Part 1 - Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 Summary

This novel is a barely fictionalized memoir of the writing and production of the Hollywood film "Barfly". Bemused screenwriter Hank Chinaski (an avatar for renowned writer Charles Bukowski) narrates the story of a group of ambitious individuals with big personalities and even bigger dreams striving to gain control in an industry where control is a greater illusion than what plays out on the screen. As it satirizes Hollywood's excesses, attitudes and self-obsessions, the novel also explores themes related to the nature and craft of writing and the differences between reality and fiction.

Chapter 1 - Hank begins his first person narrative by saying that "a couple of days later Pinchot phoned", inviting him to a meeting to discuss the possibility of Hank writing a screenplay for him. Accompanied by his wife Sarah, Hank drives, via a marina (where...