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Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
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.
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.
10 pages, Audiobook
First published July 8, 2025
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August 5, 2025Absolutely loved this memoir! We follow Steve’s story of getting let go from his corporate America job right at the peak of Covid, moving back to his hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia, and in need of health care, takes a job as a rural mailman with the USPS. Our mail and packages don’t just “magically” show up at our homes, I think it’s something we all take advantage of and this recounts the real, raw, and intense job of what it’s like out there delivering the mail. Laugh out loud funny, informative, thought-provoking.. all of the things I love in a non-fiction.
July 12, 2025
I never leave reviews so this is a first. I am a rural carrier for USPS going on 17+ years now. I’ve been having a hard time the last couple of months dealing with workplace stress and culture. Not every office is as kind as the one Stephen was blessed to work at.
Today, I set out on my rural route and I listened to this book in audio format. I cringed at the things Stephen did during his year of pandemic delivery but you know, he got the job done and kept his kids entertained. Newbies may not always read our rural contract and know all the ins and outs and the proper way to handle things when management tells us to do things but no one can say Stephen was not a dedicated carrier.
While out delivering mail today during Amazon Prime week, I was brought back to the days of the pandemic.. my route felt very much like that again today. So I laughed, I cried, I swore… and I felt pride again for this job and what it has provided for myself and my family. Thank you Stephen for reminding me why I do this!
Today, I set out on my rural route and I listened to this book in audio format. I cringed at the things Stephen did during his year of pandemic delivery but you know, he got the job done and kept his kids entertained. Newbies may not always read our rural contract and know all the ins and outs and the proper way to handle things when management tells us to do things but no one can say Stephen was not a dedicated carrier.
While out delivering mail today during Amazon Prime week, I was brought back to the days of the pandemic.. my route felt very much like that again today. So I laughed, I cried, I swore… and I felt pride again for this job and what it has provided for myself and my family. Thank you Stephen for reminding me why I do this!
September 29, 2025
DNF at 50%.
The first couple chapters were interesting, with deglamorizing descriptions of the processes and work of postal carriers. But rather quickly, those same descriptions bog down any forward movement. Grant still describes processes but now with a pretentious slant with thoughts of whether he is smarter and/or better at the job than other other postal carriers, and whether or not he was fast enough. The arrogance is in your face with continual mentions of time and speed and the candid desire to be better than seasoned carriers. Now, to be fair, Stephen Grant is aware of his arrogance to some extent, but I'm skeptical of full awareness.
After the initial explanations of how the job functions, the continued sorting and casing descriptions and specific technicalities became insufferably tiresome. There was no forward movement to the memoir and I simply couldn't continue to suffer through more mind-numbing postal work details.
The first couple chapters were interesting, with deglamorizing descriptions of the processes and work of postal carriers. But rather quickly, those same descriptions bog down any forward movement. Grant still describes processes but now with a pretentious slant with thoughts of whether he is smarter and/or better at the job than other other postal carriers, and whether or not he was fast enough. The arrogance is in your face with continual mentions of time and speed and the candid desire to be better than seasoned carriers. Now, to be fair, Stephen Grant is aware of his arrogance to some extent, but I'm skeptical of full awareness.
After the initial explanations of how the job functions, the continued sorting and casing descriptions and specific technicalities became insufferably tiresome. There was no forward movement to the memoir and I simply couldn't continue to suffer through more mind-numbing postal work details.
September 5, 2025
This was not the book I thought it was, it was better. I thought I'd be getting some humorous anecdotes about the people on his route. I did get some of that, but also got much more. I learned the history of the USPS, its current state, what mail carriers endure on a daily basis, how much labor goes into sorting and delivering mail, how physically and mentally challenging it is. Throw in the pandemic and Amazon and politics and co-workers and you get a fascinating memoir.
Grant lost his well paid corporate job in early 2020, just as the world started to shut down because of Covid. He had prostate cancer and desperately needed health insurance for himself and his family. He was hired at the postal service, underwent a 2 week training course, took an oath of office similar to the presidential oath, and became a substitute route carrier. He assumed he might be working a couple of days a week, but that quickly became 7 days a week. Like most of his co-workers in Blacksburg, VA, he took his job seriously and did his best under very trying circumstances.
This memoir left me with a much different opinion of a job that I never gave much thought to before. Our mail carriers deserve "thank you for your service" every bit as much as our military members. When I think of what it takes to get my mail and packages to me on a daily basis, I'll never complain again.
Grant lost his well paid corporate job in early 2020, just as the world started to shut down because of Covid. He had prostate cancer and desperately needed health insurance for himself and his family. He was hired at the postal service, underwent a 2 week training course, took an oath of office similar to the presidential oath, and became a substitute route carrier. He assumed he might be working a couple of days a week, but that quickly became 7 days a week. Like most of his co-workers in Blacksburg, VA, he took his job seriously and did his best under very trying circumstances.
This memoir left me with a much different opinion of a job that I never gave much thought to before. Our mail carriers deserve "thank you for your service" every bit as much as our military members. When I think of what it takes to get my mail and packages to me on a daily basis, I'll never complain again.
July 23, 2025
JD Vance WISHES he could've written this heartwarming memoir about growing up in Appalachia, loving your country, achieving upward mobility, and retaining your heart for service. I laughed and cried and couldn't go fifteen minutes through this audiobook without texting another friend to recommend it.
This book has a lot of heart and opinions and while not every reader will agree with every one of Grant's shared stances, his humanity just shines through the pages and made me feel so connected to our collective struggles and hopes. I just loved everything about it so much. Great gift to buy (and/or mail to) your loved ones.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go buy Frost Glacier Cherry Gatorade and a cooler for my mailman.
This book has a lot of heart and opinions and while not every reader will agree with every one of Grant's shared stances, his humanity just shines through the pages and made me feel so connected to our collective struggles and hopes. I just loved everything about it so much. Great gift to buy (and/or mail to) your loved ones.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go buy Frost Glacier Cherry Gatorade and a cooler for my mailman.
March 31, 2025
Stephen Starring Grant's
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Find Home
is a hit for me - one of the funniest and most endearing books I've read this year!
He covers all the real life stuff: work life while aging, involuntary career change, the pandemic, family needs that continue no matter what you got going on, medical adventures, whether weather is too (adjective here), tools-aplenty, car love, You've Got Mail, USPS inside and out, to-gun-or-not-to-gun, co-workers - crazy v kind (kindness wins!), mind your pancakes, Being Prepared, losing loved ones, service to others and second chances.
