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 * *

'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.