Rating: 
Summary: His Best novel
Review: I am a poetry man (and a poet), and as such think that Bukowski is the best American poet ever. I have read almost all his writings, and truly, although I liked them and laughed, I dont think his novels are half as good as his poetry books. I laughed with WOMEN and with HOLLYWOOD, FACTOTUM and POST OFFICE. PULP was a wonderful change. But I think that HAM is his best novel, it's the story of Chinasky from his childhood until the last days of his virginity. It's much more delicate and sensual than his more sexual prose, and we can really see the good and bad in Chinasky's mother and father, and a great description of the 30's. Yes, read this and you'll want all his books, Bukowski is a genius and his fame will only grow in years to come. Now the man is not here phisically to prevent it from happening. And as Buk says: "some people never die and some people never live." Buk will never die....
Rating:
Summary: Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...
Review: There is not a single mention of ham, rye, or ham on rye inthis book, so if that's what you want, go to a deli. What you willfind are autobiographical reminiscences dating from Bukowski's firstmemories when he was two or so in 1922 Germany to December 7, 1941, adate which will live in infamy due to Buk's stunning defeat at thehands of an 8-year-old Mexican boy. Is this fiction? It hardly seemsso, but Bukowski himself reveals how he learned the secret after beingpraised for a 4th grade essay in which he imagined having gone to seePresident Hoover speak: "So, that's what they wanted: lies.Beautiful lies. That's what they needed. People were fools. It wasgoing to be easy for me." Lies these may be, but it didn't seemeasy for Bukowski. Growing up was a relentless sequence of beatings,humiliations, and hospitalization. His only solace: books andalcohol. Many of these episodes are related in his poetry(particularly in the posthumous collections) and it's interesting tonote the factual consistency. The key difference is that the proserenditions are often laugh out loud funny. Grim situations are madehumorous through understatement and blithe observation of humannature. It is art without artifice. Bukowski is just a guy who hadthe guts to be honest with himself and used words to understand andshare his experience. Beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Everything
Review: Back before he died I sent him a letter and asked him, pleaded with him to give me one good solid piece of wisdom before he died(he was ill at the time). He wrote back and his letter said this: "Almost everything is a copy of something else that wasn't very good to begin with." Buk was not part of that Almost everything. He was a true original. I have taught English for over ten years and he is always on my reading list. Not one individual who decided to read him could stop reading him. Some writer might see a shiny pretty rock shimmering through a tranquil stream and they will sit and admire this rock and all the romantic literary possibilities of this rock. Buk will reach in, jerk the rock out of the water, and expose the slimy, mud and crawly things on the underbelly of this rock. This is what made him great. Ham on Rye is one of the best novels of the 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: Catcher in the Ham on Rye
Review: First I wanted to know why he called it "Ham on Rye". I mean, I know that ham on rye is a sandwich but I figured that Henry Chinaski liked a drink and Henry Chinaski is Bukowski's "literary alter-ego" - which means Chinaski is Bukowski - and Bukowski was an alcoholic and alcoholics aren't that crazy about food (because, hey, why eat when you can drink?) so maybe it didn't mean sandwich. I looked up the two words in a dictionary. Aside from the filling for a sandwich, ham is also the back of a pig. Rye can mean gentleman (from the Romany word "rai"), or king (from the Sanskrit "rajan"). I felt clever then. "Ham on Rye"? King Pig. Gentleman Pig. That sort of makes sense. I like that. I didn't stop there, though. Rye is also a kind of grass used in the manufacture of whisky. Here we go, I thought. Whisky. That's more like it. Ham, too. Like Radio Ham. An actor who relies on stock phrases and gestures. An actor. Somebody who acts. A phoney. A phoney on whisky. That didn't make sense so much. Not the phoney part at any rate. Thinking about phoney did the trick, though. Phoney = Holden Caulfield = "Catcher in the Rye." "Ham on Rye" and "Catcher in the Rye". Both of them adolescent rites of passage. Sort of. Got me thinking. It's been at least ten years since I read "Catcher in the Rye", so forgive me, but - if I remember correctly - catcher in the rye was Holden Caulfield's ideal job. The rye field on the edge of a cliff. Children playing, running through the rye. Holden there, at the edge of the rye and the cliff, saving the children (stopping them fall over the edge into experience or whatever it is down there). If it was Chinaski in that field, those kids'd fall. He'd be boozing or reading. Those kids could fall off a cliff for all he cares. All those kids would probably hate him anyway. They'd all be the sort of kids who called him names when he was small. Chinaski would sit on the edge of the rye field, daydreaming about his teacher's skirt. "Catcher in the Rye" is a book you read (and love? yeah, maybe) when you're sixteen, when you still believe in things, when chances are laid out like a hand of cards. You read "Catcher in the Rye" and you take it seriously. "Ham on Rye" is a book you read when you know a little more about life. You know life can be hard. Not all the time. Don't get me wrong. Life can be plenty great too. Just sometimes. Life can be hard. You don't always get what you want and it isn't always down to chance or fate or anything else. Sometimes life is tough through no fault of your own. Life can be beautiful (beautiful like a teachers's raised skirt? yeah, maybe), and life can be ugly (because, hey, it's always other people get the breaks, am I right or am I right?). "Ham on Rye" knows it. Bukowski knows it. You know it. I know it. You find joy where you can. You find joy here.
