Ever heard of Charles Bukowski? He was a German-American poet and writer who hated everyone and everything except cigarettes, alcohol and prostitutes. Ham sandwich is a semi-autobiographical novel (as amended in relation to their lives, but with some names and details), which follows the character of Henry Chinaski, as he continues to grow up in Los Angeles in difficult times.
The book begins, as he is a child. It details the abuse he got from his father, and you can see how this affectshim. He hated his father, actually hated him, and he seemed to hate everyone else too.
When he grew up, he discovered that he usually did not like the company of others. He also realized that he did not stand much chance with women, mainly because of his severe acne pimples. But as he grew up, got stronger, and soon the father could not compete with him.
He had an epiphany, when discovered alcohol. He felt invincible, untouchable. As a result, they were late adolescence and young adult yearsChaotic descent into drunken, decadent behavior. All she wanted to do was get drunk and cause trouble.
I found this book to be funny, and written in a very direct, simple, which I found refreshing. You can see quite sad really, how many things are so bad for him, and how hard life really was for him. There are funny parts, but my overwhelming feeling when I finished the book, "Poor guy ..."
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