I went into this book without reading any synopsis or reviews on it, and i'm so glad i did. I love love love this style of writing. Laughed many times throughout this book, great trip through a day in the life of. Typical person that calls themselves a writer but hasn't actually written anything. :p ( )

First, you should know the definition of factotum - it's an employee who does all kinds of work.

This is Bukowski, it's exactly what you would expect from him. If you've never read anything from this author before, hold on. Actually, I would recommend starting with Ham on Rye before reading this or any of his other novels. ( )

Čitava knjiga je sažeta u ove dve rečenice koje su inače citat glavnog junaka ovog dela- Henrija Kinaskog, koji je zapravo sam Čarls Bukovski:
"Odmaram se. Ambicije su mi onemogućene mojom lenjošću."
Faktotum znači uradi sve ili probaj sve. Na žalost glavni junak jeste probao sve, ali nije bio uspešan ni u čemu, svojom i samo svojom krivicom.
Henri Kinaski živi od danas do sutra, nema nikakve ambicije osim da se danonoćno opija. Dane i noći on provodi u opijanju, seksu, klađenju i lenstvovanju. Pokraj njega iz poglavlja u poglavlje promiču poslovi koje on uspešno eskivira, sabotira, odbacuje. Daje otkaze, dobija otkaze. Neki od tih poslova i nisu toliko loši, ali se stiče utisak da on ima problem sa autoritetom i perverzno uživa u tome da razočara čak i one ljude koji su dobri prema njemu. On živi na samom dnu ljudskog taloga, ali na tom dnu se nalazi svojom krivicom, a ne krivicom društvenog sistema.
Naposletku se moram zapitati koja je poenta ove zbirke priča? Mislim da odgovor leži u tome da je Čarls Bukovski pisao ove priče za novine i časopise kako bi tu i tamo kljucnuo po neki dolar kada ih i ako ih objave, a Faktotum nije ništa drugo do zbirka tih manje uspešnih priča.

( )

4,5 stars

A wild ride, never boring, never tiresome, about a man living the American dream, and getting in and out of new jobs on a weekly basis. It has energy and style like Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.

It’s a must read if you enjoy dark humor.
( )

It's hard not to enjoy Bukowski's writing. Like with Hemingway and others, why we find it fascinating to read about the shenanigans of people who struggle to write is beyond me. Is it because secretly anyone who reads wishes they could write? Is this part of Robert M. Hutchins' Great Conversation? I don't know.

Yet while some would suggest that Bukowski is the world's greatest misogynist, he doesn't depict anyone else in this novel any worse than he does himself. His mention of ending it all early in the novel hints at the level of self-deprecation that just didn't seem to come through in my reading of Post Office.

In this novel, I feel Bukowski's sense of dereliction of duty but from a sensitive soul who is otherwise intelligent. The constant references to Debussy and Mahler indicate someone who is far more than the alcoholic bum Bukowski portrays in this novel.

Yet it is believable (I am cutting out my adverbs as I write - Bukowski reminds me of a combination of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, hence my hesitation to add "entirely" - he's either believable or he isn't). The protagonist moves from job to job, surrounded by others who share his sense of despair at the world - a world they are part of yet cannot belong to without giving up their sense of identity.

I identify with Bukowski for this reason. Not so much the "beer-sodden" bum who wanders about aimlessly. But the soul who cannot ever belong but is stuck in present company that somehow can turn off their own bullshit meter sufficiently (damn those adverbs!) to carve out an existence of what is essentially living for somebody else.

I find Bukowski's characters admirable because they give up hope without giving up their freedom. Although Henry Chinaski is made to feel as if he doesn't belong because he is excluded from the World War II draft, he still lives as the intelligent loner who doesn't fit in but is stuck anyway.

But the struggle is admirable. Struggle is what we were put on this earth to do. We either struggle against what we do not want, or we struggle for a better life. Henry Chinaski is a drunken no-hoper bum but he gives me hope - hope that I can live as I choose and not how others choose for me. And that is why I enjoy Bukowski's work. ( )