Women

Henry Chinaski, a 50-year-old writer and former postal clerk living in Los Angeles, has not been with a woman in four years. He has a six-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, a failed marriage behind him, and the one woman he truly loved died of alcoholism. About six years earlier, he quit his 12-year postal job to write, drinking heavily each night as he typed his first novel. His life changes when he meets Lydia Vance, a 30-year-old sculptress with long brown hair and mismatched eyes, at his first poetry reading. Their initial encounter is clumsy, but after she visits his apartment and dances on his coffee table, a volatile relationship begins. She invites him to sit for a sculpture of his head, and during these sessions they grow closer. Their first sexual encounter on Lydia's kitchen floor is interrupted by her five-year-old daughter Lisa.

The relationship quickly establishes its destructive pattern. Lydia craves parties, socializing, and frequent sex. Chinaski is a heavy drinker who prefers solitude, racetracks, and boxing matches. They fight constantly and split up frequently, always reuniting. After each breakup, Chinaski drives the sculpted head of himself to Lydia's doorstep and calls to announce it. Their arguments grow physical: Lydia rips the sleeve off his coat, beats on his car with her fists, and wrestles him on the porch over a bottle of scotch that smashes on the pavement.

Between splits with Lydia, Chinaski travels for poetry readings that become a recurring feature of his life, often fueling encounters with women. In Kansas City, he blacks out after a reading, wandering a women's dormitory in his shorts propositioning students. In Arkansas, he sleeps with a woman from the audience.

During one separation, Chinaski takes up with Dee Dee Bronson, a music industry executive in her forties who confesses she has always been in love with him. She takes him to expensive breakfasts, to the Hollywood cemetery, and on a trip to Catalina Island. When Lydia calls from Utah wanting to return, Chinaski agrees to give Dee Dee up. He goes to Dee Dee's place to explain, and that night at his apartment, while Lydia is on the phone, Dee Dee overdoses on sleeping pills. Chinaski forces her to vomit repeatedly, saving her life.

Lydia returns and seems more devoted, but Chinaski begins a secret afternoon affair with Nicole, a cultured woman who lives nearby. When Lydia discovers him heading to Nicole's with liquor, she smashes his bottles on the sidewalk, hits Nicole with her purse, and tries to run Chinaski down with her car. He narrowly leaps aside.

Chinaski engineers a breakup with Lydia to make room for Mindy, a 25-year-old from New York who has been writing him letters. Mindy arrives, but a sexual incompatibility persists throughout her stay. One evening Lydia shows up while Mindy is there, and a violent fight breaks out between the women. The police arrive and ask Chinaski which woman he wants. He points to Lydia, who has urinated on herself during the confrontation.

After a camping trip at Lydia's family land in Utah, where Chinaski gets badly lost in the wilderness and Lydia tracks him down, he flies to Houston for a reading. There he meets Laura Stanley, a 22-year-old who resembles a young Katharine Hepburn. He renames her Katherine and invites her to Los Angeles. She flies out, cleans his filthy apartment, and they have passionate sex. For the first time, Chinaski thinks about marriage, but Katherine deflects, telling him it is just sex. He takes her to boxing matches and the racetrack, sensing her pull away as she observes his world of drinking and gambling. Meanwhile, he sleeps with Joanna Dover, a semi-millionairess art dealer who offers to take him to Paris. He confesses to Katherine, who laughs it off and visits once more, but Chinaski knows he has lost her.

A new woman enters: Tammie, a 23-year-old redhead with a six-year-old daughter named Dancy. Tammie uses speed, and her life is chaotic. She moves into the apartment above Chinaski's. Meanwhile, Lydia, now pregnant and unsure of the father, breaks into his apartment, steals his books and typewriter, smashes his door's glass panes, and destroys the typewriter in the street. Chinaski refuses to press charges for the sake of her children.

Chinaski's editor pays for Tammie to accompany him to a poetry reading at St. Mark's Church in New York City. They stay at the Chelsea Hotel. The reading succeeds, but Tammie nearly falls from the 10th-floor window and passes out so deeply on the return flight that Chinaski fears she has overdosed. Back in Los Angeles, Tammie begins seeing a quiet young man named Filbert and eventually moves out. Lydia sells her house and moves to Phoenix, closing that chapter of Chinaski's life.

Chinaski cycles through more women: Mercedes, a blonde from a Venice Beach reading; a return visit to Joanna Dover in Galveston involving mescaline and painting; two young German women who visit after reading his books. He flies to Illinois to see William Keesing, a poet and ex-Marine he has corresponded with for years. They drink together, and Chinaski feels genuine fondness. A week and a half after Chinaski returns to Los Angeles, Keesing dies suddenly in a hospital.

After readings at a Hollywood nightclub called The Lancer, Chinaski meets three women: Sara, a 32-year-old who runs a health food restaurant; Debra, who works in court transcription; and Cassie, a tall young blonde who works for a music company. He begins seeing all three. Sara is the most significant. She follows the teachings of Drayer Baba, a deceased Indian spiritual figure whose precepts prohibit sex outside marriage. Intelligent and kind, she kisses Chinaski passionately but will not allow penetration.

A reading in Vancouver introduces Iris Duarte, a woman who claims to be a belly dancer but works as a waitress. When Iris announces she is flying to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving, Chinaski realizes he has already promised the holiday to both Debra and Sara. He breaks down weeping as he tries to sort out the overlapping commitments, then leaves when Debra comes home. Iris arrives, and they spend a peaceful, argument-free visit.

Sara arrives for New Year's Eve. After guests leave, she and Chinaski go to bed. For the first time, Sara allows penetration, breaking her adherence to Drayer Baba's rule. They sleep wrapped together, and Sara whispers a quiet new year's greeting.

Chinaski then hosts Tanya, a brash 22-year-old from Berkeley who has been sending provocative letters and photographs. Tiny at 90 pounds, she straddles him on the couch and initiates aggressive sex. After two days he takes her to the airport and calls Sara, telling her she is the only one. Sara agrees to come over.

A woman calls wanting to visit. This time, Chinaski turns her down. He opens his front door and finds a large black tomcat on the porch, purring. The cat follows him inside. Chinaski opens a can of tuna and waits for Sara, the white wine chilling in the refrigerator.