Henry and Betty get back together briefly and tragically. After making love for old time's sake, he moves out and does not contest the divorce. After a bad fight, Joyce serves divorce papers to Henry, who would have preferred a more direct approach. Henry alludes to the many menial jobs he has had. On the job, Henry draws another nasty supervisor and a seemingly impossible workload. He enjoys small-town life in Texas with his odd in-laws (except being chased by buffaloes), but follows her back to Los Angeles. Henry marries a beautiful, oversexed, rich and crazy Texas girl. Two old-timers fail, one becoming a thief and the other suffering a breakdown. The daily grind of delivering mail in rain, and dealing with dogs and crazy people, is grinding both physically and emotionally. He works under a sadistic supervisor, The Stone, an archetypal villain who shrewdly maintains buddies in high places, allowing him to work the subs to death. He goes on to become a sub, and finally takes the exam to become a regular mail carrier. Postal Service accidentally, signing on for an allegedly easy job helping to deliver Christmas cards. With Betty, his 'shackjob,' he drinks away their income in an open relationship. Henry ('Hank') Chinaski is a middle-aged alcoholic with an attitude. Having awakened from a terrible drunken spree, Henry looks back at a career that has broken him physically, and at the sexual and gambling adventures that have kept him going. Henry is a middle-aged alcoholic willing to buck any system, void of ambition, yet exhibiting superior intellect and reasoning. Post Office, by Charles Bukowski, is the self-revelation of Henry ('Hank') Chinaski.

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