Dear American Airlines: A Novel

By Jonathan Miles

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 2, 2009
• ISBN: 9780547347028

Jonathan Miles

After a nomadic childhood in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Jonathan Miles has been travelling ever since and currently lives in Paris. He studied at University College, London and received his doctorate from Jesus College, Oxford. He is the author of several books, including Medusa: The Shipwreck, the Scandal and the Masterpiece, Nine Lives of Otto Katz and St Petersburg: Three Centuries of Murderous Desire, which were all published to international acclaim.

Reviews for Dear American Airlines

[rdra1962 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tiny, almost perfect book. Guy going to a wedding, flight cancelled for no apparent reason, stranded in O'Hare, decides to write for a refund. And so it begins! A concise tale of the life of a fahter and the daughter who's wedding he needs to attend.

[jamespaul977 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story but anti-climactic.

[nivramkoorb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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 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.

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A good idea that went bad. The main character was annoying. It was written like a bad blog entry (or a rambling letter - which is what it is...but it could have been better!). I can admit to skipping over a lot the paragraphs about Walenty (the main character is translating a book about this dude)...I'm sure it had something to do with the story, but I just wasn't interested.

[lindap69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What do you do when you are stuck in O'Hara because your flight was canceled and you are on the way to the wedding of your daughter whom you have not seen since she was an infant? You write a letter to the airlines telling your life story which includes a lot of alcohol, missed opportunities, family and friends with issues and sorrows. You tell it with with and humor and you leave your reader asking some of the big questions about life.

[samchan_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This set up—writing a complaint letter—was surprisingly ungimmicky. This is one of the few books that made me chuckle out loud and kind of broke my heart at the same time. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but for a “white male f*#k-up novel,”—usually the type that bores me—it was a pretty satisfying read.

[jenners26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE AUDIOBOOKThe entire book is in the form of protracted letter(s) to American Airlines by Bennie Ford. Bennie has found himself stranded at an airport (thanks to those nice folks at American!) and is writing to express his displeasure. Along the way, we learn about Bennie’s life and why it is so critical that he makes his flight. I listened to this on audio, and Mark Bramhall has this giant, booming, Southern-inflected voice that came to personify Bennie for me. It was a top-notch narration (which felt more like a performance than a narration), and I think audio might be the way to go on this one. At turns funny and heartbreaking, the story was surprisingly involving.

[randall6hansen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short read that is packed with punches... funny, tragic, philosophical, and more. What starts as a letter to the airlines for a refund on a botched air flight -- a rant really -- turns into something much more. Mixed between details of being stuck in an airport overnight and a review of his life, the book spins a good tale.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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, relatable experience. I enjoyed it a lot, and read it almost in one sitting.

[grigoro_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this book after hearing rave reviews, but I wasn't wowed by it. A man on the way to his daughter's marriage is stranded at O'hare Airport. He starts an angry letter to American Airlines, but ends up telling his life story. At times funny, but overall it is the story of a sad, wasted life of an alcoholic who destroys his marriage and hasn't seen his daughter since she was an infant.

[bnbooklady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 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.

[invisiblelizard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was initially interested in this book because of the epistolic nature of its form: it's written as an open letter to American Airlines as our protagonist Benjamin Ford is waylaid in O'Hare (and who hasn't been there/done that before) as he tries to make it from New York to California to attend his daughter's wedding. There is a lot more to the story than that (obviously)—consider that his daughter is marrying her girlfriend, that Bennie hasn't been a part of her life since she was a baby, that his own life is falling apart, etc. and you quickly understand that this is more than just an open letter to an airline, it's a summation of Bennie's life. And you pardon the author the obvious flaw that is: no matter how long the layover, there's no way a guy could write a 200 page letter while he waits for the next plane.I was interested in this because the voice of the narrator-as-author intrigues me. First person stories can either work incredibly well (if the author has taken the time to create an interesting character and then put himself into that character's mind as he writes) or incredibly not. I think the voice in this novel worked quite well. Like I said, could have gone the other way, but it was believable. Sarcastic (understandably so given the circumstances), shameful and sympathetic all at the same time, Miles has created a well-rounded, believable character in Bennie Ford and let Bennie's own voice drive the story along.Shame that the story itself didn't turn out better than the character deserved. (Potential spoiler alert ahead, I'll warn you now.) Yeah, I liked all of the back story about Bennie's life, how his own father was a immigrant, his mother a psychotic, his wife smart enough to leave him, he himself a drunk, but all of the story-within-a-story business (Bennie is a translator and is in the process of translating a story from Polish to English and we get a lot of that woven in here) felt like filler to me. And the 11th hour introduction of the (seriously, here's the spoiler) potential suicide that Bennie is contemplating felt, well, like an 11th hour introduction in a "where in the hell did that come from" sort of way.I liked Miles' writing enough to at least be curious about his next book, but I don't think I'll bother to buy it right away (certainly not in hardback) like I ended up doing with this one.

[smellsbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This started out OK, with some good laughs... but I had trouble keeping focused as it got going. Too many things going on, and also I couldn't work up too much of a connection to the main character, didn't really care. I didn't finish the book. Counted my losses and moved steadfastly forward to greener pastures.

[pdebolt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short book is a gem. While Bennie's flight to his daughter's commitment ceremony is delayed in Chicago, he writes a letter to American Airlines to demand the money he paid for this flight be returned. What begins as a rant soon digresses into observations about his life that is alternately very funny and very poignant. I love Jonathan Miles' writing style - his words are precisely placed for maximum effect on, and reflection by, the readers of this novel. I hope he has another book in progress.

[datwood_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Bennie Ford is travelling across country to his daughter's wedding, when his flight is cancelled. So he whips out his computer and starts a whiny message to American Airlines that gets out of hand. There has been a certain amount of hype about this little book, so I checked it out. I'm sorry! It is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's an okay read if there is absolutely nothing else in the house to read and you don't want to start on the cereal boxes, but I don't advise going out and buying multiple copies to give to all your friends.

[debs4jc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This short novel is one long extended letter. We learn all about the author of the letter as he is stuck in an airport and is amusing himself by writing to American Airlines. He ends up pretty much telling us--in a somewhat convoluted manner--his life story. I found this to be a bit tedious, it had some interesting moments but I never really got all that interested in the main character's struggles.

[kmaziarz_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Benjamin R. Ford…Bennie…is stuck at O’Hare Airport for the night, and he is entirely ticked off about the situation. In his free time, of which he suddenly has far more than he wants, he begins a letter of complaint to American Airlines in which he requests…nay, DEMANDS…a refund, in the most energetic, scathing, colorful, and utterly entertaining terms imaginable.As he writes, his letter of complaint to the airline slowly evolves into a letter of complaint seemingly addressed to life itself, detailing Bennie’s long history of frustration and disappointment. Bennie, you see, is on his way to the wedding of his estranged daughter…the daughter whom he has not seen since she was an infant and the inexplicable flight delay threatens to rob him of the most important day of his life.In explaining the circumstances that have led him to this point, Benjamin is forced to revisit every step and mis-step in his life, starting with his own birth to a schizophrenic suicidal artist mother and a Polish Holocaust survivor father who has, ironically, taken a job as an exterminator. Perhaps too much like his mother for his own good, Benjamin had some success early on as a poet, but his growing alchohol abuse eventually robbed him of creativity, the love of his life, his infant daughter, his self-respect, and very nearly his life. Now in recovery from the addiction, his days are spent taking care of his aged mother who, after a stroke, can communicate solely through pithy post-it-note messages; and in translating Polish novels into English. Portions of his latest translation effort are interspersed with the narrative of Benjamin’s life, and slowly, the two storylines begin to mirror one another in odd ways; both feature victims of traumatic life events trying desperately to find a new reason for living. Hilarious and very wise, “Dear American Airlines” has a way of universalizing all the minor tragedies of life, while providing a good laugh and a bit of hope for the future.

[mhallville-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very funny first novel by Miles. One favorite line -- the New Orleans jazz sax player who says to the protagonist after an all night bout of drinking: "Looks like the sun done caught me ass again."

[mazeway · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow. I LOVED this book. It reminded me of early Nicholson Baker, but with more soul. It's clever and funny and painful and...well, short. It's nice to have a really good book that has been well edited and never drags. I hope Miles writes more fiction.

[alphaorder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Short books often mean that much thought has been given to every line and this is certainly the case here. Bennie Ford is stranded at O'Hare on the way to his daughter's wedding. He decides to write a complaint letter to American Airlines requesting-strike that-demanding a refund on his ticket. I cannot recommend this book enough.

[exvivre · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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 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.