This is a story that we all have experienced some part of - even if we've never worked for the USPS - but every single one of us have been served by the USPS, every single day of our lives. Stephen Grant hit a homerun (and I'm not sporty so very rarely use this phrase as it was my Dad's favorite - he was sporty) with this book.
5 stamped (proper postage applied) stars, having thoroughly enjoyed every mile of this wild ride. My Uncle H was a USPS carrier in Montclair CA from the 50's to the 80's - he's delivering heavenly mail now - we both throw out a resounding YES to this as a movie.
*A sincere thank you to Stephen Starring Grant, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* 25|52:3b
He covers all the real life stuff: work life while aging, involuntary career change, the pandemic, family needs that continue no matter what you got going on, medical adventures, whether weather is too (adjective here), tools-aplenty, car love, You've Got Mail, USPS inside and out, to-gun-or-not-to-gun, co-workers - crazy v kind (kindness wins!), mind your pancakes, Being Prepared, losing loved ones, service to others and second chances.
This is a story that we all have experienced some part of - even if we've never worked for the USPS - but every single one of us have been served by the USPS, every single day of our lives. Stephen Grant hit a homerun (and I'm not sporty so very rarely use this phrase as it was my Dad's favorite - he was sporty) with this book.
5 stamped (proper postage applied) stars, having thoroughly enjoyed every mile of this wild ride. My Uncle H was a USPS carrier in Montclair CA from the 50's to the 80's - he's delivering heavenly mail now - we both throw out a resounding YES to this as a movie.
*A sincere thank you to Stephen Starring Grant, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* 25|52:3b
December 21, 2025
This is a memoir about one year in the life of the author when at age 50 his professional life as a business/advertising executive and consultant in New York City came to an abrupt detour when his employment was terminated at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. Alternative employment options disappeared as businesses shuttered because of COVID-19. The author had a family of four to support, and he needed to continue his health insurance because of some health issues.
In order to stretch out the duration of his savings he decided to move his family to his hometown of Blacksburg, VA where the cost of living was lower than in NYC. He found a job as a rural mail carrier which combined with its health insurance (saved from paying for COBRA insurance) allowed his savings to last much longer.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed learning about his experiences partly because I have often wondered how I would have reacted to a job that required more physical and less mental stress. So I imagined that the author was writing a story that could have been me if I had been in a similar situation. Also, his musings about life experiences and politics placed him within a world view compatible with my own.
I grew up on a farm with USPS rural free delivery in the 1950s and my uncle was the postal carrier that served our route, so I may have more interest in the subject than other people; but I must say that some of the rural routes the author served were rougher and less settled than the farming area of my youth. Blacksburg, VA is in southwest part of the state, very hilly and wooded, with addresses not well defined. Some of the routes he served were semi-suburban and not so ill-defined as the back woods areas.
The author’s time as a rural carrier was complicated by the fact that everybody was staying home because of the pandemic and were using mail orders for delivery of products to their homes. Consequently it was sort of like Christmas all year with many parcels to be delivered. The overload of parcels became particularly stressful in the Blacksburg, VA area when Amazon began sending all their packages via USPS instead of USP because of a contract dispute. Our author’s background in business logistics kicked in and he suggested to his supervisor how best to manage the overload. Suggestions from a lowly rookie mail carrier were not appreciated, and he was told to stick with his assigned job.
Did you know you can send live baby chicks in the mail? From my rural background I knew this was done back in the 1950s, but I was surprised to learn that it can still be done. Another thing that the author describes is the physical suffering endured by carriers during hot and cold weather. Their fingers are required to do their work so hands can’t always stay hidden inside of winter mittens.
One thing to remember about the USPS is that they are the only delivery service in the country that delivers to every address. If you live in a low population density rural area in the USA, your Amazon package comes via USPS. The so called “last mile” of the delivery is the most expense part of the delivery. It’s a service that holds our country together and isn’t adequately appreciated.
The book ends with the following words:
In order to stretch out the duration of his savings he decided to move his family to his hometown of Blacksburg, VA where the cost of living was lower than in NYC. He found a job as a rural mail carrier which combined with its health insurance (saved from paying for COBRA insurance) allowed his savings to last much longer.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed learning about his experiences partly because I have often wondered how I would have reacted to a job that required more physical and less mental stress. So I imagined that the author was writing a story that could have been me if I had been in a similar situation. Also, his musings about life experiences and politics placed him within a world view compatible with my own.
I grew up on a farm with USPS rural free delivery in the 1950s and my uncle was the postal carrier that served our route, so I may have more interest in the subject than other people; but I must say that some of the rural routes the author served were rougher and less settled than the farming area of my youth. Blacksburg, VA is in southwest part of the state, very hilly and wooded, with addresses not well defined. Some of the routes he served were semi-suburban and not so ill-defined as the back woods areas.
The author’s time as a rural carrier was complicated by the fact that everybody was staying home because of the pandemic and were using mail orders for delivery of products to their homes. Consequently it was sort of like Christmas all year with many parcels to be delivered. The overload of parcels became particularly stressful in the Blacksburg, VA area when Amazon began sending all their packages via USPS instead of USP because of a contract dispute. Our author’s background in business logistics kicked in and he suggested to his supervisor how best to manage the overload. Suggestions from a lowly rookie mail carrier were not appreciated, and he was told to stick with his assigned job.
Did you know you can send live baby chicks in the mail? From my rural background I knew this was done back in the 1950s, but I was surprised to learn that it can still be done. Another thing that the author describes is the physical suffering endured by carriers during hot and cold weather. Their fingers are required to do their work so hands can’t always stay hidden inside of winter mittens.
One thing to remember about the USPS is that they are the only delivery service in the country that delivers to every address. If you live in a low population density rural area in the USA, your Amazon package comes via USPS. The so called “last mile” of the delivery is the most expense part of the delivery. It’s a service that holds our country together and isn’t adequately appreciated.
The book ends with the following words:
We carry it for you. That is the letter carrier’s work. Since this nation’s birth, we have carried the mail for you—your endowment, yours just for having the good luck to be born American or having the heart to become one.
We carry it. And then we head home to our families and brace ourselves. We pray for strength and then get up and do it all again. To the last mile. Every letter, every parcel, every day.
November 20, 2025
Read tremendously well by the author, a really strong, engaging performance complete with plentiful differentiated accented voices and all. Generally, I was often thinking that if JD Vance could ride his Appalachian memoir all the way to the White House, there's no reason Grant can't do the same for the Dems. Or maybe that's just an impression relayed by the patriotism on display at regular intervals.
