Ham on Rye (Signed limited edition) by Bukowski, Charles - 1982

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1982. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. Number 236 of 350 copies, signed with a drawing by Bukowski on the limitation page. A Fine copy in Nearly Fine publisher's acetate. Boards clean and vivid with yellow cloth backstrip retaining the delicate paper label to the spine. Bright blue endpapers and an interior that appears unread. Publisher's acetate with expected minor scuffs.

Ham on Rye (1982), Bukowski's semi-autobiographical novel is an intimate, unabashed look at the author's childhood and the youthful exploits that shaped him into a prolific and notorious author. Here a young Bukowski (called Henry Chinaski), raised in a lower-middle class family and abused by his draconian father, struggles with feelings of alienation. The novel looks unflinchingly at post-war America and a young man's desire for escapism be it through library books or cheap booze.

Krumhansl 74. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.