Mailman

“A love song to America’s least understood treasure. I will never take my mail carrier for granted again.”
—David Von Drehle, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Charlie
“An entertaining and illuminating read….Grant is a great storyteller and a wonderful writer — lyrical, descriptive and honest.”
—Laurie Hertzel, The Washington Post
“Mailman pulses with humor and the beauty of simple, everyday courage. In the heart of a small mountain town, Steve Grant’s route as a rural mail carrier becomes a journey of personal redemption, of finding purpose and dignity.”
—Jonathan Safran Foer, New York Times bestselling author of Everything is Illuminated
“A love letter to the Blue Ridge Mountains, a participant observer’s ethnography of a rural post office, an indictment of government austerity, and a witness statement attesting to the remarkable and at times ruthless efficiency of one of our oldest federal bureaucracies. Not least, Mailman is a lament for the decline of service as an American ideal….[Grant] proves to be a compelling and empathetic guide, observing his country and its citizens, not just himself, with open and unjaded eyes.”
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic
“Mailman takes readers on a wild ride… as Grant pulls back the curtain on the U.S. Postal Service, revealing its foibles and idiosyncrasies alongside its stalwart heart.”
—Southern Review of Books
“If you’ve ever fantasized about ditching your corporate job for a quieter life in the country, Mailman could be the memoir for you…. Grant’s honesty and humor… have me hooked.”
—Garden & Gun
“Heartfelt… In addition to anatomizing an honorable profession, Mailman paints a canny portrait of Appalachia, with its insularity, spectral natural beauty and the flinty resilience that defines its culture.”
—Atlanta Journal Constitution
“People like to make fun of the Postal Service for being late with deliveries. Well, this book could not be more timely. I needed this reminder that Americans can commit to the greater good, that public servants can be heroes, and that our crazy-quilt culture is a strength, not a weakness. Thank you, Mr. Mailman.”
—AJ Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Constitutionally
“A coming-of-age (at middle age) story… Mailman more than delivers.”
— Booklist (starred review)
“A charming book that’s guaranteed to make you think differently about the USPS.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

After twenty years as a consumer strategist, Stephen Starring Grant became a rural letter carrier during the pandemic. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

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