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Chris Volkay

Goodreads Author

Born

Hollywood, CA, The United States

Genre

Philosophy, Psychology, Crime

Influences

Bukowski

Member Since

September 2008

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I'd like to offer what my site and I am about, or at least trying to do right off the bat My literary heroes are that horrible, scabrous wretch of a man, Bukowski. Then Celine, Voltaire, Mencken, Dostoevsky round out my starting team.

And, if I were to choose perhaps the most important book to read I would opt for Voltaire's Candide. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor. (But I swear that's my story in there. How he did it, I have no idea.)

Somebody once wrote about Bukowski, his mission was in piercing the veil of pretension that all of us live by. And of course there's the famous quote by Sean Penn, "the thing about Bukowski, everything he says, he's right."

So not an over abundance of rainbows and twirling sparklers around over her I'd like to offer what my site and I am about, or at least trying to do right off the bat My literary heroes are that horrible, scabrous wretch of a man, Bukowski. Then Celine, Voltaire, Mencken, Dostoevsky round out my starting team.

And, if I were to choose perhaps the most important book to read I would opt for Voltaire's Candide. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor. (But I swear that's my story in there. How he did it, I have no idea.)

Somebody once wrote about Bukowski, his mission was in piercing the veil of pretension that all of us live by. And of course there's the famous quote by Sean Penn, "the thing about Bukowski, everything he says, he's right."

So not an over abundance of rainbows and twirling sparklers around over here. Bring your own flashlight. I opt for a slightly darker view of life. Critics would say "negative" I would say honest. Like all things, it's debatable. It's like they used to say to Miller & Williams, Eugene O'Neill, "why so negative? depressing? Their collective answer? I'm just writing reality.

As I see it this obfuscation, this supplanting virtually all reality with the various lies and myths officially sanctioned by our society and all the rest of it is the most stunning, gobsmacking event going on in the world today. It's like we are all being slapped across our collective faces by a big wet tuna, and we don't even seem to notice it. People accept, almost without exception the wheelbarrow full of lies that is palmed off on our society. And it's not just one thing, it's all the B.S. across the board. I would opine (love that word-must mean I'm smart? huh?) that of the 7.6 billion people currently clogging up my planet, (I am kidding-I think) that every single one of them has invented their own little trusty world that swirls around in their heads and only they see. As to the real planet that's here? Earth? I don't know if anyone has ever even seen it. It remains largely unknown to human eyes.

So, at least from my point of view, and thusly this will be the focus of much of my writing, the REAL ‘Faustian Bargain’ humanity made with itself was that it would always live in hope and self-delusion. And in this regard every human being bellies up to the bar and drinks their fill.

Reality was so wicked, ugly, like a broken bottle in a back-alley Chicago bar fight, that we didn’t want any part of it. It all initially seemed innocuous enough, one supposes. Fill our lives with the agreed upon hopes and lies, what we prefer to be
true, and so what? Anodynes to assuage the acridity of adulthood. And so, like master craftsmen, we set about building our own individual dream worlds. Everything we believe and act upon in our lives is part of this great Faustian bargain.

But these illusions are not value neutral. In fact, they’re downright poisonous. The psychological equivalents of the flesh-eating disease. By shielding us from the unpleasantness of reality they serve and conspire to keep us weak, wee little tater tots. Our creativity, our abilities to think and stand on our own two feet are torn asunder. This only conspires to keep people infantile. Yes, in the short-term it dulls the inevitable agonies of the human condition, but in the long-term it’s what keeps us so damn infantile. We are childish, are we not?

