The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman
Long before the glamour of Palm Beach or the glitz of South Beach, nineteenth century South Florida is a would-be paradise still up for grabs. When small-town postmaster Earl Shank meets Josef Steinmetz, an earnest and naïve pioneer, a legend is born, but not without the help of a drunken postal carrier, a mermaid-hunting shipping magnate, a Seminole woman out for revenge, and an opportunistic New York Times reporter. What sort of paradise will Florida become? And who will stamp its fate?
The 20th anniversary edition, revised by the author and introduced by the ghost of New York Times reporter John Thomas, makes The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman available in paperback and ebook for the first time.
Order Ebook
Order a print copy
A signed print copy of the 20th Anniversary Edition is available from the author for $20 (shipping included). To order, please email me at:
This Week's Dedication
The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman
Long before the glamour of Palm Beach or the glitz of South Beach, nineteenth century South Florida is a would-be paradise still up for grabs. When small-town postmaster Earl Shank meets Josef Steinmetz, an earnest and naïve pioneer, a legend is born, but not without the help of a drunken postal carrier, a mermaid-hunting shipping magnate, a Seminole woman out for revenge, and an opportunistic New York Times reporter. What sort of paradise will Florida become? And who will stamp its fate?
The 20th anniversary edition, revised by the author and introduced by the ghost of New York Times reporter John Thomas, makes The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman available in paperback and ebook for the first time.
Order Ebook
Order a print copy
A signed print copy of the 20th Anniversary Edition is available from the author for $20 (shipping included). To order, please email me at:
Praise
A marvelously piquant satire on the American Dream…. Fleming’s insights into mythmaking are keen, and his narrative skills and humor finely honed. A marvelously inventive, thoroughly enjoyable tale about our capacity for self-invention, adaptability, and perseverance. —Booklist (**starred review**)
A gem of a first novel…deftly narrated in a wry, tongue-in-cheek style reminiscent of Mark Twain or Ambrose Bierce…. Fleming’s prose is not only first-rate but ingeniously evocative of 19th-century American parlance. —Christian Science Monitor
An engrossing and highly entertaining tale…. The author is a gifted storyteller whose rich style and language provide genuinely treasured moments for all readers. —Library Journal
Winningly satiric… —The New York Times Book Review
You have everything in this novel—history, adventure, humor, and a strong study of the American character. The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman is as much Americana as Death of a Salesman, The Great Gatsby, or Huckleberry Finn: all are searching for what is supposed to be the American Dream. —Ernest J. Gaines, author of A Lesson Before Dying and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
A patchwork job perfectly suited to a lazy author who would rather write his passing whims than visit a library. —John Thomas, ex-New York Times reporter, deceased (from the introduction to the 20th Anniversary Edition)