This book is a collection of columns that Bukowski wrote for LA underground newspapers, mostly Open City, where the editors would allow him to write whatever he wants, and that's exactly what he did. Most of the columns/chapters, separated only by short vertical lines, are stream of consciousness writing with no regards to punctuation or grammar rules. Pretty much every sentence is run-on.
The prose is dense, full of memories or musings about the nature of the world. I prefer the stories about his past, that he actually lived through, rather than his opinions on philosophical issues, which are neither very original nor very entertaining. Some of the columns/chapter are precursors to chapters in his later novels "Ham and Rye" and "Factotum", but in a very rudimentary form, and without much humor, which one can find in the novels, but with pure anger and frustration, with some very strong and disturbing language spread throughout (obviously not edited by an editor). One especially memorable sentence starts with "All women are animals ..." which is a disturbing statement, though it becomes clear later what he meant and that he has a similar opinion about men as well, and the entirety of the human race. Not sure if that makes it much better, though.
It is much more difficult to read than his novels or even short stories, even though some short stories are interspersed among the columns. He universally refuses to use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences and there are almost no paragraph breaks or other punctuation rules that help with reading, so it is a bit of an effort to go through, but eventually it is worth it if you enjoy Bukowski sharp sarcasm, observations and rawness.
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