| LESSONS IN LIFE AND LOVE
We've all known the influence of other people's thinking and experience on our own. Most of us have also known the surprise of discovering that what we thought about something or someone is not the entire truth, and that another's perception of the same event can change our view, or perplex us. Flying Lessons--And Other Stories by Miles Burford is about such moments--turning points that help us to grow and learn if only we choose to respond to them.
Flying Lessons is a collection of seven stories, each with a conflict concerning relationships or getting along with other people. In "David and Kitty" a high school romance changes when Kitty chooses to marry another man. David eventually also marries another and decides his relationship with Kitty--a friendship that's seen very differently by each of them--is part of the past. But Kitty's desire for David becomes an obsession, and drives each to great lengths: Kitty wants them to stay together, despite their marriages to other people, and David is determined to stay away, even when his desire for her betrays him.
In the title story, "Flying Lessons," Michael invites Anne to North Carolina for a romantic weekend: he'd like to have some fun, but she's expecting a marriage proposal. Anne has her romantic dream shattered, but she learns to fly an airplane and realizes she has more dreams for herself than she knew about.
A man is set in his ways in "Pesce Volante," and though he's met the woman of his dreams, he can't see past his lifestyle to meet her part way. After settling into a comfortable relationship, Sam and Jenny begin to quarrel about his lack-luster participation in their home life and Sam's need to have Jenny take care of him. After Jenny is in a car accident, the tables are turned with disturbing results.
In "Aloha, Les" two couples and longtime friends come to terms with the news that one of them is terminally ill. Rather than prolong his life and court suffering and indignity, Les wants to "end it the right way, quick and clean."
The stories in Flying Lessons take us to the heights and depths of human relationships; they show us the lessons, trouble, and joy that can happen when we take the risks involved in developing deeper relationships with people. |
