Lori Jakiela's memoir Miss New York Has Everything was an entertaining book about growing up just outside of Pittsburgh and the lessons learned from flying all around the world as a flight attendant. I wondered for probably the first half of the book what the (for lack of a better word) thesis of the book was. I came to the conclusion that it's a memoir about dreams, and how they don't all come true, or at least not in the way you expect. I think this is a universal lesson that everyone learns at one point or another, and the trick is to avoid becoming disillusioned and to still find meaning and purpose in life. I think Jakiela did both of those things in her book.
I thoroughly enjoyed her stories about growing up. Throughout her accounts about the talent show, Shaun Cassidy crush, pet poodles, family vacations, and boyfriend angst, she painted an accurate and humorous picture of what it was like to grow up in her family in her city at that time. It felt real and true, like I was chatting with a new friend and swapping stories. Her engaging style and humor made me care about her and what happened in her life. I also enjoyed reading about the details of her life as a flight attendant. I'll probably never be able to fly on an airplane without thinking about the poor flight attendants and how long they've been flying and how little they are getting paid to smile and ask if I'd like peanuts or cookies. I think those details and stories were my favorite parts, and I wanted to know more. That kind of behind-the-scenes information is especially fascinating when it's something that we all see the outside of.
On the one hand, I could see her writing a memoir just about being a flight attendant, full of funny stories and sad stories and stories about different places and about coming home. More of a travel writing memoir, I guess. But I like that she looked beyond just that one experience find a deeper, more over-arching meaning and theme for her book. I like that it wasn't just about being a flight attendant, although that was definitely very central.
I am very interested in talking to Lori Jakiela about her process of writing and publishing this book. She said that she left New York in 2000, so it hasn't been very many years since she was actually living this book. I want to know how she chose to write about these experiences when they were still relatively fresh, how she was able to gain any perspective on them. I would also like to know why she stopped when she did. I would have liked to know more about how she did end up becoming a writer, because it seemed like a lost dream for quite a bit of the book. I guess I want to know why we didn't get more details about the happy ending and the dreams that did come true in the end.
Overall, a fun, light book that made me think more about the dreams I have and the ones I've already discarded and what it all amounts to.
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An insightful and compassionate commentary. I like that you thought about what she might have done (but didn't) and considered how what she did was so much more. I also like the idea that this book was about dreams. I, too, struggled to find a thesis. And I appreciated, like you, how she found a way to make the book something more than just a compilation of anecdotes about flying.
ReplyDeletei didn't think of this before, but there is definitely a motif about dreams and flying. not in a super visceral or overtly stated way but your post made me think about this. (i've recently started flying at lot in my dreams--not on airplanes, but around rooms) whereas i've always simply fallen in dreams before.
ReplyDeletei think that i'd almost like to have seen two books made of this one memoir--one about flying, focusing on experiences like the one where she interacts with a man with lung cancer and one about moving, and shifting notions of home.