Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier

""In letter carrier nightmares, it's always getting dark out,"" observes Wyckoff, a 15-year veteran of the postal service, in his sweet, uncomplicated memoir about life as a mailman. He has spent his whole career in one Minneapolis neighborhood, and the book covers everything he goes through there, from encounters with hostile pets to neighborhood gatherings where no one recognizes the civvies-clad postman. The people along Wyckoff's route, and his take on them, make engaging case studies: the struggling Native American family that still puts out a bag for the annual Letter Carrier's Food Drive, the five-year-old boy who can't find his way home, the 99-year-old woman whom Wyckoff kisses on her birthday. Wyckoff may not be typical of all mailmen (he carries dog biscuits and dresses up like Santa Claus at Christmas) but his experiences illuminate the challenges faced by postal workers-and neighbors-across the nation. Wyckoff's writing is accessible, if a bit bland; this is clearly a first effort, and the dialogue doesn't always ring true. Though there's no real plotline, or any major characters aside from Wyckoff himself, this loving portrait of an average American community should give readers a new way of looking at the civil servants in their lives.