Post Office: A Novel *[Book]
"It began as a mistake." By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In a world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze, and racetrack betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug waterlogged mailbags up mud-soaked mountains, outsmart vicious guard dogs, and pray to survive the day-to-day trials of sadistic bosses and certifiable coworkers. This classic 1971 novel—the one that catapulted its author to national fame—is the perfect introduction to the grimly hysterical world of legendary writer, poet, and Dirty Old Man Charles Bukowski and his fictional alter ego, Chinaski. Read more
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Why Must Read Post Office: A Novel?
Oh, to be Henry Chinaski. Or not. Bukowski writes about him with such a focus on the details and the soul of the man that it doesn’t seem out of place to want to be a shiftless, irascible wino for the better part of a half century. Henry is America, wanting to live a better life and do the right thing but not quite sure how to get there and then wondering where the time went. I had always heard of Bukowski and knew that he was someone so would enjoy but had never picked up a book. Post Office showed me why I should. There is a world here, something awful and beautiful and whimsical and entirely possible. There but for the grace of God go I... If you’ve ever lived a life where you both know that you are responsible for your life and simultaneously wondered if the universe was conspiring against you, you’ll love this. If you haven’t, you’ll still appreciate Bukowski’s character driven prose and reflections on life...not well-lived, but lived all the same.
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