A Popular Man Summary

Bukowski has a terrible flu and wants nothing more than to simply go to bed, but his friends and fans will not leave him alone. The first man arrives and tells him a story about how he discovered that his wife was having an affair with both his best friend and the mayor. He leaves, and the next visitor is a young Jewish man studying to be a rabbi. When he leaves Bukowski gets some sleep. His final visitor is an English teacher who gives him a six-pack and a book of his own poetry. Bukowski returns to bed, ignoring the telephone and the door, and watches cracks spread along his ceiling until it caves in and he chokes to death on the plaster.

A Popular Man Analysis

Each of the visitors robs Bukowski of both his strength and...