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.

A very entertaining and interesting book that was really fun to read. Grant loses his job and tries to do something completely different, be a rural mailman. At midlife a drastic career change is difficult but he is determined to make this work.
This was an honest account of the trials and tribulations that he encountered. Some very funny details made this book one that I would highly recommend.

This book was a fascinating look inside a rural mail carrier's job. Grant took this job during the Covid-19 pandemic when he found himself laid off from his white collar job. As someone who has lived on a rural mail route for most of her life, I appreciated learning just how difficult this job could be. I enjoyed not just learning of his experiences on the job, but also laughed many times at the anecdotes he shared.

A very entertaining read. Some of the final chapters meandered a bit and felt like an ending before an ending but overall I enjoyed it.

Stephen Grant's Mailman (Simon and Schuster 2025), a memoir about Grant's year as a mailman in the Appalachian Mountain region of eastern US, caught my attention first because this area is home to America's newest Vice President, J.D. Vance. He also wrote a wildly popular memoir about this area called Hillbilly Elegy which was made into a Netflix movie and vaulted Vance into a successful career and ultimately leadership of the United States. I didn't expect the same from Grant's personal history about accepting a job as mail carrier in this hilly rural area after loosing a cushy well-paid job because he needed insurance to cover health issues, but I was excited to read another writer's personal take on the geographic region of America that brings to mind hard-working, tough people who survive despite impossible odds. Mailman starts as a fascinating procedural in how Grant applied for, was accepted to, and then trained to be a postal carrier. The training is much more extensive than I imagined and through Grant's eyes, I gained a lot of respect for the process. Once he became official, he shares the camaraderie that existed among the carriers (at least, in this mountain area), the rules and regulations required of the individuals who visit every home in America (and the ones he broke), and how he and the rest developed community with their customers. Grant good-naturedly adapts to the requirements and shares stories of the people he meets and the events that mark his days. He touched on politics early in the book, but at first, just a pin prick that made me growl and read on. It seemed unnecessary to his stated goal for this story--"My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home".  If you read 200 books a year like I do, you realize lots of the current books mention politics in one way or another so I growled and read on.

Overall, Mailman is a comfortable story about an acculturated man meeting his rural cousins and finding a lot to like, so why did I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars? First, that politics things. The story didn’t benefit by those comments, nor other allusions to climate change, election interference, and 2nd amendment woes, especially since they always came from one side of the aisle and likely not shared by the Appalachian residents. If you agree with Grant, you'll quickly give back the star and I'm fine with that. For me, the pin prick soon became a Winkler pick (my newest toy, purchased for break up hard rocks and cold ice) stabbing into my shoulder. Second, Grant includes a lot of conversational swearing. For authenticity I suspect so this is simply a warning. I didn't ding it more than a quarter of a star because of that. Overall, this is an interesting read that helped me to better understand a part of the country I admit to not knowing enough about.

This special and unique book is a must-read! Grant is a superb writer, and the book transitions seamlessly from informing me about the inner workings of the USPS, to poetic descriptions of the Appalachian mountains, to postal delivery anecdotes that alternately made me gasp, smile, or laugh out loud. This book is sincerely patriotic* without being naive or extremist. It offers informed critique of some things about the USPS while recognizing the necessity and nobility of it. In doing so, Grant comments on the COVID pandemic, consumerism, and America as a whole. This book has the makings of a bestseller and maybe even a movie or miniseries. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted on Goodreads, and will be posted on Amazon and Instagram within a week of the book’s publication.

*Don’t assume that means Grant is a fan of Trump; he is not

Content notes: in case you didn’t notice it in the description, this book discusses delivering sex toys. Some readers might be offended by the use of God’s name in vain and frequent profanity.

Mailman by Stephen Starring Grant is a thoughtful, funny, insightful look at one man's year as a US Postal Service mail carrier. Grant deftly debunks any myth that being a mail carrier is a skills-light job. It absolutely is not. He pays homage to what is a necessary service without being treacly. There were moments where the writing felt very much like Studs Terkel's "Working." It's filled with humor and insight. A very good read. Thank you to #netgalley and #simonandschuster for the opportunity to preview this book.

This book delivers!

Mailman, Stephen Starring Grant's debut nonfiction book, was not what I expected. That may be a good thing. I was prepared for a gonzo-style book about his time as a rural letter carrier.

In 2020, Grant lost his job as a corporate specialist during the Global Pandemic. He has cancer and needs health insurance. One of the only available jobs with a good plan was as an $18.50/hour rural mail carrier in his hometown of Blacksburg, Va. He applies for and gets the job.

While the initial description did not include the "exuberant" and "hilarious" parts, at least for me, Grant's book is still phenomenal. I came away with an even greater respect for what our letter carriers and postal employees accomplish daily.

Grant takes the readers from initial "basic training" through his entire year as a mail carrier. It is a remarkable process to have the mail delivered on time. With this being 2020, many people made online purchases, primarily via Amazon, to avoid crowds. Amazon and UPS got into a tiff, which led to USPS mail carriers having to deliver absurd amounts of mail until the two combatants straightened it out. This was also the year of Virginia's Mail-In Ballots for the 2020 Presidential Race.

This book is well-written, and it helps that Grant has an MFA. Furthermore, it's not a trite author or wealthy person who takes a blue-collar job or does something out of the ordinary for an extended period so that they can write about it. Grant needed this job. The book was just a byproduct after friends and family urged him on.

This is a five-star read. Even if this is not your type of book, please thank your local mail carrier when you see them. The stress they endure to ensure your mail arrives on time, regardless of external circumstances, is remarkable.

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.