Dear American Airlines, by Jonathan Miles

  Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles is reminiscent of Nicholson Baker's Mezzanine, a story which takes place entirely on the escalator down to the mezzanine for a shoelace; both of these novels conveying the idea that life is lived just as much on the inside as on the out. Bennie Ford is stranded at O'Hare on his way to his daughter's wedding-ish ceremony. Because of weather, the airline has cancelled all flights and is ruining Bennie's last shot at redemption. So Bennie, having somewhere to go and no way to get there, sits down and writes a letter of complaint to American Airlines. Thus the reader is drawn into the history of a defeated man that is gorgeously, poignantly told with great and gentle humor, a story that gracefully dances on the edge of sentimentality without crossing the line and that delivers the gutpunch of "I didn't see that coming," and that's all I want to say about that, because I want you to read this book.I loved Dear American Airlines. Jonathan Miles has written a book for those who live with our regrets in an uneasy détente, who are still maybe bewildered by our choices and how we got here, who are still trying to get there.