A thorough disclosure on today's airlines and the passengers who use them—best read while still on the ground.
An informative, revealing examination of the business of flying.
Aviation consultant Gerchick, former chief counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration, pulls no punches in this highly researched exposé on the state of air travel today. He probes behind the scenes to give readers a critical and edifying take on aviation, answering a variety of questions: e.g., Why was free food eliminated from flights? Why were baggage fees adopted? What do pilots really do behind that locked cockpit door when the plane is on autopilot? Gerchick distinguishes what's not worth worrying about when flying—that the airplane will break or turbulence will cause it to crash, that safety regulations are lax—from what is: The air traffic controller or pilot could indeed be asleep, it's true that small commuter planes are not as safe as large commercial flights, and birds in the flight path are a perennial problem. He addresses many other issues, as well, explaining the endless fare wars among airlines and the reduction in comfort levels for economy-class passengers, assessing whether the perks of flying first or business class are worth the steep sticker prices. An illuminating and occasionally disgusting chapter on what can make an airline passenger sick will have many readers reaching for the hand sanitizer. Gerchick also discusses frequent flyer miles, why the FAA is so slow to make changes in regulations, and what that confirmation code tells the pilot and flight attendants about who you are. It affects "the way you're treated and the service you get," he explains, "advertising to everyone where you stand in the airline's pecking order." Frequent fliers and once-a-year vacationers alike will benefit from the insights Gerchick provides on an industry that only gets more congested and expensive as the years progress.
A thorough disclosure on today's airlines and the passengers who use them—best read while still on the ground.Pub Date: June 24, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-393-08110-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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