Product Description

Suddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into ... a government job?

By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as Postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical headman. But if the bold and undoable are what's called for, Moist's the man for the job -- to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise, requires: hope.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22440 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
British fantasist Pratchett's latest special-delivery delight, set in his wonderfully crazed city of Ankh-Morpork, hilariously reflects the plight of post offices the world over as they struggle to compete in an era when e-mail has stolen much of the glamour from the postal trade. Soon after Moist von Lipwig (aka Alfred Spangler), Pratchett's not-quite-hapless, accidental hero, barely avoids hanging, Lord Havelock Vetinari, the despotic but pretty cool ruler of Ankh-Morpork, makes him a job offer he can't refuse—postmaster general of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office. The post office hasn't been open for 20 years since the advent of the Internet-like clacks communication system. Moist's first impulse is to try to escape, but Mr. Pump, his golem parole officer, quickly catches him. Moist must then deal with the musty mounds of undelivered mail that fill every room of the decaying Post Office building maintained by ancient and smelly Junior Postman Groat and his callow assistant, Apprentice Postman Stanley. The place is also haunted by dead postmen and guarded by Mr. Tiddles, a crafty cat. Readers will cheer Moist on as he eventually finds himself in a race with the dysfunctional clacks system to see whose message can be delivered first. Thanks to the timely subject matter and Pratchett's effervescent wit, this 29th Discworld novel (after 2003's Monstrous Regiment) may capture more of the American audience he deserves.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School - When petty con man Moist von Lipwig is hung for his crimes in the first chapter of this surprising and humorous novel, it appears to be the end. But this is Discworld after all, a world "a lot like our own but different." Moist awakes from the shock of his hanging to find that the city's Patrician, Lord Vetinari, has assigned him a government job (a fate worse than death?) restoring the defunct postal system. Of course, there is much more to restore than the flow of letters and packages. Justice as well as communication has been poorly served by a hostile takeover of the "clacks" - a unique messaging system that is part semaphore, part digital, and under the monopoly of the Grand Trunk Company. Before Moist can get very far into the job, he encounters ghosts, the voices of unsent letters, and a ruthless corporate conspiracy. In this quickly escalating battle, the post office is definitely the underdog, but, as the author notes, "an underdog can always find somewhere soft to bite." Fortunately Moist has friends: the determined Miss Dearheart, a golem with more than feet of clay, and a secret society of unemployed and very unusual postal workers as well as a vampire named Oscar. The author's inventiveness seems to know no end, his playful and irreverent use of language is a delight, and there is food for thought in his parody of fantasyland. This 29th Discworld novel, like the rest of the series, is a surefire hit for fans of Douglas Adams and Monty Python. - Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
In the latest Discworld fantasy, con-artist Moist von Lipwig finds himself at the end of his rope, literally. His neck is saved, but the deal for deliverance requires him to restore the defunct local post office, taking on the new monopolistic Internet-like communications system and its greedy leader in the process. Narrator Stephen Briggs navigates the literary swells and eddies with aplomb. New readers of Pratchett may find the going a bit tough at times, but neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will keep this prankster from delivering a laugh-out-loud tale. R.O. 2005 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Watch Out Yahoo!
Although only my second foray into Mr. Pratchett's Disc World series, GOING POSTAL has enough wit, interest, and modern day parables to make it a read worth anyone's while.

My first introduction was with Thud! A tremendous achievement, THUD! had enough quirks in terms of setting and characters to make it a thoroughly enjoyable read (I gave it 5 stars). And although Going Postal can claim its own level of quirkiness, it doesn't quite measure up to my first experience.

Equal parts comedy, fantasy, and crime-drama, Going Postal takes its lead from our current day use of email over the post office. But in the city of Ankh-Morpork, this is taken to an entirely new level. When Moist von Lipwig (don't ask) is given the option of death versus government service as the new postmaster, he has to think about it; that's how bad it might be. But enjoying a heartbeat and being able to breath, Moist accepts the new job only to find out that he has to compete with the Yahoo/Google masters of electronic communications known as the "clacks" which is a series of digital/semaphore towers run by the corrupt Grand Trunk Company.

