From the back cover
"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.
Review
Bukowski’s first, semi-autographical novel is a lusty, drunken and don’t-give-a-frak politically incorrect work that often made me laugh out loud. In it, Henry Chinaski drinks too much, loves and fraks numerous women, and sometimes works at the US Post Office. Post is a book that – had it come out today – would have been protested for its raw, honest and sometimes ugly depictions of a ne’er-do-well whose heart is evident even as he acts like a don’t-give-a-damn bastard. Excellent, focused and landmark with its humor and outlook, this is one of my all-time favorite reads. It is not recommended for the politically correct, the otherwise easily offended, those certain of their purity, and those who are oh-so-certain that there are no gray areas in life.
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