Hollywood

novel by Bukowski

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July 15, 2026

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The novel Hollywood was written by Charles Bukowski and published in 1989. It is a novel that focuses on the filming of the 1987 movie Barfly, which was based on Bukowski's own life and for which he wrote the screenplay. Bukowski, known for his raw and graphic depictions of life in a corrupt society, often used an alter ego named Henry Chinaski in his stories and novels. Hollywood is one of his later novels, following works like Post Office and Ham on Rye.1

While The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West is also considered a "Hollywood novel," it was published in 1939 and explores the darker side of the dream factory, focusing on the unfulfilled fantasies of those drawn to the industry.2

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Charles Bukowski
Hollywood (1989), also a novel, took as its subject the filming of the 1987 motion picture Barfly, a semiautobiographical comedy about alcoholic lovers on skid row for which Bukowski wrote the screenplay (published 1984). The novel Pulp was published posthumously in 1994.
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Hollywood (1989), also a novel, took as its subject the filming of the 1987 motion picture Barfly, a semiautobiographical comedy about alcoholic lovers on skid row for which Bukowski wrote the screenplay (published 1984). The novel Pulp was published posthumously in 1994.
Read More