Rating:
Summary: Not Enough Stars to Rate This Novel
Review: Having read nearly every word the man wrote (in his published career), I would agree wholly with the other reviewers who suggest that this is his best novel. Some describe Bukowski as being unnecessarily crude. Personally, I feel that his "crudeness" is merely the most efficient vehicle of expression. In this respect, and many others, I consider Bukowski to be the most successful American author in history. I have often felt insulted by his writing, but it has never insulted my intelligence with needless passive voice metaphors.
Rating:
Summary: Bukowski at his Best
Review: After wasting a lot of time and money trying to find authors I could enjoy, I was introduced to the works of Charles Bukowski. It has changed my life. Ham on Rye is the perfect place to start on Bukowski. This book keeps your interest through everyday events told from a realistic perspective. What I found most interesting about this book is that the point of view really went along with whatever age Henry was at the time. I read this book in a matter of hours, I really could not put it down. I think this book is a great indicator of Bukowski's writing style, so if you didn't enjoy this book, I wouldn't suggest reading any other Bukowski books.
Rating:
Summary: For discriminating readers....
Review: Long time Bukowski fans cringe at the site of so many posers jumping on his bandwagon. These bohemian wanna-be's who see themselves as rebels yet are usually simply 'alternatively conforming' think Buk is 'their man' because he is often 'vulgar' and 'partied.' This is a typically idiotic interpretation of Buk. The truth is Buk would detest these posers just as he despised the posing conformist rebellion of the beats. It is true that Buk was sometimes uselessly vulgar, yet often his vulgar scenes were meant to shock the reader into acceptance of a greater point or were symbolic of something else. Notice in Ham on Rye the scene where the 'slow' student masturbates while the English teacher lectures on the creation of a new American style of writing. Obviously this is symbolic of Buk himself, who was making the point that the new American style of writing would not come from the beautiful faces and flowery language of schoolmarms but from the defeated, the crippled, the misfits of society. The 'slow' child is Buk and all misfits, who creates the new language (notice it makes a lot of noise just as these new writers did). As to partying, while it is true that Buk loved alcohol like no other writer, Buk preferred to drink alone, to escape existence which he saw as obscene and absurd. A close reading of his work showed how much he hated parties, going to them simply for the access to liquor they provided. And Buk was also a hard worker who struggled with poems for weeks and read virtually all the classics. He was no lightweight, so lightweights, stop claiming him! Ham on Rye is the place to start for any Buk fan. He is at his best here, showing why he chose to 'drop out' of the rat race altogether. There are many beautifully written scenes of great tragedy, humor, and drama as well as well thought out symbolism (I love the scene where a college English teacher tries to seduce Chinaski saying he can have whatever he wants if he will stay in school: the teacher represents modern fiction of the time, superficially pretty but demanding a falsity that Buk can't accept, he turns her down to forge his own artistic tradition). The next logical choice if you like this book is Buk's Post Office or some of John Fante's work (especially Ask the Dust or Dreams from Bunker Hill). Buy this book, you will learn something.
Rating:
Summary: how bukowski grew into what he became
Review: Ham on Rye provides a beautifully written account on Charles Bukowski's "growing up" experience. It is humourous, sad and at times uplifting, leaving you feeling empathy with the main character - himself. It is not a book you can put down easily because of this and I finished it feeling somewhat dissapointed because I wanted to read more.
Rating: 
Summary: did not live up to the "hype"
Review: classic story of a boy's struggle growing up. vivid details for henry chinaski's hatred of the human spirit was in full effect. although ham on rye did not develop into the great story that it should have gone into, the book was interesting.
Rating:
Summary: A kindred spirit
Review: "Ham on rye" was the first book by Bukowski I ever read, and after reading nothing more than merely the first page, my life had changed for ever. It sounds like a cliché, but in this case it describes reality. Bukowski's description of his unhappy childhood, mainly because of an unloving and bullying father, struck a chord of instant recognition with me. For the first time in my life (I was 18 at the time) I felt like I was not alone in the world. Thanks to this book (and everything else by Bukowski I have been able to get my hands on) I learnt to fight back. Thanks, Hank ! I owe you one !
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