bookJanuary 2, 2026
Post Office
Bukowski's first novel follows Henry Chinaski through twelve years of mind-numbing work at the post office, punctuated by drinking, gambling, and women.
Overview
Henry Chinaski takes a job as a mail carrier in Los Angeles, expecting it to be temporary. Twelve years later, he's still there. The novel chronicles his battles with supervisors, grueling routes, and a system designed to grind down anyone with a pulse.
Key Themes
- Work as dehumanization — The post office represents any soul-crushing job where the goal is survival, not fulfillment
- Resistance through vice — Drinking, gambling, and women serve as Chinaski's rebellion against respectability
- Anti-ambition — Success means getting through another day, not climbing any ladder
Connections
Shares themes of alienation with the-stranger and no-longer-human — protagonists who exist outside conventional society and its expectations.