A demand for a refund becomes a novel

Jonathan Miles
Jonathan Miles writes the cocktails column for the New York Times and covers literature for "Mens Journal"
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

It's a 180 page complaint letter written by a middle-aged man trapped at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. He is supposed to be on his way to the wedding of a daughter he hasn't seen in almost 30 years.

As Bennie Ford writes, he begins to tell his life story.

Jonathan Miles says his book grew out of a similar experience when he was stranded with hundreds of others at O'Hare.

He told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr that in the middle of the night he began composing a complaint letter to deal with his mounting rage.

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