A nameless barman tends a decaying bar in Hollywood and takes notes for a book about his clientele. Initially, he is morbidly amused by watching the regulars roll in and fall into their nightly oblivion, pitying them and their loneliness. In hopes of uncovering their secrets and motives, he establishes tentative friendships with them. He also knocks back pills indiscriminately and treats himself to gallons of Jameson's. But as his tenure at the bar continues, he begins to lose himself, trapped by addiction and indecision. When his wife leaves him, he embarks on a series of squalidly random sexual encounters and a downward spiral of self-damage and irrational violence. To cleanse himself and save his soul, he attempts to escape ...
Ablutions
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Review
PRAISE FOR"ABLUTIONS" ..". dark and provocative ... deWitt has painted a portrait of the human condition ... And ABLUTIONS has achieved something remarkable." --"The New York Times Book Review"
..". deWitt's writing is sharp and bitter and funny ... " --"Los Angeles Times
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"DeWitt's dirty realism makes me want to roll in the mud with him. Brilliant." --Gary Shteyngart, author of"Absurdistan" "Viciously hilarious ... deWitt's portrayal of the drinking life is staunchly unromantic." --"Time Out New York"(Five stars; Book of the day)
"These scenes are stunningly depicted ... deWitt writes beautifully about ugliness, and his book casts a haunting spell." --"Booklist"
"DeWitt's style of prose is refreshing and more like real life speak than most books, without losing the necessary descriptiveness to relay the feel and pure nuttiness of the situation inside the Hollywood bar where the scenes are set." --"About.com"
"Ablutions is like an intense art-house movie, where the lead
About the Author
Patrick deWitt was born on Vancouver Island in 1975. He has also lived in California, Washington, and Oregon, where he currently lives with his wife and son. He is the author of two novels, Ablutions and The Sisters Brothers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book. I'd read the Sisters Brothers and liked that one so I decided to get Ablutions. I think I prefer Ablutions out of the two, although both are excellent. This book describes a man's slip into addiction, and the loss of everything he held dear. It IS a portrait of alcohol's power but that's not all this is about. Great characters, lots of humour and pathos, a page-turner and an identifiable protagonist make this well worth reading. If you've ever struggled with the drink then it's all the more identifiable. Like Bukowski at his best this is a humorous look at the low-lifes and has-beens, never forgetting that despite their afflictions they are people just like you. great book.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I wouldn't be the first reviewee here to refer to Bukowski and McArthy - and it feels like the content of this book is a result of `all the pretty horses` and`post office` being put in a blender and added to some Irish Whiskey. Each character and chapter all interlocking mini storys which mix between vulgarity and hillarity. DeWitt must have a screw loose but this beats sisters brothers and I would like to request more of the same. Whether you can relate to being constantly intoxicated or not - read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Porter
Format:Kindle Edition
this debut novel by patrick dewitt (caps lock not working on my kindle, so apologies for lower case throughout) is an altogether different proposition than the excellent `the sisters brothers.` it deals with addiciton and the desperate lies we tell ourselves to justify our behaviour. there are no chapters and really no plot, as such. however, this is still a compelling read. the author is an extremely skilled writer and his prose is inspirational. novels don't have to brim with action and suspense to work. reminds me a little of raymond chandler in mood and the atmosphere is dark and foreboding. the premise being one of degrees of discomfort and despair, leading to logical conclusions for those concerned. this is a novel for people who love to read excellently constructed prose. the story is not the story of this book- the writing is.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
DeWitt writes of the grime of an LA bar with magnificent vividness and much humor (maybe it has something to do with the writer actually being a dishwasher and a bartender before). Even though he introduces character after character each and every one of them comes to life and nicely incorporated into the storyline. The narrative is exceptional and original, a second person view of the world that allows you to make the most of it: it could be a ghost, or it could be the main character's consciousness. More please...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This short but compelling novel drips with LA low-life scum. You can almost smell the cigarette smoke, liquor and rank behaviour that drips from the pages.
In an inventive second-person narrative voice, we see the regular drunks and drinkers of a small-time LA bar through the eyes of our bartender. There isn't much to like- but that's kind of the point. It's like peering into an abyss of addiction, inebriation and it's a heady, intoxicating view. deWitt serves up a murky cocktail.
The characters in this novel sink pretty low- there's drug addiction, drug dealing, prostitution, sex, sleaze, violence- you really become mired in their world. But ultimately, you get to leave them behind at the end.
Redolent of Bukowski, 'Ablutions' really lifts up a stone and peers at the darkness, and loneliness of city life whilst peeling away the complexities of addiction. Weakness, freedom, waste, want- they're all here.
Tragic, abhorrent, despicable- and yet, it's an engaging page-turner that I couldn't put down. You will feel like you need a good wash when you've finished.
I will be intrigued to see what Patrick deWitt writes next.
In an inventive second-person narrative voice, we see the regular drunks and drinkers of a small-time LA bar through the eyes of our bartender. There isn't much to like- but that's kind of the point. It's like peering into an abyss of addiction, inebriation and it's a heady, intoxicating view. deWitt serves up a murky cocktail.
The characters in this novel sink pretty low- there's drug addiction, drug dealing, prostitution, sex, sleaze, violence- you really become mired in their world. But ultimately, you get to leave them behind at the end.
Redolent of Bukowski, 'Ablutions' really lifts up a stone and peers at the darkness, and loneliness of city life whilst peeling away the complexities of addiction. Weakness, freedom, waste, want- they're all here.
