Tales of Ordinary Madness Chapter Summary & Analysis - Notes on the Pest Summary

Notes on the Pest Summary

Bukowski describes a pest as a person who seeks him out, no matter where he is, and wastes his time postulating useless theories. A pest knows when he is on the toilet, when he is sleeping, when he is having sex, and those are the times that he inevitably arrives. For example, Bukowski finds an empty diner to eat in and he sits at the bar and enjoys his solitude. Soon after a pest arrives and sits right next to him, babbling about his doughnut and killing Bukowski's good mood. Bukowski realizes that every man has a little bit of a pest inside of him and recalls a time that he goes to visit a friend and discovers a sign on his door that says that he will not answer the door because he will not allow anyone to murder his work.

One particular pest calls Bukowski every morning...
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