Pulp

Charles Bukowski is among the greatest writers of the 20th century, having written more than forty books. Despite the presence of shocking naturalism, his texts are very lyrical—even sentimental.

“Hot Water Music” is the author’s last novel, a postmodern swan song in the spirit of Richard Brautigan’s “Dreaming of Babylon,” a reminder of the noir novel. The main hero of “Hot Water Music”—an unlucky private detective—was given a commission by Lady Death: to find out, for real, about the scandalously famous French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Did he rise from the dead and is he strolling around Hollywood…