Our hero's name is Steve Reeves. He's similar - in name only - to the actor who used to play Hercules. He's the son of a postman who's been losing it for decades. He's got a girlfriend he's not so sure about, a demeaning job at BagelWorks, and a crappy car. Things are not going well for Steve. He just went home for his sister's wedding (to another postman) and hates his family more than ever. His Dad just gave him a gun, and he doesn't know who to shoot first. His girlfriend just dumped him (now he's sure), he just lost his demeaning job, and his car still stinks. What's a jobless, dreamless, girl-less twentynothing to do? Scam money off his deaf grandmother. Drink before noon with his equally pathetic friends. Keep the gun. And try to keep from Going Postal.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Steve Reeves, the protagonist of Stephan Jarmaillo's first novel, Going Postal, is living proof that a college degree doesn't get you that far anymore. The first and only member of his family to graduate from college, Steve has risen no higher on the ladder to success than working at a bagel shop, a job he's just lost. Losing a job is, for Steve, demoralizing, even more so since his girlfriend has exited from his life at the same time. What's the unemployed son of a San Diego mailman to do? As the title suggests, Steve bears a grudging admiration for a subset of his father's colleagues, those frustrated and overworked postal workers who finally snap and start shooting; he even starts carrying a gun that his father gave him. But by novel's end Steve has a new girl, a new job, and a measure of contentment that even a Colt .45 can't supply. How he makes it all happen without Going Postal is pure entertainment.
From Booklist
Steve Reeves is just not mailman material, not like his father or his brother-in-law. Nor does he follow in the herculean footsteps of his namesake. This spindly, glasses-wearing college grad cannot hold a job, though he can shoot a gun. He riddles conversations with tales of postal-revenge killings, stories his father brought home from work. Throughout his adventures in unemployment, he spends too much time alone in his cluttered-with-fast-food-litter San Francisco cottage, obsessing about sex and role-playing with the Colt .45 his father gave him. He secretly totes it to the Safeway, so while contemplating Green Giant petit peas he is packing the pistol. Steve drives himself crazy with the realization that his whole life has been a constant exercise in "trying not to do things": not pleasing his mother, not seeking a career, and, now, not going postal. An angst-filled coming-of-age novel, like Catcher in the Rye and Generation X, but with a violent '90s edge. Jennifer Henderson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hysterical!,
This review is from: Going Postal (Paperback)
Okay, so admittedly the cliche about "going postal" is starting to get old, but this book has to be one of the best I read in the past year. The ending fizzled a bit IMO; the ride to get there, however, is well worth it!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite book,
By Sk8chick06@aol.com (ontario canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Going Postal (Paperback)
I loved this book so much. i'm a 17 year old girl from ontario, canada. Going postal is the most funniest, touching books of the year. i loved the part when steve and brady were camping and steve had the profound thoughts about the pink stone. i also read Jarmillo's "chocolate jesus" but i didn't think it was as good.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why Isn't This Book Famous?,
By Johnson Clancy (Tuscaloosa, AL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Going Postal (Paperback)
The frustrations of the young protagonist, Steve (a bright college graduate forced into, you guessed it, postal work) are timeless--and particularly timely in these (2009) economic times. I can only guess as to why this book isn't mentioned along with "Catcher in the Rye" and 'Confederacy of Dunces' as the sharpest, wryest, funniest alienated young protagonist novels of all time. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it until recently coming upon it. Maybe "going postal" is cliched and that put people off, even over a decade ago. Forget that. If you are looking for a few hours (and you will read it straight through) of the best and most insightful comedy possible, "Going Postal" is your book. And tell a literature professor.
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