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Summary: What a Man Would Do for Love...
Review: I started out really enjoying this unique book, then began to get less excited when the plot and ending became apparent. I like surprises and twists, this really was quite predictable.
The tale of a man, Wally Chubb, who in his quest to prove to a woman he has loved all his life, Willy Wyatt, the small town newspaperwoman, is eating a Boeing 747 piece by piece.
Willa doesn't seem to notice but Wally goes on endlessly, for nearly 10 years now, getting near the end of the plane. Someone leaks the story to a Guiness World Record writer and the small town of Superior, Nebraska becomes a circus.
The World Record writer, J.J Smith, an ordinary man with a boring life and an extrodinary job comes to Superior to witness the feat and hope to capture the record before he loses his job, what he doesn't expect to find is love... for the man who lives his life by other's amazing feats, J.J finally finds himself.
Although predictable and a little cliche in some ways, the book was fun to read and had tons of interesting facts about World Records. This will more than likely become a movie, it had all the elements and set up for a romantic comedy.Tracy Talley~@
Rating: 
Summary: Here is the appeal
Review: I won't claim to have the answers, the right words to explain why this quirky, funny, sweet little book was grand, or how it could have been better. What I will say is this: Thank you, writing muses, for gracing Mr. Sherwood's mind with a hero who grows enough by the end of the tale to realize where he's gone wrong and to make amends by--literally--eating his own words. Mr. Sherwood, I will look for your next book.
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Summary: Bridges of Madison County meets Robert Fulghum
Review: I was stuck at an airport in MN when I saw this book at a bookstore. I love the quirky, so I bought it, and gobbled it up!
This book is for the faint at heart. If you are tired of dysfunctional families and mundane metaphors, buy this likeable little literary liteweight and ENJOY it. I, too, have given away about six copies of it to people who I think need a good dose of the commonality of wonder.
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Summary: What does Harry Crews Think of this book?
Review: Send me an e-mail if I am wrong or if it is irrelevant, but didn't Harry Crews about 20 years ago write a book called "Car" that centered on a man who ate a car piece by piece? Hmmmmmmm ...
Rating:
Summary: Fun and sweet...what a great little book!
Review: The Man Who Ate the 747 was a terrific little book. The characters were vivid and amusing...and I can't get them or the story out of my mind, and I finished the book a while ago! You definitely need to be a romantic at heart to truly enjoy this story (or someone obsessed with the Guiness Book of Records) and it really will stay with you. I hope Ben Sherwood can keep it up with his next novel!
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Summary: Interesting story that beautifully captures the idea of love
Review: I don't read many love stories, but this one is by far the most unique and interesting I have read. This is the story of J.J. Smith, who is the "Keeper of the Records" for The Book of Records. He travels the world in search of records -- like the longest continuous kiss (30 hours, 45 minutes), the lengthiest single unbroken applie peel (172 feet, 4 inches), and the farthest a champagne cork has flown (177 feet, 9 inches). The catch is that J.J. doesn't believe in true love, until he meets a small town called Superior in Nebraska in which a man is trying to prove his love by eating an entire Boeing 747! Throughout the story, quite interesting records (that are true) are spouted out by J.J. This makes for good reading in itself, but the author, Ben Sherwood, is able to weave this into a realistic love story and in the end leaves the reader with some powerful ideas. The first gem that the book addresses is the beauty of the "small town." J.J. comes to Nebraska from the Big Apple, but through all of its quirks and unique people, J.J. begins to truly appreciate the Superior. This is reminiscent of the Doc Hollywood story. Sherwood does a wonderful job making the reader feel like he is a part of Superior and in the end this small town represents any unique little town in the "middle of nowhere, or the middle of everywhere." I always enjoy when an author came capture the joy and feelings of what it means to be a kid. Sherwood does this by illustrating several instances in which children flock to see the "Keeper of the Records." Whether they come to try to break records on pogo sticks or with yo-yos, Sherwood shows that "kids are the same all over the world." I love this idea! And of course, the final issue that the author tackles is love. Claiming at the outset that this is the "greatest love story ever," the reader in the end is left with a warm, fuzzy feeling when J.J. -- who spent the entire story engrossed in statistics -- claims that each one of us can claim the record for the greatest love if we recognize it when we find it, pure and true. Wow, that's awesome. As Sherwood points out, love isn't about finding someone that is perfectly compatible for you, someone that provides grand gestures, or a person of selfless sacrifice. Certainly these things are great in a relationship, but true love is just a feeling. My few reservations about this book are not worthy of mentioning here. This is a good book and a great love story that is well-worth the read for all those romantics out there!