The first time it got real patriotic I was on a pre-dawn run and deemed it "excessive patriotic malarkey" and switched to something else. But then encouraged to keep at it by the writer friend who'd recommended it, I pushed on and am glad that I did, not only for descriptions of Blacksburg and environs, for an inside look at the postal service, for impassioned pleas for a modernized fleet of mail trucks (electric, with AC for goodness sake), for recommendation of the best sort of mailbox most appreciated by carriers, and for how smoothly it integrated research and reams of info while maintaining a coherent narrative, but also and mainly as a memoir of a crackup, for seeing around the narrator, as they say in creative writing classes.
Sometimes seemed like Moby-Dick narrated by Cliff Clavin transplanted from a famous Boston bar in the '80s to the winding roads of rural Virginia during the recent pandemic, suffused with patriotism, class tourism, a predilection for military lingo (author had been in the Boy Scouts and ROTC for a bit), pro-gun talk (bullets are often "chambered"), his professor father shot during the shooting at Virginia Tech, the author shot in Austin in the late '90s, the prostate cancer, the job loss at the start of the pandemic, the high-level marketing career, the glossed-over/unmentioned dual MFAs in poetry and fiction from Iowa. . . . the takeaway for me, the single lingering impression (as Ethan Canin often said in workshops the author may have attended) was that this is more interesting as a memoir of a man losing his shit than it is about delivering the mail.
Or, for me, listening to this driving around, doing errands, on runs or at the gym, the message I received was a manifestation of early 2020s sociopsychological shitshow, a skewed stump speech, a wild heave-ho attempt at riding the craziness as far as it would take the author. Again, JD Vance is VP of the USA, and I enjoyed interpreting this as a sort of well-written, engaging, warped criticism/emulation of Vance's memoir, which I haven't read.
Otherwise, I listened to this thanks to a strong and repeated recommendation of a writer friend who lives in Blacksburg and knows the author, and I suppose I know the author too from grad school twenty years ago (why I included a "potential conflict of interest" tag). We weren't in workshops or seminars together the one year we crossed over, and I don't remember interactions other than one at a party at my girlfriend's house when the cops came after someone shot out a streetlight in the alley with a BB gun. I also sort of remember always respecting him for the story that he had walked out of a Marilynne Robinson workshop when she'd refused to discuss a story of his that involved sex or violence or something she considered unworthy of attention.
Anyway, definitely worth a listen, and for whatever he's running for (or from, more so), he's got my vote!
The first time it got real patriotic I was on a pre-dawn run and deemed it "excessive patriotic malarkey" and switched to something else. But then encouraged to keep at it by the writer friend who'd recommended it, I pushed on and am glad that I did, not only for descriptions of Blacksburg and environs, for an inside look at the postal service, for impassioned pleas for a modernized fleet of mail trucks (electric, with AC for goodness sake), for recommendation of the best sort of mailbox most appreciated by carriers, and for how smoothly it integrated research and reams of info while maintaining a coherent narrative, but also and mainly as a memoir of a crackup, for seeing around the narrator, as they say in creative writing classes.
Sometimes seemed like Moby-Dick narrated by Cliff Clavin transplanted from a famous Boston bar in the '80s to the winding roads of rural Virginia during the recent pandemic, suffused with patriotism, class tourism, a predilection for military lingo (author had been in the Boy Scouts and ROTC for a bit), pro-gun talk (bullets are often "chambered"), his professor father shot during the shooting at Virginia Tech, the author shot in Austin in the late '90s, the prostate cancer, the job loss at the start of the pandemic, the high-level marketing career, the glossed-over/unmentioned dual MFAs in poetry and fiction from Iowa. . . . the takeaway for me, the single lingering impression (as Ethan Canin often said in workshops the author may have attended) was that this is more interesting as a memoir of a man losing his shit than it is about delivering the mail.
Or, for me, listening to this driving around, doing errands, on runs or at the gym, the message I received was a manifestation of early 2020s sociopsychological shitshow, a skewed stump speech, a wild heave-ho attempt at riding the craziness as far as it would take the author. Again, JD Vance is VP of the USA, and I enjoyed interpreting this as a sort of well-written, engaging, warped criticism/emulation of Vance's memoir, which I haven't read.
Otherwise, I listened to this thanks to a strong and repeated recommendation of a writer friend who lives in Blacksburg and knows the author, and I suppose I know the author too from grad school twenty years ago (why I included a "potential conflict of interest" tag). We weren't in workshops or seminars together the one year we crossed over, and I don't remember interactions other than one at a party at my girlfriend's house when the cops came after someone shot out a streetlight in the alley with a BB gun. I also sort of remember always respecting him for the story that he had walked out of a Marilynne Robinson workshop when she'd refused to discuss a story of his that involved sex or violence or something she considered unworthy of attention.
Anyway, definitely worth a listen, and for whatever he's running for (or from, more so), he's got my vote!
October 21, 2025
Loving Steven and USPS dearly
August 7, 2025
I was really interested in a look at life as a mail carrier. And parts of this pulled me in, such as learning about sorting and casing the mail. But overall this felt disorganized and the mix of content was a head-scratcher at best.
For example, the author hammers someone's mailbox shut, making his mail undeliverable, because the resident yelled at the mailman's daughter for not closing the mailbox. You know, the daughter who shouldn't even have been delivering mail in the first place. The author simultaneously sells the sanctity of the mail and sees nothing wrong with his kids participating in his route - fine. But to then ruin someone's mailbox, and report that behavior to your readers? Honestly, WTF.
He also details a time when his father sprayed neighboring dogs with ammonia. Like, that was his initial response to dogs scaring his son coming home from school. Why not speak to the owners about them keeping the dogs in the backyard instead of the front, or keeping them inside around the time school lets out? No, let's storm off and injure them instead. I'm sorry, these aren't fun little anecdotes to me. At the very least they needed much better contextualization.
Man, am I here for discussions of how to be in your community, how to build that community... but this author lost me so many times along the way. I'd have preferred far more stories about his time on the job and fewer pages focused on his opinions. I should have DNFed but I kept waiting to get back to the daily grind of delivering the mail - instead I got an account of his (illegally) carrying a gun on the job and a chapter focused on his religious experiences.
Thank you to Simon Books for a free copy of this title for review.
For example, the author hammers someone's mailbox shut, making his mail undeliverable, because the resident yelled at the mailman's daughter for not closing the mailbox. You know, the daughter who shouldn't even have been delivering mail in the first place. The author simultaneously sells the sanctity of the mail and sees nothing wrong with his kids participating in his route - fine. But to then ruin someone's mailbox, and report that behavior to your readers? Honestly, WTF.
