Henry Charles "Hank" Chinaski is the literary alter ego of the American writerCharles Bukowski, appearing in five of Bukowski's novels, a number of his short stories and poems, and in the films Barfly and Factotum. Although much of Chinaski's biography is based on Bukowski's own life story, the Chinaski character is still a literary creation that is constructed with the veneer of what the writer Adam Kirschcalls "a pulp fiction hero." Works of fiction that feature the character include Confessions of a ManInsane Enough to Live With the Beasts, Post Office, South of No North, Factotum, Women, Ham on Rye, Hot Water Music, Hollywood, and Septuagenarian Stew. He is also mentioned briefly in the beginning of Bukowski's last novel, Pulp. Chinaski is a writer who worked for years as a mail carrier. An alcoholic, womanizing misanthrope, he serves as both the protagonist and antihero of the novels in which he appears, which span from his poverty-stricken childhood to his middle age, in which he finds some small success as a screenwriter. Some of the features of the Chinaskian persona: excessive alcohol consumption; love of art ; solitude and self-isolation; volatile relationships ; self-effacement; nihilism; and the violation of societal norms.
Chinaski was portrayed by Mickey Rourke in the film Barfly, which Bukowski himself wrote and by Matt Dillon in the film Factotum, released in 2005. In the Dutchshort filmDe Blauwe Bus, which was released in 2009, he was portrayed by Jan Mulder. In 2015 he was portrayed by actor Jonathan Peacy in the short film Sitting on a Fire Escape Eating Eggs. In 2013 the Argentinerock band Los Hijos de Claudia recorded a song called "Señor Chinasky", which refers to the character in the lyrics, where it states: "Mr. Chinasky, do not stop drinking". The Avalanches used Henry Chinaski as a moniker to release "Sleepy Bedtime Mix for Young Ones" on the podcast Pinchy & Friends. The character inspired the name of the long-running Czech rock band Chinaski.
