Post Office: A Novel

Charles Bukowski’s classic roman à clef, Post Office, captures the despair, drudgery, and happy dissolution of his alter ego, Henry Chinaski, as he enters middle age.

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.

“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.”—Joyce Carol Oates

“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriter

"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.

“There is real poignancy in the people encountered in Bukowski’s work.” - New York Times Book Review

“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.” - Joyce Carol Oates

“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.” - Leonard Cohen

“Bukowski is the laureate of the Los Angeles underground, an eccentric who sees the world with a clarity of vision possessed only by artists and madmen.” - Los Angeles Times

“One of the funniest books ever written.” - Uncut (UK)

“The poet laureate of sour alleys and dark bars, of racetracks and long shots.” - Washington Post