He also details a time when his father sprayed neighboring dogs with ammonia. Like, that was his initial response to dogs scaring his son coming home from school. Why not speak to the owners about them keeping the dogs in the backyard instead of the front, or keeping them inside around the time school lets out? No, let's storm off and injure them instead. I'm sorry, these aren't fun little anecdotes to me. At the very least they needed much better contextualization.
Man, am I here for discussions of how to be in your community, how to build that community... but this author lost me so many times along the way. I'd have preferred far more stories about his time on the job and fewer pages focused on his opinions. I should have DNFed but I kept waiting to get back to the daily grind of delivering the mail - instead I got an account of his (illegally) carrying a gun on the job and a chapter focused on his religious experiences.
Thank you to Simon Books for a free copy of this title for review.
July 17, 2025
DNF at 50% — This book started with a fascinating premise and I was intrigued by the early sections detailing the inner workings of our postal system, mail sorting and delivery. But it quickly veered off into a one-sided political rant that felt more like a soapbox than a story. The author came across as arrogant and unlikable. I don’t mind strong language, but the profanity here was relentless and felt excessive. Add in the long-winded complaints about nearly everything, and I just couldn’t keep going. This one wasn’t for me.
August 25, 2025
Strong start but ultimately a self indulgent project for his one year of work as a mailman.
May 20, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before its general release.
Overall, Mailman was a fine tale, but one that was too drawn out at times. I’ve always been fascinated with the USPS so reading about the “back office” of a post office, the training regime, and the inside of those iconic mail vehicles was really interesting. However, some of the stories seemed out of place and almost a bit repetitive. The title also mentions how Mr. Grant has cancer, but his cancer was rarely talked about throughout the entire memoir. All in all, I can’t criticize the book much because delivering the mail was Grant’s journey and story to tell. I appreciated the memoir and will definitely be sure to strike up a conversation with my mail person more often.
Overall, Mailman was a fine tale, but one that was too drawn out at times. I’ve always been fascinated with the USPS so reading about the “back office” of a post office, the training regime, and the inside of those iconic mail vehicles was really interesting. However, some of the stories seemed out of place and almost a bit repetitive. The title also mentions how Mr. Grant has cancer, but his cancer was rarely talked about throughout the entire memoir. All in all, I can’t criticize the book much because delivering the mail was Grant’s journey and story to tell. I appreciated the memoir and will definitely be sure to strike up a conversation with my mail person more often.
July 17, 2025
Tough to wade through
I grew up southern rural poor, a lot of red-neck in the family. LOL. I understand the desire to go back home. The problem I have is the constant political statements he throws in, always one-sided. As a moderate(and a little libertarian), this dilutes the story. There are SO MANY books that do this, it makes you wary and cynical of the whole story. Thought this was gonna be interesting and fun, my mistake. Hope you like it.
I grew up southern rural poor, a lot of red-neck in the family. LOL. I understand the desire to go back home. The problem I have is the constant political statements he throws in, always one-sided. As a moderate(and a little libertarian), this dilutes the story. There are SO MANY books that do this, it makes you wary and cynical of the whole story. Thought this was gonna be interesting and fun, my mistake. Hope you like it.
August 5, 2025
Stephen Starring Grant is a market researcher by training and was a United States Postal Service (USPS) mailman by accident/coincidence for around a year, an experience he writes about in his 2025 memoir entitled Mailman. This work is part fish-out-of-water memoir, part social commentary, and I think it mostly works. Grant's impetus for his career change was being laid off from his white collar job and newly diagnosed with prostate cancer (though thankfully not an aggressive one that needed immediate treatment) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, he takes a job as a USPS mail carrier in rural Blacksburg, Virginia so that he and his family have health insurance and ends up spending a year immersed in a physically demanding, often thankless line of work.
As someone who has family from a neighboring part of Appalachia (another town on the New River in neighboring West Virginia), I found a lot of the regional and cultural observations Grant makes resonant. The Blacksburg area in northwestern Virginia is vividly rendered, and there’s real texture to his account of the rural delivery routes and local characters that sometimes skirts the fine line being caricature and authenticity. Another piece of the book that resonated with me was Grant's descriptions of being an outsider navigating an under-resourced system. He doesn’t shy away from discussing the absurdities and bureaucratic inefficiencies of the USPS, like comically outdated trucks and a workplace culture where making waves isn’t worth the inevitable blowback from management. At the same time, he writes with genuine respect and admiration for his fellow USPS employees doing very difficult jobs. One of the more thought-provoking threads of the book is how Amazon can effectively offloaded last-mile delivery to the USPS anytime it wants, as USPS can't refuse volume, which makes the USPS' increasingly-tenuous operations model of "being asked to do more with less" even more acute.
Overall, Grant writes with wit and self-awareness, though at times he veers a bit into caricature, especially when portraying people whose political views diverge from his own. The book leans liberal, and while I understand the urge (particularly given the book's early-pandemic timeline), I do wish more nonfiction writers these days could resist the temptation to frame every narrative through a political lens. In that sense, Grant is far from alone, but I’d argue the best social memoirs are the ones that let readers draw their own conclusions without the author editorializing too hard. He also shares numerous tragicomic anecdotes where he went out of his way to do the right thing, only to have it backfire on him (similar to Kim Foster in The Meth Lunches: Food and Longing in an American City) - I think these were the experiences that propelled his character growth the most.
Grant's thesis - that there are two kinds of work: service work and non-service work - isn’t exactly new, but it’s presented with humility and from lived experience. He suggests near the end that every middle-aged American should strive to have something like a domestic Peace Corps experience - hands-on, service-focused, physically demanding, empathy-building. It’s idealistic, but coming from someone who quite literally walked the walk, it lands better than it might otherwise.
Further reading: logistics and the fragility of many essential industries
Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door-Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy by Christopher Mims - about logististics
Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George
How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by Peter Goodman
The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After by Corey Mintz
Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. by Rachel Slade
My statistics:
Book 242 for 2025
Book 2168 cumulatively
As someone who has family from a neighboring part of Appalachia (another town on the New River in neighboring West Virginia), I found a lot of the regional and cultural observations Grant makes resonant. The Blacksburg area in northwestern Virginia is vividly rendered, and there’s real texture to his account of the rural delivery routes and local characters that sometimes skirts the fine line being caricature and authenticity. Another piece of the book that resonated with me was Grant's descriptions of being an outsider navigating an under-resourced system. He doesn’t shy away from discussing the absurdities and bureaucratic inefficiencies of the USPS, like comically outdated trucks and a workplace culture where making waves isn’t worth the inevitable blowback from management. At the same time, he writes with genuine respect and admiration for his fellow USPS employees doing very difficult jobs. One of the more thought-provoking threads of the book is how Amazon can effectively offloaded last-mile delivery to the USPS anytime it wants, as USPS can't refuse volume, which makes the USPS' increasingly-tenuous operations model of "being asked to do more with less" even more acute.