Scientists natter about the harnessing of fire, the invention of the wheel, Gutenberg’s printing press and the emergence of Miley Cyrus as major turning points in the history of humanity. But remember theology too. Why? Because it starts us off on a highway, a path, a way of thinking about the world and ourselves that will become the preferred method. And thus this unscientific, supernatural way of seeing the world, then infects, like a computer virus, everything we see and think about. Through this altered and faulty prism of wishful thinking, we then formulate our viewpoints regarding life, love, politics, psychology, etc. And as our thought processes ...more

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Chris Volkay's Blog

Now over on Goodreads

Hello Facebooks Folks. Come over and join me on Goodreads, it really is the platform to sell ebooks on. I had my own independent blog but the host was either drunk, nuts or believed he was part of the invasion force from Mars. Perhaps he was. Anyway, Now that the blog is defunct I'll be dealing up my books and articles over on Goodreads. Join me over there. One weird little thing, 99% of you are f Read more of this blog post »

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Published on August 20, 2019 15:47 • Tags: books, ebooks, goodreads

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Combine Editions
Chris Volkay’s books

Average rating: 2.15 · 13 ratings · 3 reviews · 29 distinct works

	A Contrarian View: The Crimes of the Century; What Really Happened 2.75 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Above Us Only Sky it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How To Beat the System With a Sledgehammer: All the Tips Tricks and Scams You Need (Brilliant Sociopath Series Vol. 3) (The Brilliant Sociopath Series) 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Brilliant Sociopath Series (2): Real Estate Secrets and Tricks liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How To Beat, Cheat and Thoroughly Mistreat the System did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Every Trick in the Book to Beat the System: All you need to know. did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Truth About Famous Crimes: Some Surprising and Unknown Facts did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Hold These Truths: Deconstructing What We Believe to Be Reality 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The 98 Things Socrates Would Know If He Were Alive Today 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	THE FENN TREASURE: How and Where to Find It: Newly Updated: New Information-Pictures 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Atheists and Skep...: Saying hello	8	50	Feb 25, 2012 07:32PM

Chris’s Quotes

“Sex is the last resort of the miserable”
― Quentin Crisp

5 likes

“There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.”
― Quentin Crisp

tags: housework, humour

81 likes

“All these represent humanity in general, totally enraged, demented, vengeful, spiteful, cheap denizens of our culture, vultures, jackals, sharks, suckerfish, stingrays, lice.,”
― Bukowski Charles

1 likes

“Democracy doesn't work, Christianity doesn't work, nor Atheism, Nothing works but the gun and the man on top.”
― Bukowski Charles

1 likes

“It's all overrated man. Sex is only great if you're not getting any.”
― Bukowski Charles

1 likes

More of Chris’s quotes…

recent posts
Chris’s Groups

How to Promote YOUR book on Amazon — 8827 members — last activity Sep 11, 2026 10:19AM
Are YOU an author? If so I am sure you are aware of how hard it can be to market your book successfully. There is so much you can do on Amazon.com to ...more

The Atheist Book Club — 1669 members — last activity Aug 04, 2026 03:15PM
In these gilded halls we shall discuss the presence of the atheistic viewpoint in the written form. Are you a fan of Douglas Adams' scientific view of ...more

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 57591 members — last activity 10 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

Apocalypse Whenever — 14111 members — last activity 15 minutes ago
The most active group for apocalyptic and dystopian stories! Join a monthly book discussion, get recommendations, or just tell us if you like canned p ...more

Bukowski — 647 members — last activity Jul 07, 2025 08:19AM
This is a group for fans of the dirty old man. The words he wrote kept him from total madness.

Authors Society — 666 members — last activity Jan 20, 2026 10:28AM
This group is for writers to plug their books. It is also for readers who are searching for new books to read. Come join us!

¡ POETRY ! — 22497 members — last activity Aug 31, 2026 04:34PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

Quirky humour — 417 members — last activity Dec 17, 2019 02:25AM
A group dedicated to Quirky Humour. Talk about wry, witty, quirky books. Or basically, books with an unusual or unconventional sense of humour. Don´t ...more

Think [the box] ing — 315 members — last activity Jul 29, 2018 09:06AM
NOTE: Please refrain from using this group to promote your book. Such posts will be deleted. For all those who appreciate thinking, discussing and de ...more

Kindleboards.com — 260 members — last activity Jan 07, 2024 12:12PM
A group for members of the Kindleboards.com forum, and friends of members of the Kindleboards.com forum

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Chris’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by John

Feb 05, 2012 10:03AM

I am not sure how this works. I have lots of hard copy but now I am reading my books with a Samsung Galaxy Tab. I really like it. you can surf, e-mail do just about everything you can on a PC. The books are cheaper and there are 1000s that are free.
John Low

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