Dear American Airlines

I am now going to talk about the effectiveness of Jonathan Miles' writing style. When reading his book, I often felt like I was there with Benny, or like I was Benny. He has an extremely unique way of writing, which at first was a little harsh, but eventually I came to really enjoy. An example of his way of writing is, "Even when I drank alone, the vodka provided me with a kind of soundtrack- a rhythm, channeled voices, a brain crowded with noise and streaming color, the rackety blurred clutter of my decrepitude" (53). I'm not quite sure what I like about this sentence, but I think it it that even though I could never even imagine being an alcoholic, the real way in which it is written opens me up to reasons why somebody would be. I think his flowery word choice can make even awful things sound appealing if he wants them to. This also works backwards, making awful things seem even more awful. I like how he describes drinking as having a "soundtrack", showing how it is something that programmed him to feel a certain way. I feel like I am actually put in his shoes, even though his lifestyle is so different then mine. When he received an invitation to his daughter's wedding who he hasn't seen since she was a baby, he shows how he felt in a very unique way. "My original thought was that it was some kind of cruel joke from Stella Sr. [his ex wife] - her poisonous & long-simmered response to my attempt to make amends of five years ago"(57). By describing it as "poisonous", I am really put in his shoes, and I can see why he would of thought that. This also helps me see all his stored up anger.

There are many reasons why Benny has so much stored up anger, one being his inability to write poetry anymore. He used to be a very good poet, but has not written in many years. I feel like poetry was his escape from the real world, which to him was often hell, and into his own world. I think that although he enjoys being a translator, he wishes that somehow he could make his own work and express himself. Talking about poetry he says, "My mother still hopes for a reunion, goading me with a stick rather than a carrot: NO ONE, said one Post-it, REMEMBERS THE TRANSLATOR"(79). I think that as much as Benny won't admit this to himself, he knows it is true. I think that he is pretending to hide behind other people's work, but it is actually killing him inside. On the same page, it says, "The way certain poems guided me through life like blue runway lights" (79). Benny relied so much on the beauty of poetry, that without it he is a different person, and he doesn't have a way to make his life better.