Overall, Grant writes with wit and self-awareness, though at times he veers a bit into caricature, especially when portraying people whose political views diverge from his own. The book leans liberal, and while I understand the urge (particularly given the book's early-pandemic timeline), I do wish more nonfiction writers these days could resist the temptation to frame every narrative through a political lens. In that sense, Grant is far from alone, but I’d argue the best social memoirs are the ones that let readers draw their own conclusions without the author editorializing too hard. He also shares numerous tragicomic anecdotes where he went out of his way to do the right thing, only to have it backfire on him (similar to Kim Foster in The Meth Lunches: Food and Longing in an American City) - I think these were the experiences that propelled his character growth the most.
Grant's thesis - that there are two kinds of work: service work and non-service work - isn’t exactly new, but it’s presented with humility and from lived experience. He suggests near the end that every middle-aged American should strive to have something like a domestic Peace Corps experience - hands-on, service-focused, physically demanding, empathy-building. It’s idealistic, but coming from someone who quite literally walked the walk, it lands better than it might otherwise.
Further reading: logistics and the fragility of many essential industries
Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door-Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy by Christopher Mims - about logististics
Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George
How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by Peter Goodman
The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After by Corey Mintz
Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. by Rachel Slade
My statistics:
Book 242 for 2025
Book 2168 cumulatively
March 19, 2025
**My thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced review copy via NetGalley**
4.5 stars
Stephen Starring Grant is a natural storyteller, with an easygoing, witty, but not overly performative authorial voice. In this memoir he tells the story of his year as a rural mail carrier with the USPS, but additionally manages to impart his observations of human behavior over the course of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, his views on the importance of community and a visibly involved government, and the importance of a federal postal service in today’s world.
I am a big fan of the USPS, and I loved learning tidbits of its history, structure, and funding while also following Grant’s personal story of carrying the mail around Blacksburg, Virginia. I also appreciated Grant’s reflections on his own life and career path, re-evaluating his life and choices now that he’s carrying the mail in his hometown after years of successful corporate advertising jobs. Grant doesn’t pretend to be some guru or life coach, but his self-reflection and tentative hypotheses on human social and professional needs are interesting and unpretentious.
I’d recommend this book to fans of memoir, readers who like short chapters filled with interesting trivia and an engaging narrator, and anyone who believes that we ought to live in a community with one another.
4.5 stars
Stephen Starring Grant is a natural storyteller, with an easygoing, witty, but not overly performative authorial voice. In this memoir he tells the story of his year as a rural mail carrier with the USPS, but additionally manages to impart his observations of human behavior over the course of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, his views on the importance of community and a visibly involved government, and the importance of a federal postal service in today’s world.
I am a big fan of the USPS, and I loved learning tidbits of its history, structure, and funding while also following Grant’s personal story of carrying the mail around Blacksburg, Virginia. I also appreciated Grant’s reflections on his own life and career path, re-evaluating his life and choices now that he’s carrying the mail in his hometown after years of successful corporate advertising jobs. Grant doesn’t pretend to be some guru or life coach, but his self-reflection and tentative hypotheses on human social and professional needs are interesting and unpretentious.
I’d recommend this book to fans of memoir, readers who like short chapters filled with interesting trivia and an engaging narrator, and anyone who believes that we ought to live in a community with one another.
May 6, 2025
This is a must read; a stunning revelation of what a USPS carrier does every day.
We think we know. They are a big part of our lives. Yet, most of us have no idea of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
Stephen Grant recalled the hardship of losing his top marketing job at 51 years old during the pandemic. He gave a personal account of what it was like to go from a professional job to one of manual labor in the Blue Mountains of Blacksburg, Virginia.
His writing was engaging with stories of the people – some whom we wanted to hug. He revealed how he passed the initial test of being a carrier, learning the difficult back-road routes and putting up with unexpected issues like dogs.
He also tossed in some historical facts and talked about the importance of food, drinks, the right clothes and temperament on the road. Other big topics included: the post office vehicle, guns that aren’t allowed, his views on politics and the importance of family and friends.
Mail carriers are a huge part of our lives. We depend on what they bring us and wave to them when they pass by. It was insightful to read all about one person’s highs to lows and everything in between.
We think we know. They are a big part of our lives. Yet, most of us have no idea of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
Stephen Grant recalled the hardship of losing his top marketing job at 51 years old during the pandemic. He gave a personal account of what it was like to go from a professional job to one of manual labor in the Blue Mountains of Blacksburg, Virginia.
His writing was engaging with stories of the people – some whom we wanted to hug. He revealed how he passed the initial test of being a carrier, learning the difficult back-road routes and putting up with unexpected issues like dogs.
He also tossed in some historical facts and talked about the importance of food, drinks, the right clothes and temperament on the road. Other big topics included: the post office vehicle, guns that aren’t allowed, his views on politics and the importance of family and friends.
Mail carriers are a huge part of our lives. We depend on what they bring us and wave to them when they pass by. It was insightful to read all about one person’s highs to lows and everything in between.
August 7, 2025
I thought this was going to be a lot of fun, judging by the first few chapters, but it turned out that he’d led with most of the best material, and a lot of the rest was fairly boring for me. Truly, I do not care about the step-by-step process of sorting and loading the mail into a delivery vehicle in this much detail even once, and certainly not for the many additional variations on that theme. I was hoping for more anecdotes about the people on his route or his coworkers, but there were large sections that were nothing but descriptions of vehicles or the merits of concealed carry. Someone who is not me probably found that interesting, but the someone who is me felt like it was a slog.
Then there was the whole bit about why can't we all just vote for different parties and still get along as a nation. Do you seriously not know why? I’m too tired to even try to comment on this.
There was also the weird chapter on his quasi-religious experiences over the course of his life that did not at all feel like part of this book, and I can't believe his editor didn't chop it, because it just had nothing to do with anything.
Also this guy…who wrote a book…referred to books and libraries of physical books as “obsolete.” Weird take from someone with a book deal.
If you're a gen x straight white man, I guess this might be for you. It felt like a very dude book, which is fine, but it didn't strike a major chord for me, even though I am also from Southwest Virginia. I’m sure he's a decent person doing his best. I just don't care about the weather or his truck.
