Product Description

Or perhaps there's a shot at redemption in the mad world of the mail, waiting for a man who's prepared to push the envelope...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74950 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Released on: 2004-09-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 329 pages

Review
Pratchett satirizes the modern telecom business in a deeply satisfying comedy about a man sent to a fate worse than death: the post office. Fans of Pratchett's Discworld series will be happy he's returning to the city of Ankh-Morpork-after the Balkan War-esque madness of Monstrous Regiment (2003)-though it's not to the familiar environs of the Watch or Unseen University. This time, Moist Von Lipwig, a scam artist with a host of aliases, has just been hanged for his crimes-except that he hasn't, due to some trickery with the rope. It seems that the Duke wants a man everybody thinks is dead to take over the city's long-moribund post office. That's no easy task, what with only two employees left, both pretty much insane, puttering around the massive, dead-letter-stuffed edifice, not to mention the competition with the clacks towers. Pratchett follows Moist's attempts to resuscitate regular mail service as he goes up against the evil hegemony of corporate toadies running the clacks towers, a once-impressive series of semaphore towers that, when they work, can send a message hundreds of miles in no time at all, but at a hefty price. With the exception of a few heavy-handed statements about the public good versus private profit, Pratchett slides the satire in around the edges of the primary action: watching a career criminal transitioning rather quickly to earnest civic flunky, all under the watchful (glowing red) eyes of a monstrously powerful and patient government-employed golem. Although Moist seems a little too eager to leave his bad ways behind, it's almost shamefully enjoyable to watch him restore the mail routes, invent the idea of stamps, and go toe-to-toe with everything from rapacious businessmen to bloodthirsty banshees as he shows how to deliver letters over 40 years late. Sharp-edged humor-and wonderfully executed. (Kirkus Reviews)

Guardian
'This darkness and concrete morality sets his work apart from imitators of his English Absurd school of comic fantasy.'

Financial Times
'Pratchett...is the missing link between Douglas Adams and J.K. Rowling...Wit and imagination have gained him a fanatical readership.'

Customer Reviews

(audio cd .) just ok really
I think there must be an awful lot missed out in these audio books. Although I listen to them several times and 'get it' I dont find them very fullfilling somehow.
Perhaps I ought to try reading the books instead

Going great guns!
As a long-time Pratchett devotee I am bound to be positive about `Going Postal' but I have to say that I think it is one of his best yet. With television adaptations of `Hogfather' and `The Colour of Magic' successfully transferring the magic of Discworld from page to screen, I would love to see this book get the TV treatment next.
The (anti)hero of the story is the brilliantly named `Moist Von Lipwig', a petty crook and forger who is given the opportunity to avoid the gallows if he will take on the now-defunct Ankh Morpork post office. Little does Moist know that this will bring him into contact with a murderous banshee, a fatally obsessive pin collector, an octogenarian postal worker with a fetish for `herbal medicines' and a chain-smoking femme fatale who only wants to see him dead. These are just a few of Pratchett's latest creations as he treads his usual fine line between the macabre and slapstick comedy.
Pratchett's real talent though, lies in his ability to build on previous novels without becoming a slave to continuity. Going Postal reminds the reader of different aspects of the Discworld's regular cast - from Captain Carrot to Lord Vetinari and Golems to the Assassin's Guild. Having said this, the book works fine as a stand-alone novel, and those unfamiliar with the Discworld series will find this as good a starting point as any.

CLEVER..........................................
Moist Von Lipwig, is a wonderfully colourful character. Lord Vetinari (an outstanding character and one of my favourities), spares Moist from hanging in order that he can save the Post Office which has lapsed into decay. Through Moist, a competition arises with the Clack System which is run by corrupt business men. There is an abundance of fabulous Golems, Post Office employees, and Moist finds romance.
The Gnus working serepticiously to spread a Clack type virus through the system, is an outstanding idea.
Though this book is far from being one of Mr Pratchett's best, it is an enjoyable read. However, I did find the ending rather predictable and disappointing.