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Holistic Guidance - Dear American Airlines: A Novel
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List Price: $22.00
Our Price: $14.96
Your Save: $ 7.04 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780547054018
ISBN: 0547054017
Label: Houghton Mifflin Co
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: 2008-06-05
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co
Studio: Houghton Mifflin Co
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sometimes the planes don't fly on time.
Bennie Ford, a fifty-three-year-old failed poet turned translator, is traveling to his estranged daughter's wedding when his flight is canceled. Stuck with thousands of fuming passengers in the purgatory of O'Hare airport, he watches the clock tick and realizes that he will miss the ceremony. Frustrated, irate, and helpless, Bennie does the only thing he can: he starts to write a letter. But what begins as a hilariously excoriating demand for a refund soon becomes a lament for a life gone awry, for years misspent, talent wasted, and happiness lost. A man both sinned against and sinning, Bennie writes in a voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and wide-ranging erudition, underlined by a consistent groundnote of regret for the actions of a lifetime -- and made all the more urgent by the fading hope that if he can just make it to the wedding, he might have a chance to do something right.
A margarita blend of outrage, wicked humor, vulnerability, intelligence, and regret, Dear American Airlines gives new meaning to the term "airport novel" and announces the emergence of major new talent in American fiction.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: One part was better than another ...
Comment: I view this book as two separate stories. One is the more or less present tense story of the narrator being stranded at O'Hare Airport on the way from New York to LA. The other is kind of a memoir of his life, some of which ties in to his being stranded at O'Hare, but most of which doesn't. Indeed, even if his layover in O'Hare was not one minute longer than scheduled (which theoretically would have taken away the raison d'etre of the book), roughly 80% of the book could still stand on its own--his relationship with the two Stella's, his relationship with his mother, his work life, his childhood and relationship with his Dad, the translations of the Polish novel, etc. etc. Therefore, I asked myself: if the book were confined solely to that 80%, how much would I have enjoyed the book. The answer for me was: not that much. It would have been OK but nothing to rave about. One of the problems is that there was no need to present any sort of a coherent narrative with respect to that 80%--alot of it was just stream-of-conciousness rambling that meandered here and there. In fact, I would wonder if the book would have been written at all if it were confined to that 80%. One might argue that it is unfair to divorce that portion of the book from the remaining 20% but I don't think so, because, as noted, the 80% could easily stand on its own, flight delays or no. The reason I gave it (as many as) 4 stars is because I thought that the 20% was fabulous. Very funny in parts and brilliantly written--by far the best portions of the book. In fact, after awhile, I kept waiting for the past tense memoir portions to end so we could get back to the present-tense flight delay situation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Comment: I listened to this wonderful book on audiobook format and it is fantastic. I rarely rate a book, but this one is so special and enjoyable. The narrator was absoultely fabulous and brought the story to life! Give it a try, you won't regret it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Read
Comment: Dear American Airlines: A Novel
This is just way too much fun to get through too quickly. Author Jonathan Miles can now add me to his list of fans!
Customer Rating:
Summary: What else is new?
Comment: I read through this book and just couldn't keep attention. I am in the industry and did not think any of this was funny nor accurate. All it does is badger American Airlines. (and no i dont work for AA). It just seems like a long written out letter that goes nowhere. There was nothing in this book entertaining nor interesting. Nothing about this book flows, and the author goes nowhere with some of his chapters (most) while whining about ALL OF HIS HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES (hint sarcasm).... i have no clue why people are giving it good ratings, read all the bad reviews before buying this book. They are all soo true. Please do me and yourself a favor and dont waste your time or money.....
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Comment: Finally, a novel which lived up to its hype. This one of the few books that I have read in the past several years that I could not put down. The characters, pacing and interwoven stories were well rendered.
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