Post Office

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Young Bukowski spoke English with a strong German accent and was taunted by his childhood playmates with the epithet "Heini," German diminutive of Heinrich, in his early youth. He was shy and socially withdrawn, a condition exacerbated during his teen years by an extreme case of acne. [18] Neighborhood children ridiculed his accent and the clothing his parents made him wear. The Great Depression bolstered his rage as he grew, and gave him much of his voice and material for his writings. [19] POST OFFICE by Charles Bukowski is a great book. Raw, vulgar and a little nasty -- and in that way it reminds me another novel I just finished reading -- and one I recommend -- PERMANENT OBSCURITY by Richard Perez. That novel is also gritty and blunt and “real.”

Read his blog to learn about the latest books that he reads. He thinks he's kind of a big deal because he writes in 3rd person but he's not. Trust me I know. he got his little playbag and the rubber wraparound for the arm and he squeezed the ball and the rubber inflated The opening line is, "It began as a mistake", section two opens, "Meanwhile, things went on" and the book closes with, "Maybe I'll write a novel I thought. And then I did." Wonderful bathos. Post Office is an account of Bukowski alter-ego Henry Chinaski. It covers the period of Chinaski's life from the mid-1950s to his resignation from the United States Postal Service in 1969, interrupted only by a brief hiatus during which he supported himself by gambling at horse races.He leaves, but not before she says, “Don’t forget where I’m at”—because, really, who wouldn’t be charmed by this man? On the job, he’s insubordinate, irritable, and generally a pain in the ass to his bosses and the people he services. Oh, and he rapes a customer. It was not a mistake to read this book. I'm glad I did. I went through the gamut of emotions, including laughing at the moments of levity. I recommend Post Office with caveats. If easily offended by language then think twice about reading it.

It wasn't just private houses where Hank delivered the mail. Businesses were also included on his run, including the local Roman Catholic Church. "I went around to the side of the church and found a stairway going down. I went in through an open door. Do you know what I saw? A row of toilets. And showers. But it was dark. All the lights were out. How in hell can they expect a man to find a mailbox in the dark? Then I saw the light switch. I threw the thing and the lights in the church went on, inside and out. I walked into the next room and there were priests' robes spread out on the table. There was a bottle of wine. In 1986, Time called Bukowski a " laureate of American lowlife". [8] Regarding his enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, "the secret of Bukowski's appeal ... [is that] he combines the confessional poet's promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero." [9] The closing lines of Post Office are as brilliant as the opening and one gets a sense here that this was Bukowski speaking through Hank again, during a life-affirming moment: If you are not successful in your personal life, If you are frustrated with your job and if you don’t have anything going for you and you want to see the downfall of Henry Chinaski then please read Post Office by Charles Bukowski. The streets were full of insane and dull people. Most of them lived in nice houses and didn’t seem to work, and you wondered how they did it.”I wonder if this novel were written today if it would not be labeled a “memoir.” Because largely it seems to be true. And the book has a quasi-documentary feel. Like many great writers, his work was not widely appreciated while he was alive and he gained more notoriety and fame after he passed. Charles Bukowski writes in very simple clear to understand language and his simplicity is what blew my mind. We’re forced into absurd lives, against which the only sane response is to wage a guerrilla operation of humor and lust and madness"—Chinaski/Bukowski By the little things I mean the stuff that's easy to hide but shouldn't be. Little physical ailments, little frustrations, little reasons to smile, little reasons to complain, the little things that fill a day and make a person. During one christmas season, after hearing from a drunk that the Post Office would hire "damned near anybody to deliver the mail", Hank applies and is successful at securing a delivery job as a temp.