Going Postal (2004)
Going Postal is a 2004 fiction book written by Terry Pratchett.
Moist von Lipwig is a swindler with a talent for walking away clean, right up until Ankh-Morpork's tyrant Lord Vetinari hands him a choice: hang, or run the city's derelict Post Office. Moist takes the job. He inherits mountains of undelivered letters, two very odd employees, a building with a grudge, and a rivalry with the clacks, the semaphore network run by a ruthless board. Adora Belle Dearheart, chain-smoking and furious, complicates everything. Pratchett turns bureaucracy, con artistry, and the birth of fast communication into one of Discworld's sharpest comedies about earning an honest reputation dishonestly.
Quick answers
What is Going Postal about?
Moist von Lipwig is a swindler with a talent for walking away clean, right up until Ankh-Morpork's tyrant Lord Vetinari hands him a choice: hang, or run the city's derelict Post Office. Moist takes the job. He inherits mountains of undelivered letters, two very odd employees, a building with a grudge, and a rivalry with the clacks, the semaphore network run by a ruthless board. Adora Belle Dearheart, chain-smoking and furious, complicates everything. Pratchett turns bureaucracy, con artistry, and the birth of fast communication into one of Discworld's sharpest comedies about earning an honest reputation dishonestly.
When was Going Postal published?
Going Postal was published on 9 October 2008.
Who made Going Postal?
Going Postal was written by Terry Pratchett.
Similar books
Going Postal in our writing
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
- Companion guide: The Thieves' Guild: Rogues, Heists and the Fantasy Underworld
A few thoughts on Going Postal
Fans of the con-man-goes-straight setup should try Catch Me If You Can, where a gifted forger reinvents himself one step ahead of the law. The 2010 Sky adaptation Going Postal casts Richard Coyle as Moist and keeps the clacks-versus-post rivalry intact. For similar civic comedy about a shabby institution dragged back to life, Parks and Recreation shares the underdog-optimism streak.
Satirical takes on industries getting reinvented from the inside
Going Postal turns a derelict post office into a sharp joke about monopoly and communication. These five aim that same satire at other systems: moving pictures, the music business, an empire's creaking bureaucracy, a village's exploited economy, and Hell's own paperwork, each recognisable the moment the story starts pulling it apart.
Sincere reformers trying to save an institution nobody expected to work
Going Postal is Pratchett's argument that even a broken, mocked institution is worth fighting for once someone finally takes it seriously. These four follow that same faith: earnest people patching up a newspaper, a university sports team, an army, or a small town from the inside, one stubborn improvement at a time.