Ham on Rye: A Novel

289 Pages·2007·0.68 MB·English

by  Charles Bukowski

HAM ON RYE
A NOVEL BY
CHARLES BUKOWSKI
for all the fathers
Contents
1
The first thing I remember is being under something. It… 9
2
I remember the Model-T. Sitting high, the running boards
seemed… 13
3
My father had two brothers. The younger was named Ben… 16
4
It was another Sunday that we got into the Model-T… 20
5
I had begun to dislike my father. He was always… 26
6
I didn’t have any friends at school, didn’t want any. 29
7
There were continual fights. The teachers didn’t seem to
know… 32
8
I took the envelope home to my mother and handed… 38
9
By the time they called me to dinner I was… 41
10
Lila Jane was a girl my age who lived next… 43
11
During the second and third grades I still didn’t get… 47
12
One night my father took me on his milk route. 50
13
I was in the 4th grade when I found out… 54
14
Later in the hospital they were dabbing at my knees… 57
15
My father always ran the neighborhood kids away from our… 60
16
I didn’t know exactly why but Chuck, Eddie, Gene and… 66
17
Of all the guys left in the neighborhood, Frank was… 71
18
Frank liked airplanes. He lent me all his pulp magazines… 74
19
The 5th grade was a little better. The other students… 80
20
There were times when Frank and I were friendly with… 85
21
Then I started attending Mt. Justin Jr. High. About half… 91
22
One day, just like in grammar school, like with David… 94
23
At Mt. Justin, biology class was neat. We had Mr.… 97
24
Our English teacher, Miss Gredis, was the absolute best. She… 102
25
Curly Wagner picked out Morris Moscowitz. It was after
school… 110
26
My mother went to her low-paying job each morning and… 113
27
Wagner wasn’t done with us. I was standing in the… 117
28
Jr. high went by quickly enough. About the 8th grade… 122
29
That summer, July 1934, they gunned down John Dillinger
outside… 125
30
I got lucky the next day. They called my name. 131
31
The next day I sat in the hall in my… 133
32
The drilling and squeezing continued for weeks but there
was… 137
33
The ultra-violet ray machine clicked off. I had been treated… 143
34
The next day in bed I got tired of waiting… 146
35
The bandages were helpful. L.A. County Hospital had finally
come… 149
36
Back at Chelsey High it was the same. One group… 154
37
But there were some good moments. My sometime friend
from… 156
38
Abe Mortenson was bad enough to be around but he… 160
39
One Sunday Jimmy talked me into going to the beach… 164
40
R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corps) was for the misfits.
Like… 170
41
R.O.T.C. kept me away from sports while the other guys… 174
42
“You ought to try to be like Abe Mortenson,” said… 178
43
Jimmy Hatcher worked part time in a grocery store. While… 186
44
I could see the road ahead of me. I was… 192
45
Graduation Day. We filed in with our caps and gowns… 196
46
Times were still hard. Nobody was any more surprised than… 201
47
The first three or four days at Mears-Starbuck were identical. 210
48
“So you couldn’t hold a job for a week?” 217
49
I looked for a job all summer and couldn’t find… 220
50
Everybody had gym period at the same time. Baldy’s locker… 225
51
I only met one student at City College that I… 228
52
The war was going very well in Europe, for Hitler. 236
53
I was coming home from classes down Westview hill. I… 244
54
I found a room on Temple Street in the Filipino… 248
55
A couple of nights later Becker walked in. I guess… 257
56
I saw a vacancy sign in the window in front… 263
57
After English class one day Mrs. Curtis asked me to… 266
58
I made practice runs down to skid row to get… 274
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