Hank Chinaski

The novel's central character is a self-portrait of acclaimed author Charles Bukowski, a portrait so thinly fictionalized that the book might almost be termed an autobiography, or at the very least, a memoir. In his mid-sixties as the narrative begins, Chinaski (Bukowski) is portrayed as a heavy drinker and a habitual gambler, in the process of reforming himself and his life with the help and support of his wife, Sarah. The action of the narrative, in fact, simultaneously counterpoints and triggers the journey of transformation Chinaski is undergoing personally, recognizing his high-risk past for what it is (the past) and placing it where it belongs (in the past) in order to embrace and/or engage with a calmer, more secure, more domesticated present and future. While it can't be argued that he continues to drink heavily and gamble (without really referring in the narrative to how much...