But trying to get the post office sorted out is a job in itself. The use of old mailmen, stolen equipment, wizards, and a seemingly magical golden suit all hold sway within the postal walls. Oh, and so do tons and tons ...and tons of undelivered mail. So much mail, in fact, that it can talk. Words have power and unless they are delivered to the appropriate address, they may very well drive you mad.

Moist, having been a criminal himself, uses his skills to further the post office. And finding that he actually likes helping people comes as a shock! His first delivered letter helps bring two old lovers together and launches him on a path of destroying the man he once was.

Fires, Golems, vampires, and geeks all aid or damage Moist's hopes for a future postal service that city-dwellers can depend on. And love between Moist and a tough reporter might also blossom, given enough time.

This isn't your standard fiction fodder for those not-in-the-Pratchett-know. But it is fun reading. Light enough to lift spirits, but dense enough to keep your interest and make you think, Going Postal might have you licking stamps instead of clicking send the next time you communicate with friends or family.

Going Postal
A friend suggested after I reviewed Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books that I should give "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett a try. So since I was at the bookstore with nothing else on my reading list, I decided to give it a try. And I was not disappointed. Pratchett's humorous take on fantasy was just what I was looking for after devouring Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series with its hilarious take on sci-fi.

"Going Postal" is actually the thirty-third entry in Pratchett's Discworld series according to Wikipedia. You might think starting with the thirty-third book in a series is a bad idea, but it's not really a sequel to its thirty-two predecessors, just another book set in the same world. In this case a flat world carried around by elephants on the back of an enormous turtle.

Right, so the book begins with Moist von Lipwig (his real name) being hung for various misdeeds committed throughout his long career as a con artist. But Moist does not die. Instead, he's offered by the local tyrant Lord Veniteri the job of running the decrepit post office system in the metropolis of Ankh-Morpork. Since the alternative is death, Moist takes the job as postmaster.

He soon discovers that death might have been preferable because the post office is a complete mess. Mail has been piled up to the point that most of the building in inaccessible. All the post office workers have fled except for "junior" postman Groat (who is an old man) and his dim-witted, pin-collecting sidekick Stanley--and Mr. Tiddles the cat. Much of the post office's decline is due to the new communicatins system known as "the clacks" which are towers using a sort of Morse code to send messages all over the Discworld in hours. With such instant communication possible, who needs to send a letter?

After Moist's attempt to escape from this job is thwarted by his golem bodyguard Mr. Pump, Moist decides to face up to the challenge of making the post office competitive. Falling back on his years as a con artist, Moist begins to generate public excitement by introducing a new invention called stamps. And wouldn't you know it, soon people are collecting these stamps, including Stanley. Moist's efforts are aided by saboteurs who want to shut down the clacks to put the greedy bankers who bought the clacks system from its naive inventors out of business.

As the post office begins to succeed, Moist expands his operations by hiring more golem workers from the very inappropriately-named Miss Adora Belle Dearheart. In typical fashion for this kind of story, Moist falls in love with Miss Dearheart and begins to take his post office job seriously. But the greedy owners of the clacks don't like competition and will do anything to put Moist out of commission for good.

This really is a very fun read and its messages about technology and corporate greed are pretty much pulled from today's headlines. What makes the book so great to read is that there is a serious message, but the story itself is never told in such a serious way to make it a drag. So you can have a good time and a few laughs and also learn a few things. What else could you ask for from a book? Well, there are one or two things, but let's not be too picky.

Given this is the first one of nearly forty in the series I've read I won't make too many generalizations about the series or any of that. If you want more background on that, go read the Wikipedia page on Discworld or I'm sure there are various groups, message boards, and websites around the Internet to help you. In the meantime I'm going to read a few more of these because this one really hit the spot.

That is all.

Pratchett = Wonderful as usual
The part I like best in this edition: Stephen Briggs doing Reacher Gilt, that pirate of industry, sounds EXACTLY like Johnny Depp playing Jack Sparrow.