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Feb
15
Book Review: Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
2010 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Now available in paperback from Mariner Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Having failed at everything he has pursued with any degree of seriousness—marriage, fatherhood, poetry—fifty-three year old Bennie Ford has resigned himself to a life of loneliness, estrangement, and mediocrity. But now, his daughter, with whom he has had no relationship to speak of for more than twenty years, is getting married (to a woman, no less, causing Bennie an endless amount of confusion), and if Bennie can just get to California in time, he thinks he’ll have a chance to set everything right.
Unfortunately for Bennie, American Airlines has other plans, and the farthest Bennie will get is the H/K terminal of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Oh, I have been there and done that.
Dear American Airlines is Bennie’s letter to the titular airline, requesting—nay, demanding—a refund for his $392.68. What begins as hilarious, biting attack on the airline industry and the ubiquitous failure at customer service (who among us hasn’t been stuck in an airport for seemingly no reason at all?) gradually becomes a reflection on a life gone awry. It’s the sort of reflection we are generally able to avoid by distracting ourselves with the drudgery of daily life, the sort of insights we only bring ourselves to face when we have no other choice. After all, one can only read and watch airport TV and take so many smoke breaks (as Bennie frequently does) before thoughts about how one ended up here creep in.
As Bennie’s stay in the purgatory that is O’Hare grows longer, so does his letter to American Airlines. He writes about his childhood, defined by misadventures with a schizophrenic mother, his failed marriage(s), his visit to the proverbial “rock bottom” that preceded the road to sobriety, and his hope, however unrealistic, that this weekend trip to California will somehow repair the damage he has taken decades to cause. Bennie writes about the people he meets in the airport, those temporary friendships borne of circumstance and necessity, and he addresses the poor cubicle drone who will inevitably spend the better part of a day reading his letter of demand.
All I really knew about Dear American Airlines going in was the basic premise: man stuck in airport writes an angry and humorous letter of complaint. So I didn’t expect the melancholy, the heartbreak, the longing, the sarcasm that reveals a deeply felt cynicism that stands in contrast to the hope underlying Bennie’s journey. I thought I was going to get a good laugh (and I did, especially because, having gone to college in Chicago and spent more than a few hours stranded in the American terminal myself, I recognized many of the landmarks Bennie mentions), but I got much more.
Dear American Airlines is darker and sadder than I bargained for, but that gives it added depth and makes for a more satisfying read. Author Jonathan Miles balances Bennie’s losses with moments of great humor and touching encounters with his fellow travelers. At a slim 180 pages, this book appears to be a quick read, but there is much to be savored and taken in between its covers, and I found myself reading slowly in order to absorb it all. With something for every reader, Dear American Airlines is a solid 4 out of 5.
Hey, FTC: I bought this one from my local independent bookstore.
If you click a link to buy Dear American Airlines, I’ll receive a commission from IndieBound…which I’ll inevitably end up giving back to my local indie bookstore so the cycle can continue!
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Oh, glad you enjoyed this one. I’ve had it sitting on my shelf for what feels like forever.
This I want to read.
American Airlines just announced that standby passengers shall expect a $50 fee. What nuts! I’ve always thought the title refers to all the American carriers for their ridiculous *lack* of customer service and these outrageous fees for pretty much everything. I’m looking forward to reading this one and chime along.
The title refers to both the epistolary format of the story and the author’s ironic use of “dear,” as you’ve guessed here. It’s a good read for anyone who has suffered through travel delays.
Ack, getting stuck in an airport is one of my worst nightmare’s, and I always avoid O’Hare. This book sounds great though – definitely going on my TBR.
This was one of my favorite books from last year. I gave it to several people for Christmas too.
I’m so happy you reviewed this book. When it was first published I was very interested in reading it but I wanted to wait until it went on sale or came out in paperback. Of course, although I wrote on a list somewhere…probably more than once…I forgot about it. So thank you! I enjoyed your review and was also surprised to learn that the book is more than just a humorous rant. It sounds even better than I expected and I am really looking forward to reading it and won’t forget it this time!
~ Amy
This sounds like one I’d enjoy – it’s funny how one incident like that can cause such reflection. Great review!
This book sounds really good. I hadn’t heard of this author before hand. Thanks, you.
-Sea
I loved reading your review, especially since I took this book home from the library last year, but I never did read it.
See sometimes, I get to enjoy a book simply by reading another bloggers thoughts; so a big thanks to you.
I’ve slept on a bench in O’Hare, with my bags wrapped around my limbs so they weren’t ripped off. Nasty stuff. It could cause anyone to write a venting letter, no? I would have expected this to be light as well. I hope this man’s life has turned around!
Well, it’s a novel, so one can also hope, right?
I have also spent many a miserable day in O’Hare, but the worst was when it snowed a foot on the day I was supposed to fly home to Kansas City for spring break my freshman year of college, and I had the flu, and my flight kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed….I ended up sitting alone in an empty gate bawling into the phone about how I just wanted to see my mom. It was not retty.
This looks really good. When I was a kid, my dad used to play this Tom Paxton song that went “Thank you, Atlantic Airlines, for breaking the neck on my guitar!” – this sounds like a longer, grimmer version of that.
There’s a great viral video out by a musician who had his guitar broken by United Airlines. They refused to compensate him for it, and he threatened to make a big public stink about it….they still refused, so he made the stink. It’s hysterical.
Yet another one to add to my list.
I didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as you did, I think because I was really in the mood for a humorous book and this was not. It was very dark and depressing in a lot of places. I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I had been able to just sit and read it all in one sitting. I felt lost each time I set it down and went back to it.
I think some of the problem is that the book was marketed as humorous (or, at least that was my perception of it), so it is jarring when you pick it up expecting that (which is what I did, too) and get something else.
Thanks for the review! I had been wondering about this one for awhile, but I think it’s worth a read.
Definitely worth a read!
[...] Book Review: Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles [...]
Hadn’t heard of this one but it sounds really good. And I, too, have been in that black hold of airports they call O’Hare. I don’t think I’ve ever flown through without being delayed at least 5 hours.
I can count on one hand the number of times my flights out of O’Hare have NOT been delayed. And I’ve flown through there A LOT. It’s so crazy….but good for reading and getting things done.
I’m all game for it now especially I’ve been through some crazy delays that weren’t even caused by bad weather. I need to vent while reading.
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