Dear American Airlines

De: Jonathan Miles

Narrado por: Mark Bramhall

Bennie Ford, a 53-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 the cri de coeur of a life misspent, talent wasted.

Ford pens his letter in a voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and wide-ranging erudition, all propelled by the fading hope that if he can just make it to the wedding, he has a chance to do something right in his life.

©2008 Jonathan Miles (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Bennie's command of language as he describes his fellow strandees and his riotous embrace of his own feelings will have readers rooting for him." ( Publishers Weekly)

Sad story....well written

Would you consider the audio edition of Dear American Airlines to be better than the print version?

The reader is perfect! This is a very sad and beautiful story. (Ted, you obviously missed the point!! ) The story is much deeper than the title implies. Well worth listening.

Who was your favorite character and why?

What is this? An english assignment?

What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?

Deep understanding of the material. He actually READ the material BEFORE he did the performonce!!! This is FLAWLESS! Mark's reading MADE the book for me. This is a very moving book, I don't think anyone else could make the telling better.

Any additional comments?

One of the best readings I have ever experienced. I have been listening to audio books on any available medium for almost two decades.

I loved it!

I really loved this book. The narrator was wonderful and I think really gave life to Bennie. This was, of course, not about American Airlines at all, but merely the backdrop and opportunity for Bennie to examine his life and his plan. I feel like I need to listen again to the "Valenti" parts, because honestly I found those distracting from the story and wanted to ff through them. Somewhere along the line (early) I had NO idea what was going on with that, and just found those pieces annoying. However, I'm thinking they must weave into the story somehow, so would like to listen to that again.

But overall, this is a great book, humorous, sad, ironic, wonderfully told, wonderfully narrated. I do highly recommend it.

Rambled a bit...

I doubt I would have finished this book if I'd been reading it rather than listening to it. Stories tend to drift around and characters float in and out.

Rather like a really, really, really long lay-over in an airport.

Coincidence? I think not.

Story starts off well, drags.. then ends decently.

A feast for language lovers

A writer of great imagination and a vocabulary to paint the most delicious pictures. A great ride (read) for anyone who loves to think outside the box.

Excellent

I don't know what the hell people on this site are looking for in a work of fiction that they're giving this book/reader less than 4-5 stars, but this book is excellent. Perhaps the title encouraged a little misunderstanding into the point of the narrative, but how would a 7-hour diatribe against an airline be at all entertaining? This story is compelling, if a little obvious (the drunken poet recants his misspent talent and youth), but the characters and wit are amazingly detailed and imaginative. The reader was excellent as well.