Dear American Airlines

The writing was terrific. Forget the premise of someone writing a complaint letter to American Airlines while stranded in the airport. That is just a device for the author to tell Bennie's story. Even the story is not important. What is important is the humor, creativity, and levels of thought that occur with this novel. Although 180 pages, it really was longer because it was almost entirely a narrative. I was so impressed my Jonathan Miles' ability to constantly come up with funny insightful observations. Unlike other reviewers, I really did not dwell on his life(alcoholic poet translator) and the use of the letter to the airline device. Those that dwelled on that in a negative way missed the importance of his creative writing. He had show more so many interesting rifts and streams of consciousness. His one about observing a young woman's breast springing out of her basketball jersey blouse with a nipple like a pink tic-tac was a classic. To me this book represented everything I like about good modern fiction. Can't wait to read his newest novel. I think this is my first 5 star this year. show less

Bennie Ford, stranded in O'Hare airport and about to miss his estranged daughter's wedding, writes what begins as a letter of complaint to the airline and quickly becomes, essentially, his entire life story. That life story is pretty standard for this kind of literary novel, really -- a washed-up alcoholic writer with a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships does a lot of navel-gazing -- but the writing is terrific, with a vivid narrative voice and an undercurrent of bitter humor that hit exactly the right notes for me. Even the letter-to-an-airline premise, which seems gimmicky and implausible, worked much better than I expected, largely due to the fact that being stranded in the limbo of an airport is such an incredibly familiar, show more relatable experience. I enjoyed it a lot, and read it almost in one sitting. show less

Jonathan Miles' Dear American Airlines was one of my long-shot books - the kind you pick out from the new releases in the dim hope it will be "decent". I'm happy to report this book is much better than decent.

Beginning as a complaint letter to the air carrier, Dear American Airlines becomes the autobiography, memoir, diary and confessional of Bennie Ford - an ex-poet, ex-bartender, ex-drunk, ex-husband and current translator of better writers' works. Trapped in the purgatory of Chicago's O'Hare airport, Bennie pours his life out to the anonymous corporate drones at the receiving end of the letter. The results balance deftly between being heart-wrenchingly pathetic and perversely funny.

Dear American Airlines is appreciable for its show more ability to carry a message without collapsing from bloated self-importance. Miles' wry descriptions of O'Hare (including the Soviet-style architecture of its Hilton hotel) add lightness and humor without detracting from Bennie's less than fond remembrances. It's a beautiful demonstration that a "serious" book does not need to be all angst and pain. show less

This book was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Recommended by a co-worker, I was expecting a humorous rant. Its definitely a rant, but less humorous than heartbreaking.

Told in the context of a letter to American Airlines, written by a stranded passenger, the author reflects on his character's life with a searing spotlight. Our hero is on his way to his daughter's wedding, a daughter who he has not seen since she was an infant. He relays the tale of his past relationships, including the one that produced his daughter, drinking binges, failed dreams, all leading to a very important date to "make things right".

At once heartbreaking and uplifting, the book leads to a self-examination worth taking!

I didn't stop reading it BUT half way through I read an interview with Ursula K. Le Guin in the New York Times (8/9/15) which almost stopped me. She was asked, "What genres do you especially enjoy reading? and which do you avoid?" and she replied, " I tend to avoid fiction about dysfunctional urban middle-class people written in the present tense. This makes it hard to find a new novel, sometimes." Whoops. This is a novel about a dysfunctional urban middle-class man. It was cleverly written: doesn't that count? Not enough. But I didn't stop reading, so perhaps 2.5 stars. I can't really say I liked it, or that I brought anything but angst away from it.

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 (t0 a woman, no less, causing Bennie and 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 show more 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. show less

Should a good book be savoured or devoured? How about both? At times, I felt like I was gobbling down Jonathan Miles' Dear American Airlines, unable to consume it quickly enough. Still, even as I was shovelling it in, I caught myself repeatedly rereading sentences, paragraphs, entire chapters, just to revel in the viciously-sharp, hilarious, and weirdly beautiful writing. I haven't read such an utterly delicious book in a good long while - this one is a bona fide treat for the heart and head. Please see the rest of my review on my blog, The Door is Ajar, at http://shernor2.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/dear-american-airlines/.