confused as Clay. All of the characters run together. They are all blond and tan, they all have too much money and too much free time. Towards the end, you hope that Clay has reached a point where he wants more from life, especially after seeing Julian reach rock bottom, but you have no guarantee. You hope the phrase that opens the book, “people are afraid to merge,” resonates with him at the end. You hope Clay, having been removed, returned, and leaving again, realizes he can be of some substance. You hope he has redeemed himself, but deep down, you know he hasn’t. Being a Bret Easton Ellis character, you know not to hope for any real change, and that’s the real point of the book. These children are lost souls with no way out and no real will to leave. No one can help them, because they care little about helping themselves.

Rating: 4 Purrs