Then there was the whole bit about why can't we all just vote for different parties and still get along as a nation. Do you seriously not know why? I’m too tired to even try to comment on this.
There was also the weird chapter on his quasi-religious experiences over the course of his life that did not at all feel like part of this book, and I can't believe his editor didn't chop it, because it just had nothing to do with anything.
Also this guy…who wrote a book…referred to books and libraries of physical books as “obsolete.” Weird take from someone with a book deal.
If you're a gen x straight white man, I guess this might be for you. It felt like a very dude book, which is fine, but it didn't strike a major chord for me, even though I am also from Southwest Virginia. I’m sure he's a decent person doing his best. I just don't care about the weather or his truck.
July 27, 2025
DNF. I couldn't push through the F bombs, taking the Lord's name in vain, and smug woke shaming.
December 15, 2025
I appreciate the insider look Steve Grant provides about the USPS in his memoir, Mailman, highlighting the year he worked as a mail carrier in rural Appalachia.
I recognize the amount of behind the scenes work that must be done to provide mail and am appreciative of Grant, all mail carriers, and those working out of sight to continuously get it done. Or more accurately, keep it moving.
This story as interesting, though scattered at times, filled with random anecdotes. I know Grant’s intent was to share his experience serving in this role, and I enjoyed Mailman enough for that purpose.
I recognize the amount of behind the scenes work that must be done to provide mail and am appreciative of Grant, all mail carriers, and those working out of sight to continuously get it done. Or more accurately, keep it moving.
This story as interesting, though scattered at times, filled with random anecdotes. I know Grant’s intent was to share his experience serving in this role, and I enjoyed Mailman enough for that purpose.
July 28, 2025
If I am not killed during the Water Wars by the time I'm 50 I too would like to deliver dildos to Appalachian sex hounds.
March 5, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I'm usually interested in the behind the scenes aspects of people's jobs so this book was intriguing. I enjoyed the stories of the people the author worked with and delivered to. I do feel like there was too much focus on politics.
I'm usually interested in the behind the scenes aspects of people's jobs so this book was intriguing. I enjoyed the stories of the people the author worked with and delivered to. I do feel like there was too much focus on politics.
October 26, 2025
I loved this behind the scenes look at delivering the mail! I have a newfound appreciation for how hard their job is! The story had laugh out loud moments and shocking moments! A very good memoir!!
October 18, 2025
This stylish and robust memoir is about a white-collar professional laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic. He takes a huge pay cut to become a rural letter carrier for the USPS. While I enjoyed his adventures while delivering the mail, I wasn't as taken with the MFA/literary interludes cropping up throughout the narrative. Maybe I'm just less patient as a reader these days. At any rate, I give it a thumb's-up.
July 9, 2025
"Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home" will be released on July 8, 2025. A big thank you to the publisher and author for providing an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley.
4 stars.
Unique and absolutely hilarious, Stephen Grant gives readers an inside look into the inner workings of the United States Postal Service through his memoir. I’ll admit, I knew little to nothing about the USPS before reading this book, but now I have to say I’m a big fan of America’s oldest self-funded organization (I even followed the USPS on Instagram!). For 240 years (WOW!!!), the USPS has connected Americans across the states, and the way this mammoth organization operates is truly fascinating. Also contrary to popular belief, it's a self-funded organization that uses ZERO American tax dollars. One of the many things I took away from the memoir is that being a letter carrier is an exhausting and thankless position. We should all be thanking our postal workers more often!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant finds himself laid off without any promising job opportunities to return to corporate America. Needing health insurance, he decides to take a position as a letter carrier, which becomes the basis of his memoir.
I was originally drawn to this book because my father grew up in rural Appalachia in southwest Virginia, not far from where this memoir takes place. The descriptions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the communities nestled within them reminded me of the trips we took to visit my father's side of the family.
One thing I wasn’t expecting from a memoir about the USPS was to find myself laughing out loud through most of the book. Grant’s ability to add humor while reflecting on the chaos we all collectively experienced during COVID-19 really showcases his talent as a writer. I truly loved this book, and if you’re looking for a unique read, make sure to add it to your TBR list!
4 stars.
Unique and absolutely hilarious, Stephen Grant gives readers an inside look into the inner workings of the United States Postal Service through his memoir. I’ll admit, I knew little to nothing about the USPS before reading this book, but now I have to say I’m a big fan of America’s oldest self-funded organization (I even followed the USPS on Instagram!). For 240 years (WOW!!!), the USPS has connected Americans across the states, and the way this mammoth organization operates is truly fascinating. Also contrary to popular belief, it's a self-funded organization that uses ZERO American tax dollars. One of the many things I took away from the memoir is that being a letter carrier is an exhausting and thankless position. We should all be thanking our postal workers more often!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant finds himself laid off without any promising job opportunities to return to corporate America. Needing health insurance, he decides to take a position as a letter carrier, which becomes the basis of his memoir.
I was originally drawn to this book because my father grew up in rural Appalachia in southwest Virginia, not far from where this memoir takes place. The descriptions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the communities nestled within them reminded me of the trips we took to visit my father's side of the family.
One thing I wasn’t expecting from a memoir about the USPS was to find myself laughing out loud through most of the book. Grant’s ability to add humor while reflecting on the chaos we all collectively experienced during COVID-19 really showcases his talent as a writer. I truly loved this book, and if you’re looking for a unique read, make sure to add it to your TBR list!
September 14, 2025
Okay, this book is very, very good. I expected it to be a certain way, I had my doubts, like what could a mailman really tell. The author comes from the corporate world, got laid off, and then took a rural mailman job, which makes his perspective even more interesting and relatable.
It probably resonated with me because I’m also between jobs right now, doing some part-time work while looking for something permanent, so maybe that biased me a bit. But I really like the author’s attitude and the way he tells his story. I honestly didn’t expect there to be a shitload of things involved in delivering mail, but there is, and the book never felt fake or padded with nonsense.
He shared some unique insights that only someone with his corporate background mixed with this rural experience could have. I came out of it with more respect for mailmen, for everyday life, and for the reality of how jobs come and go. The way he talks about finding what’s permanent and what’s not really made me rethink a few things. In a good way, because he put it into words better than I ever could.
I really like this book. If I can get a copy, any version, I’ll buy it and keep it in my library. Loved it. And if I ever get the chance, I’ll talk to, tweet, or email the author to tell him he did a great job.
