There is simply not enough risk involved in the story. In addition, one is never really quite sure what Pratchett is trying to poke fun at – is it the post office, with its never-ending lines and letter-and-stamp bureaucracy? The unreliable internet? The money-hungry corporation? Many of the barbs fall so timidly short of their targets that it is nearly impossible to tell. The religious undertones of Moist the Great (Letter) Deliver never come to fruition, and much of the tension in the story itself simply drains away without reaching an epiphany. Even with his newly-refined ability to focus his humor on one subject, Pratchett never quite manages to deliver the scathing criticism that really impels a good satire. The larger frame of Moist’s journey is almost entirely predictable – does anyone really doubt that the career tin-can con man will eventually gain a heart, or that the corrupt corporation will get its ultimate comeuppance?īut, plot aside, the author masterfully adds enough exaggerated circumstances and clever commentary to keep his readers intrigued (though never enthralled).

Plot has never been Pratchett’s strong point, and once again, it never quite manages to drive the book. The newly-christened Postmaster General does battle with the corporation that owns the worldwide network of the semaphore (or telegraph) towers, and is able to send a message from point to point almost instantaneously. Moist’s universe is uniquely situated for a good satire because while the post office has never really been successful, his city already has a Pratchett version of the internet. When the government forces him to choose between death and taking over the city’s stagnating post office, Moist decides to venture into the abyss of century-old undelivered letters in order to find out what it means to be a real postman. “Going Postal” follows the story of Moist van Lipwig, a successful young con-artist who until now has made his living by pretending to be anyone but himself.

Where once Pratchett would have poked fun at any target he could, his humor today is much keener, focusing directly on the target of his satire in order to draw more effective parallels to communicate his point. His eccentric style has developed greatly over the years.

The book represents a first in many ways for the celebrated author.

In “Going Postal,” the master satirist takes aim both at the men who deliver our mail and the corporate businesses who try to control everything that moves, exploring the under utilized depths of the post office in order to deliver a satire about bureaucratic inefficiency. But the premise of Pratchett’s most recent book centers on something a little more letter-perfect: the post office.

Going postal book