Table of Contents
Part 1 Approach
Clearing the Runway 3
A Brief Message from Our Captain 7
Before We Depart 10
Part 2 Departures
A View from the Pre-Titles: Emotional Baggage 15
A View from the Road: Happy Eating 26
A View of the Flight Attendant as a Young Woman 33
A View of Goop 39
A View of Escape 47
A View of Journey's (Un)End(ing) 55
Part 3 Taking Off
What to Expect When You're Expecting (to Fly) 65
Go Fly Yourself 75
I Can't Believe Your Boyfriend Owns This Whole Houseboat 82
A View on Stewardship 89
Upgrading 94
The Flight Path of True Love (Never Runs Smooth) 99
'Time After Time' 109
Part 4 The Life of Sky
A View Under Weston's Wing 117
The 'Golden Age': A View in Hindsight 126
An Obstructed View 133
In Which We Briefly Re-Route for Some Thoughts Concerning (a) Hair Height and (b) the Film Sliding Doors. We Hope You Aren't Overly Inconvenienced by the Delay 136
How to Stay Grounded (When You're Reaching for the Sky) 142
Part 5 I Believe I Can Fly Paris First-Class International
Re-Routing 151
Christmas: The View from Cleveland 156
Christmas: A View from Ipswich 162
A Ghost Rider in Cleveland 169
My Legal Career: A Painful View 180
The Waiting Room Was My Life, as Opposed to Cleveland 183
The Clothes Maketh (Not) the (Wo)Man 188
Part 6 A Rapid Descent
Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Reached Our Destination (for Now) 195
'Window Seat or Aisle?' Can You Sit in Both at the Same Time? 200
Emergency Landing 210
The Charred Wings of Icarus, on a Bed of Humble Pie 213
Clearing the Cabin: What Makes View from the Top a Modern Masterpiece? 215
Suggested Further Viewing 220
Index 221
