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Living Section of the San Bernardino SUN January 12, 2003 Issue 
The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood 
A Modern Tale of Quixotic Love From the Biblical stories to the Greek epics of Jason and Medea or Helen and Paris and Venus and Adonis, to the medieval epics of Tristan and Iseult or Aucassin and Nicolette, to Shakespeare's plays and to "Madame Bovary" and "Anna Karenina", love - tangled, convoluted and inexplicable, has driven tragic as well as joyous moments in life. Throughout the ages the concept of love has taken on many different characteristics and people's approaches to it have changed, but love's essence has remained constant. Now comes Ben Sherwood's little novel of a timeless love tale - "The Man Who Ate the 747". It is the story of Wally Chubb, a Middle America farmer who intends to eat bit by bit a jet airplane to affirm his love for beautiful Willa. The story is told by J.J. (John) Smith from Ohio, an ordinary man in the pursuit of the extraordinary, for as a Keeper of the Records of "The Book of Records" he "authenticates greatness" and immortalizes those who make history with the longest kiss, "the longest single unbroken apple peel", the longest taxi ride, the tallest this or the heaviest that, the best or the worst of something. But it is also the story of J.J. Smith himself, or rather - his rite of passage, for while he searches for extraordinary events to chronicle, he is also searching for the meaning, the essence of love and comes to know it through Wally Chubb and Willa. There are many Kafkaesque overtones to J.J. Smith's life. He lives in a squalid and seedy New York apartment. A kind, fedora-clad elderly neighbor collects his mail and waters the plastic sunflowers in his window box while he jets about the world in search of remarkable records. Ages ago he had been engaged to Emily for four years, nothing even close to the world record of 67 years held by a couple in Mexico City. But Emily had left. "You spend your life searching for greatness," she had said. "You're reaching for things I can't give you and I don't want to spend my life not measuring up... You know everything about the fastest coconut tree climber and the biggest broccoli, but you don't know the first thing about love. That's the only kind of greatness that counts, and I hope you find it someday." And J.J. had set out to learn all there is about love in books and movies, but all the subsequent casual encounters of passion continue to leave a numbness and a cold vacuum in his soul. His vaguely sleazy boss is dissatisfied with his work and threatens to fire him if J.J. does not come up with a spectacular and sensational new record. J.J. sits in his gray cubicle of an office sifting through letters and notes from unknown people who hope to set the record for the oldest cow or for meat-loaf sculptures or the hardest hair or for sitting in front of the TV for the longest time. But none of the suggestions entice him. None are of the spectacular category that his boss wants. And then J.J. reads a note send to him in secret about a man in Superior, Nebraska eating a 747. "I'll get in trouble if anyone finds out I sent this letter," the man who signs the letter as "The Guy Who Knows" writes in a post-scriptum. This is J.J.'s chance to revive his career. He sets out for tiny Superior, Nebraska where people are trying desperately to hold on to a vanishing way of life - family, work, God, human decency. But Superior also needs a boost for along with the vanishing way of life it faces an economic decline and possibly even extinction. Some of the town's folks want the publicity and believe that would rejuvenate their community, others do not. First amongst those who oppose it is Willa Wyatt, the writer for and the publisher and delivery 'boy' of the local newspaper. She suspects that the sensationalism would ruin Superior and its old-fashion values. Before they expose Superior to the world, the pretentious media, the advertisers, the gossipmongers and the glamour seekers need to learn about the place and discover its small-town soul. Willa is the woman Wally Chubb has always loved but hasn't had the courage to tell her. Even now, when the entire town knows why he is eating the 747, Willa still does not acknowledge his love. "He did this every week. Looked at the paper, saw her name, hoped she would give him a sign that she noticed his giant tribute, the greatest thing he could do to prove the size and scale of his love. He made no secret of why he was doing this. Everybody else knew. Why wouldn't Willa just say a little something?" Wally is so wrapped up in his feelings for Willa that he is blind to Rose's love for him. The media hordes descend on Superior, the talk-show hosts and big name advertisers fight over Wally, Willa and J.J. begin to develop a special rapport that makes their knees tremble. Willa makes J.J. come alive with the thrill of the ordinary - a patch of sky, a sun-drenched meadow, the routine of everyday, the essential goodness of people. "We chase wild dreams and long for all that eludes us," writes the author, "when the greatest joys are within our grasp, if we can only recognize them." Harvard-and Oxford-educated Ben Sherwood is a senior producer for the NBC Nightly News and a nonfiction contributor to The Washington Post, L.A. Times and The New York Times. But "The Man Who Ate the 747" is his greatest accomplishment. Reading this tender, romantic and wacky novel is guaranteed to banish melancholy and dispel the deepest gloom in anyone's heart. Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
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