The Man Who Ate the 747

A gloriously romantic comedy about love, life and scrap metal. J.J. Smith is an official keeper of world records. Wherever he goes, would-be record holders vie for his attention. But J.J.'s boss says his records are dull. Either he comes up with something special for The Book, or he's fired. So when J.J. hears about someone who is rumoured to be eating a 747, he has to check it out. Soon he finds himself in Superior, Nebraska, where Walter Chubb is, indeed, in the process of consuming an entire airplane, hoping to impress Willa Wyatt, the editor of the local newspaper, whom he has loved ever since she was the only guest who turned up to his tenth birthday party. Richly romantic, joyful and tender, The Man Who Ate the 747 stretches the imagination, bends the laws of physics and takes you on a whimsical flight of fancy. 'Ben Sherwood is a modern-day Mark Twain who writes of small-town America with love, affection and with a definite twincle in his eye. A delightful and surprising book from start to finish' Fannie Flagg 'A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed . . . a genuine, old-fashioned tale of romance' Daily Mirror