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The Mailman

My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home

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The Mailman

By: Stephen Starring Grant
Narrated by: Stephen Starring Grant
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About this listen

 An exuberant, hilarious, and profound memoir by a mailman in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, who found that working for the post office saved his life, taught him who he was, gave him purpose, and educated him deeply about a country he loves but had lost touch with.

Steve Grant was laid off in March of 2020. He was fifty and had cancer, so he needed health insurance, fast. Which is how he found himself a rural letter carrier in Appalachia, back in his old hometown.

Suddenly, he was the guy with the goods, delivering dog food and respirators and lube and heirloom tomato seeds and Lord of the Rings replica swords. He transported chicken feed to grandmothers living alone in the mountains and forded a creek with a refrigerator on his back. But while he carried the mail, he also carried a whole lot more than just the mail, including a family legacy of rage and the anxiety of having lost his identity along with his corporate job.

And yet, slowly, surrounded by a ragtag but devoted band of letter carriers, working this different kind of job, Grant found himself becoming a different kind of person. He became a lifeline for lonely people, providing fleeting moments of human contact and the assurance that our government still cares. He embraced the thrill of tackling new challenges, the pride of contributing to something greater than himself, the joy of camaraderie, and the purpose found in working hard for his family and doing a small, good thing for his community. He even kindled a newfound faith.

A brash and loving portrait of an all-American institution, Mailman offers a deeply felt portrait of both rural America and the dedicated (and eccentric) letter carriers who keep our lives running smoothly day to day. One hell of a raconteur, Steve Grant has written an irreverent, heartfelt, and often hilarious tribute to the simple heroism of daily service, the dignity and struggle of blue-collar work, the challenge and pleasure of coming home again after twenty-five years away, and the delight of going the extra mile for your neighbors, every day. Cultural & Regional Politics & Government Rural Sociology Funny Witty Heartfelt

Critic reviews

“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.”
—The Atlantic
“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. He’s fervent in his belief that the U.S. Postal Service is necessary, impartial and downright patriotic.”
—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
“Warm and oddly patriotic....this unpolished but perceptive book kept me turning the pages....Grant’s book has a rough authority. A working-class hero is something to be.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“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
"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
“A charming book that’s guaranteed to make you think differently about the USPS.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A coming-of-age (at middle age) story... Mailman more than delivers."
— Booklist (starred review)
All stars
Most relevant
Pun intended.

I have loved this book. I've laughed out loud, I've dispaired at moments, I've learned new things and I've enjoyed riding along on routes 10, 3 and others with Steve.

What I've enjoyed:
- the window into the authors life. The story of an adult coming home to where they are from. The expectations and the ghosts.
- the "both of these are true" storytelling, brutal at times, of how the good and bad sit side by side in so many things from personal interactions to the simple usefulness of equipment.
- the joy of learning how a hidden system works. The understanding of how human that is.
- The many mini adventures of outdoor exploration wrapped within the one larger one of delivering the mail.
- the way the author tells the human stories, the snapshot that a mailman sees, of people just living their lives
- the occasional sudden foray into some technical subject or other, how aluminium products are made, a metaphore about turbulent flow, the mathematics of economics.
- the delivery by the author is genuinely excellent, his phrasing and timing is so much fun. Yes there is some swearing, there is also some religion. Both of these are true.

A first class delivery!

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