Neither rain nor snow...

Post Office by Charles Bukowski

Until now, I was a Bukowski virgin. Well, no longer. I've been introduced to the world of Henry Chinaski. Post Office was written in 1971, but it's still relevant today. Chinaski is a functional alcoholic living in LA and working in the dead end world of post office employee. Henry starts as a carrier, but winds up a mail sorter. He spends all of his time drinking, hooking up with women, and betting at the racetrack. While at times Chinaski is a bit depressing, the style of the prose is simply elegant and the story carried me along. When the journey is over you're not sure where you've been or where you're heading, but it was one good ride getting there, a bit Vonnegut. Bukowski is also reminiscent of Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America or Watermelon Sugar. I'm already eager to read more Bukowski.

Chew, chewy, chew

The Gum Thief

by Douglas Coupland

With The Gum Thief, Coupland has written a great story about middle age and our insignificance. At times it had me close to tears and other times I was getting funny looks on the plane for laughing aloud. The setting is a Staples store and the story focuses on a middle-aged man, Roger, stuck stacking reams of paper and a young girl Bethany fresh out of high school with just enough leftover Goth in her system. The two become unlikely friends by corresponding through a diary that Roger accidently leaves in the break room. Coupland spends some of the story focused on a novel that Roger is writing and he pulls off the 'novel-about-a-novel' quite well. The writing style with each section from a different perspective takes some getting used to, but it's well worth the endurance. While The Gum Thief is on the surface a 'day in the life' book, it's more a philosophical glimpse of middle age. For someone in the middle of their thirties, it was a nice examination of the possible futures of all of us.