Henry Chinaski is a hard-drinking, hard-gambling, constantly broke man who takes a job as a substitute mail carrier in Los Angeles. He walks routes in the heat, is yelled at by supervisors, falls asleep on the job, and gets fired and rehired. Between shifts, he chases women, bets on horses, and drifts from one cheap apartment to another. Charles Bukowski's first novel, written in just a few weeks, is told in blunt, comic prose that turns bureaucratic drudgery into a series of absurd scenes, and it draws closely on his own twelve years at the U.S. Postal Service.
It suits those who like dirty-realist fiction and dark humor. Readers who want an unsentimental picture of working-class life will recognize something here.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1971
- Language
- EN