It probably resonated with me because I’m also between jobs right now, doing some part-time work while looking for something permanent, so maybe that biased me a bit. But I really like the author’s attitude and the way he tells his story. I honestly didn’t expect there to be a shitload of things involved in delivering mail, but there is, and the book never felt fake or padded with nonsense.
He shared some unique insights that only someone with his corporate background mixed with this rural experience could have. I came out of it with more respect for mailmen, for everyday life, and for the reality of how jobs come and go. The way he talks about finding what’s permanent and what’s not really made me rethink a few things. In a good way, because he put it into words better than I ever could.
I really like this book. If I can get a copy, any version, I’ll buy it and keep it in my library. Loved it. And if I ever get the chance, I’ll talk to, tweet, or email the author to tell him he did a great job.
August 5, 2025
I loved this memoir. I loved learning about the USPS. I loved that Steve narrated the audiobook himself.
It's crazy how quickly I forgot that during COVID, USPS was the lifeline that connected so many of us to things and people. Everyone be kind to USPS workers. That's all!
It's crazy how quickly I forgot that during COVID, USPS was the lifeline that connected so many of us to things and people. Everyone be kind to USPS workers. That's all!
July 14, 2025
Stephen Starring Grant's Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home arrives at a moment when Americans are wrestling with questions about purpose, community, and what it means to serve something larger than oneself. This memoir chronicles Grant's transformation from a laid-off marketing consultant to a rural mail carrier in his hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia, during the pandemic's early months—a journey that becomes both deeply personal and surprisingly universal.
The Story Behind the Story
The narrative begins with stark vulnerability. Grant, at fifty and recently diagnosed with cancer, finds himself unemployed when the pandemic shutters his boutique marketing consultancy. Needing health insurance desperately, he takes what seems like a temporary position as a Rural Carrier Associate with the United States Postal Service. What unfolds is a year-long odyssey that reconnects him with his Appalachian roots, his family, and his sense of civic duty.
Grant's prose carries the conversational ease of someone who has spent decades in corporate boardrooms but retains the earthy wisdom of his mountain upbringing. His voice shifts seamlessly between self-deprecating humor and moments of genuine philosophical insight, creating a narrative texture that feels both accessible and intellectually substantial.
Strengths That Deliver
Authentic Character Development
Grant excels at portraying the colorful cast of postal workers who become his teachers and companions. Characters like Kat, his guardian angel trainer with a West Virginia accent "strong enough to remind me of my mamaw," and Cash, whose quiet competence masks deep wells of integrity, emerge as fully realized individuals rather than workplace archetypes. These relationships provide the memoir's emotional backbone, demonstrating how shared purpose can forge unlikely bonds.
Rich Sense of Place
The author's descriptions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and rural Virginia landscapes are particularly compelling. Grant writes with the precision of someone who understands that geography shapes character. His route descriptions—from the Corporate Research Center's maze of identical buildings to the muddy driveways of mountain hollows—create a vivid sense of the territory he covers, both literally and metaphorically.
Political Nuance in Polarized Times
One of the memoir's most impressive achievements is its handling of political division. Rather than retreating into partisan talking points, Grant navigates the cultural tensions of contemporary America with remarkable dexterity. His encounters with customers across the political spectrum—from Trump supporters to university professors—are rendered with empathy and genuine curiosity about what drives people's beliefs.
The Pandemic as Backdrop
Grant captures the surreal quality of 2020 without allowing it to overwhelm his personal story. The pandemic becomes a character in its own right, creating the conditions that lead to his career change while highlighting the essential nature of postal work during a time of national crisis.
Areas Where the Route Gets Bumpy
Structural Inconsistencies
While Grant's episodic approach generally works well, some chapters feel more like collected anecdotes than integral parts of a cohesive narrative. The memoir occasionally loses momentum when it veers into extended tangents about postal history or technical details of mail sorting that, while interesting, don't always serve the larger story.
Family Dynamics Underdeveloped
Although Grant writes movingly about his relationship with his daughters and his father's death, some family relationships remain frustratingly opaque. His wife Alicia, who provides crucial support throughout his career transition, never fully emerges as a three-dimensional character. The memoir would benefit from deeper exploration of how his career change affected family dynamics beyond surface-level interactions.
Economic Realities Glossed Over
Grant acknowledges the financial hardship of transitioning from a well-paid consultant to a part-time postal worker, but he doesn't fully reckon with the privilege that made this transition possible. His ability to take a massive pay cut while maintaining his family's lifestyle suggests resources that many Americans facing similar job losses simply don't have.
The Art of Blue-Collar Memoir
Grant joins a tradition of writers who find profound meaning in seemingly ordinary work. His prose style borrows from this lineage while maintaining its own distinctive voice. Like Matthew Crawford in Shop Class as Soulcraft or Tim Kreider in We Learn Nothing, Grant understands that physical labor can provide insights unavailable to purely cerebral pursuits.
The memoir's greatest achievement lies in its portrayal of work as a form of service. Grant transforms the mundane act of mail delivery into something approaching sacred duty, writing: "The whole world is coming with all its inevitability—promises made and broken, cookbooks, novels, instruction manuals, histories of the distant and recent past... We carry it for you."
Technical Mastery and Literary Merit
Grant's background in marketing and his MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop serve him well. His sentences carry the efficiency of business writing combined with the precision of literary prose. He has a particular gift for dialogue that captures regional speech patterns without caricature, and his descriptive passages achieve genuine lyrical beauty without becoming overwrought.
The memoir's structure follows a traditional arc of crisis, transformation, and resolution, but Grant avoids the trap of neat conclusions. His year as a mailman doesn't solve all his problems or provide easy answers about American division. Instead, it offers something more valuable: a model for how honest work and genuine human connection can provide meaning in uncertain times.
Critical Assessment
At approximately 300 pages, the memoir maintains good pacing throughout most of its length, though some middle chapters lag when Grant becomes too focused on postal procedures rather than personal development. His treatment of class issues, while generally thoughtful, occasionally reveals blind spots about his own privilege.
The book's emotional honesty represents its greatest strength. Grant doesn't present himself as a hero or his postal colleagues as saints. Instead, he offers a clear-eyed view of both the satisfactions and frustrations of service work, the dignity found in completing necessary tasks well, and the complex reality of contemporary American life.
Final Verdict
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home succeeds as both personal memoir and social commentary. Grant's year as a postal worker becomes a lens through which to examine larger questions about work, community, and purpose in contemporary America. While not without flaws, the memoir offers genuine insights about finding meaning through service and the value of essential work often taken for granted.