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Summary: thoughts from a local...kinda
Review: Okay I don't live in Superior, NE, but I've probably spent more time there than anyone who is reading this. My mother was born there and grew up just ten miles away on the Kansas side of stateline and my grandparents still live there and I frequently visit them from my home in Kansas City five hours away. Last year at Christmas dinner in Mankato KS one of the closest city to Superior, where the book takes place, discussion of this book aroused and I knew I had to read it. I was very satisfied at the end of the story. It almost perfectly depicts the area, with its rolling barren hills, streams, fields and interesting terrain that I, like Willa from the book, think is so beautiful. Ben Sherwood wrote the book after spending lots of time in Superior and he knew what he was writing about, from the little bar he ate hamburgers at to the people he included in the story. The character of Righty truly exists and is every bit as friendly as the book says, excepts his name is actually Lefty. This book was incredibly addictive, and it was definitely not the deepest book I have ever read, and not the best written, but there was something about, probably the love, that I couldn't resist. I recommend it to anyone looking to sit down and enjoy being immersed in this wonderful one stoplight town. I also liked the simple book format, huge margins and easy to read font, a change from the usual books I read. It's a light read, but go for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts off fine...and gets lost down the line.
Review: I actually like the melancholy of the first chapter or two. There is a certain richness in those scant few pages that promises a pretty good reading experience--not brilliant prose, but pleasant enough. But then Mr. Sherwood seems to put the plotting into high gear--so high that he runs roughshod over the characters in a frantic, breakneck effort to get to "The End." The tone shift was jarring, too. It certainly didn't work for me. The characterization of J.J., which starts well, ends up going nowhere, and Willa is and remains a cipher--a half-drawn woman. Just when we think an opportunity to get below her surface has arisen, we suddenly skip off that surface like so many flat stones. The rest of the characters and plot are so underdeveloped that I felt I was reading Sherwood's outline, not his novel! Where are the missing 40 to 60 pages that would have given us breadth, depth, and texture? It's too bad. There were moments I liked, and some turns of phrase, too. I can say this, though--the movie, if it ever gets made (no guarantees in Hollywood), would pretty much have to be better than the book. I can also say that, when one is as "connected" as is Mr. Sherwood, and has one's highly-placed friends writing blurbs for the back cover, well--it's no secret why and how he got raves! The real puzzler is the "professional" reviewers going ga-ga over this. Couldn't they figure out that Mr. Sherwood's writing abilities, though showing promise, are essentially at a very "early" stage in his career? I don't mean to dog the guy. I'd bet he's a very nice man. But for goodness sake, "Get thee to a writing class!"
Rating:
Summary: Pure whimsy!
Review: The extraordinarily ordinary J.J. Smith is the Keeper of the Records for The Book of Records. Pushed by his boss to outdo the competition, he follows a tip received in a letter: a man in Superior, Nebraska is eating a 747 to prove his love for a woman. A story of unrequited loves, a small town struggling to stay on the map and record-setting attempts unfolds. I loved the way Sherwood incorporated factual records into the story. This whimsical tale is a quick, fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Man Who Read the Good Book
Review: The Man Who Ate the 747, written by Ben Sherwood, is about J.J. Smith and his adventure with a little town in Nebraska called Superior. J.J. Smith works for the World Record book. He witnesses the records being broken. While looking over world record attempts, he saw one letter saying that a man is eating a 747. J.J. takes on the case
I recommend The Man Who Ate the 747 it is a very exciting book that I couldn't put down. The book was unlike most books I have read because it was filled with many twists. The chapters ended was so much suspense that I had to read the next chapter. I would read this book until I lose my mind!
Aanand's BMS Literary Corner
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