With his fourth novel, legendary barfly Charles Bukowski follows the path of his alter ego Henry Chinaski through the high school years of acne and rejection, drinking his way through the Depression, and ends at the start of World War 2.

Ham on Rye recounts both the comical and tragic events of Bukowski''s youth (through the character Henry Chinaski), and provides a nostalgic view of a more innocent time and of an inner-city Los Angeles that has long since vanished

Introduction by Roddy Doyle