"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.
Post Office
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Review
"An amazing, hilarious and unfalteringly entertaining account of a man trapped in a kind of Catch 23" Sunday Times "Takes you by the shoulders and shakes you until your teeth rattle" The Times "Cunningly, relentlessly jokey and sad" Observer "One of the funniest books ever written" Uncut "Amazing, hilarious and unfalteringly entertaining" Sunday Times
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years. He published his first story in 1944, when he was twenty-four, and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Post Office" is Bukowski's first book. He wrote it in three weeks. When his publisher asked how he'd written so fast, and what his motivations were, Bukowski answered simply: "Fear."
Judging from the text -- and the accounts of people featured in the book saying it's 100% truthful and authentic -- there must have been a lot of fear in Bukowski's life at the time. Constantly poor, with ever-evolving woman problems, Bukowski resorted to the bottle and tried to solve his problems with alcoholism. Of course we all know alcoholism creates more problems than it solves, but in Bukowski's eyes, it was the only refuge from a madcap insane world.
Buk's writing goes straight for the throat. His short, simple sentences are deceivingly perceptive and illuminative. You'll be shocked at points to feel your heart soften as Buk's poetic lines ease into your soul like a tired drunk flopping on a couch. He is that good.
Inspired by John Fante -- another good writer -- Bukowski decided to skip all the unnecessary garbage in other writer's writing and keep everything simple. In that way, "Post Office" is very Hemingway, but simpler, and anybody can pick this book up, read it in a day, and enjoy it immensely. It's almost like it's written for children.
Except, of course, for the adult themes. There's a rape scene in this book that is probably the only funny rape scene ever depicted in American literature. And rape isn't funny. Somehow, Bukowski disarms the reader with his simplicity and cynical sense of humor, and allows anything he says to be cute and interesting. It's almost impossible to be offended by Bukowski, and if you are, well, this just isn't the book for you.
Bukowski is very popular with college students who're just trying to stretch their drinking/writing legs. Unfortunately for everybody except Buk, who died in 1994, nobody can copy his writing style no matter how hard they try. I went to Emerson College in Boston, and many people -- including myself -- tried to infuse their writing with the simplicity and poetic nature Bukowski has, but for some reason, it's virtually impossible. He makes it look easy. It's not.
Check it out. Drink a beer. Have a good time. Bukowski won't let the average or above-average reader down. It's those sub par readers he'll anger and disappoint.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By manmeet
Format:Paperback
I found Charles Bukowski (..I mean his books) in my university library in summer of 2008. I read the whole book the same night and for next few weeks I had a hangover. I read it again ad again. This is a master piece. The book stands in the same league as Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" or Robert De Niro's movie "Taxi Driver" (Which is loosely based on Dostoevsky's book). The book is not about US Postal Service, as some of the reviews felt. The book is about life, actually the low life, attitude to life, the capitalist life style in contemporary America and the fighting spirit "Bring It On!" of Bukowski. After I found Bukowski through this book I read all of Bukowski's books and I been a big fan of him since then. If you like reading feel good books or books like "how to win friends and impress people" etc then this book is not for you. The main character in the book doesn't care what anyone says about him. Life screws him and he is screwing the life back. As simple as that !!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Great? I guess that subjective, right? But there's something about the rawness of the storytelling here that really appealed to me. Bukowski is a vulgarian in many ways, but that's his charm. It's like sitting down with the town drunk. In Bukowski's case, he's a survivor. And what he managed to save is his own human spirit.
Yeah, life is full of humiliations. And the workaday world of tedious labor can erode our humanity. I really liked this book. No it will never be an Oprah book. It's like a crudely made outsider work of art. Yet it's genuine.
Definitely worth checking out.
Yeah, life is full of humiliations. And the workaday world of tedious labor can erode our humanity. I really liked this book. No it will never be an Oprah book. It's like a crudely made outsider work of art. Yet it's genuine.
Definitely worth checking out.
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 190 reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious yet sad
Post Office by Charles Bukowski is a very short novel that should only be read by older readers because of the numerous references to women and sex. Read more
Published on July 9 2009 by Sam
5.0 out of 5 stars
An alternative universe in a world of the mundane
For all you alternative thinkers, those you believe that careers aren't everything, how you compare with the Jones's doesn't matter, whether the car you bought is really you or... Read more
Published on Jun 24 2009 by Len
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Hilariously Deadpan Slice of Existential Misery
What a book! I've been a fan of Bukowski's poetry for a while bust just recently delved into his prose. Read more
Published on Jan 7 2008 by Benjamin Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
While it is very much the norm in modern literature to focus on the self as the central theme of the writer's work, the novelist choses this motif at his own peril. Read more
Published on Dec 30 2007 by Reviewing for dummies
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like a Johnny Cash Prison album
I can't pretend I've lived a life much like Bukowski's. I can't say I want to. But reading about it is a riot.
Why isn't this book taught in schools? Read more
Why isn't this book taught in schools? Read more
Published on April 26 2007 by Matthew Wilkinson
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of our great american writers
Working as Tech Support for a web hosting company for nearly 4 years, i've said that the transition from mail to e-mail would also bring about a transition to the phrase 'going... Read more
Published on Mar 19 2007 by Gary
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honest and Raw
Bukowski is an acquired taste. His bluntness and rawness is not for everyone. He's NOT a mainstream author; and nowhere is this more evident than in POST OFFICE, which is an... Read more
Published on Jun 10 2005 by Jonathan Day
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "Real Life" Novel!
There are very few novels like "POST OFFICE": a book that conveys the dreariness of a lousy job, a novel of dreams deferred, a novel that portrays the many compromises a... Read more
Published on Jun 9 2005 by Lee Geston
5.0 out of 5 stars
Priority Mail
We read and discussed two books for our book club last session: Post Office by Charles Bukowski, and Little New York B-stard by M. Read more
Published on July 6 2004 by Jody Diblasio
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, Raw and Vulgar
Next to The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, Post Office by Charles Bukowski is the most simple, enjoyable and funny book I've read this year. Read more
Published on July 4 2004
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