Grant has crafted a book that manages to be simultaneously specific to his experience and universal in its themes. His journey from corporate consultant to mail carrier illuminates possibilities for authentic work and genuine human connection that feel increasingly rare in our digital age. Most importantly, he demonstrates that meaning often emerges not from grand gestures but from showing up consistently, doing necessary work well, and serving others with dignity and respect.
For readers seeking inspiration about midlife career changes, insights into rural American life, or simply a well-told story about finding purpose through service, Mailman delivers exactly what it promises: an honest, humorous, and ultimately hopeful account of one man's unexpected path home.
The Story Behind the Story
The narrative begins with stark vulnerability. Grant, at fifty and recently diagnosed with cancer, finds himself unemployed when the pandemic shutters his boutique marketing consultancy. Needing health insurance desperately, he takes what seems like a temporary position as a Rural Carrier Associate with the United States Postal Service. What unfolds is a year-long odyssey that reconnects him with his Appalachian roots, his family, and his sense of civic duty.
Grant's prose carries the conversational ease of someone who has spent decades in corporate boardrooms but retains the earthy wisdom of his mountain upbringing. His voice shifts seamlessly between self-deprecating humor and moments of genuine philosophical insight, creating a narrative texture that feels both accessible and intellectually substantial.
Strengths That Deliver
Authentic Character Development
Grant excels at portraying the colorful cast of postal workers who become his teachers and companions. Characters like Kat, his guardian angel trainer with a West Virginia accent "strong enough to remind me of my mamaw," and Cash, whose quiet competence masks deep wells of integrity, emerge as fully realized individuals rather than workplace archetypes. These relationships provide the memoir's emotional backbone, demonstrating how shared purpose can forge unlikely bonds.
Rich Sense of Place
The author's descriptions of the Blue Ridge Mountains and rural Virginia landscapes are particularly compelling. Grant writes with the precision of someone who understands that geography shapes character. His route descriptions—from the Corporate Research Center's maze of identical buildings to the muddy driveways of mountain hollows—create a vivid sense of the territory he covers, both literally and metaphorically.
Political Nuance in Polarized Times
One of the memoir's most impressive achievements is its handling of political division. Rather than retreating into partisan talking points, Grant navigates the cultural tensions of contemporary America with remarkable dexterity. His encounters with customers across the political spectrum—from Trump supporters to university professors—are rendered with empathy and genuine curiosity about what drives people's beliefs.
The Pandemic as Backdrop
Grant captures the surreal quality of 2020 without allowing it to overwhelm his personal story. The pandemic becomes a character in its own right, creating the conditions that lead to his career change while highlighting the essential nature of postal work during a time of national crisis.
Areas Where the Route Gets Bumpy
Structural Inconsistencies
While Grant's episodic approach generally works well, some chapters feel more like collected anecdotes than integral parts of a cohesive narrative. The memoir occasionally loses momentum when it veers into extended tangents about postal history or technical details of mail sorting that, while interesting, don't always serve the larger story.
Family Dynamics Underdeveloped
Although Grant writes movingly about his relationship with his daughters and his father's death, some family relationships remain frustratingly opaque. His wife Alicia, who provides crucial support throughout his career transition, never fully emerges as a three-dimensional character. The memoir would benefit from deeper exploration of how his career change affected family dynamics beyond surface-level interactions.
Economic Realities Glossed Over
Grant acknowledges the financial hardship of transitioning from a well-paid consultant to a part-time postal worker, but he doesn't fully reckon with the privilege that made this transition possible. His ability to take a massive pay cut while maintaining his family's lifestyle suggests resources that many Americans facing similar job losses simply don't have.
The Art of Blue-Collar Memoir
Grant joins a tradition of writers who find profound meaning in seemingly ordinary work. His prose style borrows from this lineage while maintaining its own distinctive voice. Like Matthew Crawford in Shop Class as Soulcraft or Tim Kreider in We Learn Nothing, Grant understands that physical labor can provide insights unavailable to purely cerebral pursuits.
The memoir's greatest achievement lies in its portrayal of work as a form of service. Grant transforms the mundane act of mail delivery into something approaching sacred duty, writing: "The whole world is coming with all its inevitability—promises made and broken, cookbooks, novels, instruction manuals, histories of the distant and recent past... We carry it for you."
Technical Mastery and Literary Merit
Grant's background in marketing and his MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop serve him well. His sentences carry the efficiency of business writing combined with the precision of literary prose. He has a particular gift for dialogue that captures regional speech patterns without caricature, and his descriptive passages achieve genuine lyrical beauty without becoming overwrought.
The memoir's structure follows a traditional arc of crisis, transformation, and resolution, but Grant avoids the trap of neat conclusions. His year as a mailman doesn't solve all his problems or provide easy answers about American division. Instead, it offers something more valuable: a model for how honest work and genuine human connection can provide meaning in uncertain times.
Critical Assessment
At approximately 300 pages, the memoir maintains good pacing throughout most of its length, though some middle chapters lag when Grant becomes too focused on postal procedures rather than personal development. His treatment of class issues, while generally thoughtful, occasionally reveals blind spots about his own privilege.
The book's emotional honesty represents its greatest strength. Grant doesn't present himself as a hero or his postal colleagues as saints. Instead, he offers a clear-eyed view of both the satisfactions and frustrations of service work, the dignity found in completing necessary tasks well, and the complex reality of contemporary American life.
Final Verdict
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home succeeds as both personal memoir and social commentary. Grant's year as a postal worker becomes a lens through which to examine larger questions about work, community, and purpose in contemporary America. While not without flaws, the memoir offers genuine insights about finding meaning through service and the value of essential work often taken for granted.
Grant has crafted a book that manages to be simultaneously specific to his experience and universal in its themes. His journey from corporate consultant to mail carrier illuminates possibilities for authentic work and genuine human connection that feel increasingly rare in our digital age. Most importantly, he demonstrates that meaning often emerges not from grand gestures but from showing up consistently, doing necessary work well, and serving others with dignity and respect.
For readers seeking inspiration about midlife career changes, insights into rural American life, or simply a well-told story about finding purpose through service, Mailman delivers exactly what it promises: an honest, humorous, and ultimately hopeful account of one man's unexpected path home.
December 6, 2025
I love the USPS
July 25, 2025
I loved this audiobook! It was great to have it read by the author - you could really hear the emotion in his voice as he talked about his year as a mailman. I didn't realize how much went into the job of the carriers, such as having to sort everything prior to going out on the route and mapping out the route. I also did not know the difference between rural and city carriers. I have so much new respect for our postal carriers (and I also didn't consider how much they know about us since they see our mail). I honestly would love to try my hand at being a mailman - I doubt I could do it for long!
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