These definitions, particularly the second, capture much of the spirit of the novel. The word 'factotum" means "A person having many diverse activities or responsibilities" or "a general servant". As a result, the book gains a great deal by a measure of artistic distance. He had left the life he described in the book behind almost three decades earlier. Factotum (1975)was Bukowski's second novel and was written when he was already on the path to success as a writer. Earlier Bukowski movies include "Barfly" (1987) and the documentary "Bukowski: Born into This" (2004).īukowski's novels are autobiographical in character and feature an alter-ego named Henry Chinaski. The movie sparked substantial interest in Bukowski and in his novel.
In 2006, an independently-produced film of "Factotum" was released starring Matt Dillion and Lili Taylor. Many of his works originally were published by a small publishing house, Black Sparrow Press which specialized in unusual writers, A few years ago, Black Sparrow was purchased by a HarperCollins which continues to maintain Bukowski's works in print and to publish posthumous works. His reputation has grown subsequently to his death. He is best known for his portrayals of the shabby, dingy side of Los Angeles. Neeli Cherkovski was a close friend of Bukowski and is the author of Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski (Random House, 1991)Ĭharles Bukowski (1920-1994) was an underground writer of poems stories, and novels who has exerted a fascination over me for many years. He died in 1994 and is widely acknowledged as one of the most distinctive writers of the last fifty years. Bukowski's Beat Generation writing reflects his slum upbringing, his succession of menial jobs and his experience of low life urban America. Factotum follows Charles Bukowski's bestselling Post Office, his highly autobiographical first novel. Uncompromising, gritty, hilarious and confessional in turn, his downward spiral is peppered with black humour. Henry Chinaski, an outcast, a loner and a hopeless drunk, drifts around America from one dead-end job to another, from one woman to another and from one bottle to the next.
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