Tragic, abhorrent, despicable- and yet, it's an engaging page-turner that I couldn't put down. You will feel like you need a good wash when you've finished.
I will be intrigued to see what Patrick deWitt writes next.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Kwev
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
At first I thought this was going to be a series of very accomplished, but unconnected, character sketches. It isn't. It's a brilliantly written tale of a drop-out bar tender - his descent into chaos - and the creatures he encounters. Better than The Sisters Brothers. Truly excellent writing. A pleasure to read.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By C. Day
Format:Paperback
This is a strange book chronicling the life of a bartender outside Hollywood, working in a bar full of down-and-outs whose lives are going nowhere. It is a fascinating study of addiction and the quiet desperation of people who are stuck in a bottomless rut. Although it is occasionally revolting, it is also often extremely funny and contains some excellent descriptions and put-downs. I disagree with one of the other reviews which claims it has no narrative- the reader cannot have been paying attention, the book begins showing the life of the bartender and follows a slow realisation that he cannot continue to live his life like this. I found parts of it surprisingly moving and will definitely be re-reading.
Also, read THE SISTERS BROTHERS, which is the author's second novel. It is even better than ABLUTIONS.
Also, read THE SISTERS BROTHERS, which is the author's second novel. It is even better than ABLUTIONS.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Noel
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I used to really love boozy, druggy novels when I was a teenager, regularly devouring books by Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Hubert Selby Jnr. and Patrick Hamilton where the protagonists were either alcoholics, drug addicts or both. But that was when I was a teenager and my literary tastes have since changed. So I was surprised to find myself drawn into Patrick deWitt's debut novel "Ablutions" which takes place almost entirely in a dismal Hollywood bar filled with deadbeats and human detritus getting sloshed and snorting powder in the dark.
Like most people I came to deWitt after reading his excellent Booker-nominated western "The Sisters Brothers" about a pair of bounty hunters in the old West on the trail of one of their targets. It's an excellent book which I highly recommend and led me to seek out this, his only other published novel (so far). "Ablutions" is a completely different book to "The Sisters Brothers"; where "Sisters" was a fast-paced first person narrative that read like an intelligent thriller, "Ablutions" is without a plot, told in the second person by a consistently drunk narrator, his attention reeling from one character in the bar to another seemingly at random and without any direction.
And yet "Ablutions" is still a hypnotic read. Maybe it's the character portraits of the broken lives that litter the bar. There is a drug- addled manager, an alcoholic former child actor, two slutty drunken school teachers, a wannabe artist and a dealer, as well as corrupt bar owners and the despicable narrator. The setup is that the narrator wants to be a novelist who gets work as a bar back because he feels he will meet a number of interesting people with stories he can exploit by putting them in his novel.... Read more ›
Like most people I came to deWitt after reading his excellent Booker-nominated western "The Sisters Brothers" about a pair of bounty hunters in the old West on the trail of one of their targets. It's an excellent book which I highly recommend and led me to seek out this, his only other published novel (so far). "Ablutions" is a completely different book to "The Sisters Brothers"; where "Sisters" was a fast-paced first person narrative that read like an intelligent thriller, "Ablutions" is without a plot, told in the second person by a consistently drunk narrator, his attention reeling from one character in the bar to another seemingly at random and without any direction.
And yet "Ablutions" is still a hypnotic read. Maybe it's the character portraits of the broken lives that litter the bar. There is a drug- addled manager, an alcoholic former child actor, two slutty drunken school teachers, a wannabe artist and a dealer, as well as corrupt bar owners and the despicable narrator. The setup is that the narrator wants to be a novelist who gets work as a bar back because he feels he will meet a number of interesting people with stories he can exploit by putting them in his novel.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I want more
If anything, this is even better than Sisters Brothers. On the surface a bleak tale of alcoholism and lives locked into downward spirals this is nevertheless not a depressing or... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ed Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wild ride
I think anyone who worked in a bar, had at some time or another, a customer say 'you could write a book about this place'. However ... this book took that to the next level. Read more
Published 3 months ago by JohnK
3.0 out of 5 stars
Talk about how much you like the style
There are a ton of 'wannabe writers in bars' novels but I like how deWitt works with the genre to subvert your expectations. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars
A journey and maybe an escape?
Very unusual but highly entertaining style of narration of the main character's journey through drinking, relationship breakdown and an unmanageable life style. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Pamela Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
?????
This was a bit of a downer book for me....
very dark.. but in a depressing way.... hard going... but will give it another go....
very dark.. but in a depressing way.... hard going... but will give it another go....
Published 6 months ago by Miss CK OLEARY
3.0 out of 5 stars
Expected to be different
After loving The Sisters Brothers I had great expectations from DeWitt's first novel, but got a little disappointed when found that this book is in fact NOT a novel. Read more
Published 7 months ago by G. Rozzo
1.0 out of 5 stars
Insufficient opportunity to 'look inside'
I'd read a De Witt and liked it. However, the site did not allow a preview of this book and I found it mawkish, depressing and gross. Thank goodness it was only a 99p ebook.
Published 7 months ago by Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
I loved this and The Sisters Brothers so much that now I'm disappointed they're finished. Everything else I've been looking at after these is a bit of a come down.
Published 7 months ago by penfold
2.0 out of 5 stars
Improvements were needed and thank goodness he's done it.
Following the purchasing and reading of "The Sisters Brothers" which was a good introduction, overtones of Cormac McCarthy in its realism, I decided that I should expand my... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. B. T. Hope
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