And while some parts may come across like a drunken rant from a troubled narrator, there is a lot of truth in Bukowski’s moral dissection of America’s notion of the capitalist dream back in those days.īut be warned: his brutal honesty throughout the book may take a while to get used to. It’s this complete freedom of thought (for better and for his very dark worst) that makes this book so hard to put down. Bukowski’s scandalous writing will have you read some parts twice as to figure out if he really wrote that. Here the narrator’s reliability is questioned mostly due to the ghastly nature of some of his own actions, combined with a total lack of care in displaying them to the reader.

The quality of his storytelling describing the loathed hung-over work shifts makes up for some hilarious reading during his early days as a substitute postie. First published in 1971, the Post Office deconstructs the struggles of being a voiceless cog in the massive enterprise that was the U.S postal office during the 1950s and late 60s many of the work assignments undertaken by protagonist Henry Chinaski have now been replaced by industrial-grade machinery. The first thing I would say to anyone who isn’t familiar with Charles Bukowski’s work is not meant for those who get offended easily.

Charles Bukowski’s Post Office Book review

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