Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
hilarious |
| Disadvantages: |
none |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
In my job, I deal with quite a lot of correspondence and there has been the odd letter or two which is so ridiculous or ludicrous that part of me wonders if it is actually genuine. Is someone having a laugh at my company's expense? I wonder this but always dismiss the notion.
Until I read "Air Mail", that is.
A collection of letters written by Terry Ravenscroft to various airlines (most of the major airlines in the world, in fact!), the topics contained within are most of the time eccentric to say the least. The
author of the book has requested the most bizarre of things at some points. Think I'm making it up? Here's a couple of examples . . .
*Can he buy the onflight meals anywhere to enjoy in the comfort of his own home?
*Can he buy a used air stewardess uniform for his wife to wear in order to spice up their sex life?
*Can the pilot stop making announcements about what can be seen out of a certain side of the plane (ie. "Those on the left side will be able to see Spain") as it causes problems with the people on the side of the plane who can't see it?
Sometimes it isn't even the original query which is the funniest part, but the follow-up. It is as if
Ravenscroft is trying to push the airline as far as he can, to see how long they will continue to take his request seriously, and when they will finally give up and not bother to reply. At times this takes quite some time, which I suppose says a lot for the customer service industry! One of his pranks in particular went on for quite a while as he wrote a letter to an airline saying he was a 42 stone man and he wanted to know whether or not there would be any seats which would accommodate him. The airline are surprisingly accommodating and offer to let him come to their test centre to try out the seats, while he regales them with tales of his diet and how much weight he has lost. Funny though it was, I did feel a bit sorry for the airline - they'd went out of his way to try and accommodate him and he'd been taking the piss. It's a bit like watching that prank show "Balls Of
Steel" on Channel Four, I find - I'm watching it and finding it hilarious but I'm also torn because I feel sorry for the victims of the joke.
As for not knowing whether to take these requests seriously, I can certainly empathise with the airlines. Like I said at the beginning of the review, i have occasionally came across letters that I stare at in disbelief thinking "they HAVE to be taking the piss" but you can't just say that; you have to treat every query like its 100 % genuine. Of course, occasionally you may consider putting in a little joke at the person's expense (I never follow through on this temptation, but a couple of the company representatives in this book HAVE done - which Ravenscroft usually instantly jumps on). Another funny point to notice is that occasionally when a letter features two or three queries within it, and one of them is ludicrous-beyond-belief, the respondent will answer the more sane queries and ignore the silly one (which is something I also have a tendency to do)- and Ravenscroft is also quick to get back to the company to point out their error. He really is the customer from hell. And I really don't know where he gets some of his ideas from - but he is without a doubt an extremely funny man. Which is hardly surprising, given that his career has consisted of him writing scripts for "The Two Ronnies", Morecambe and Wise, and "Not The Nine O'Clock News" , among others!
The fact the whole book is written in letter format makes it extremely easy to read and it is one which you can read from start to end in one go, or dip into one or two letters at a time. It probably is best to read it in order though, as the occasional joke is made funnier due to the fact it is perhaps based on something Ravenscroft has said to another company in a previous letter. It is also a book which can be read fairly quickly. I read it over a few days but if I'd been in one of my sit-down-and-read-a-book-from-cover-to-cover-in-an-afternoon moods I probably would have had it finished in a couple of hours.
I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a read that's not too taxing and will provide you with a giggle. It's definitely worth paying "Air Mail" a (flying) visit!
RRP - £6.99 (available from amazon for £2.69)
PLUS if you enjoy this, check out Terry's blog - http://www.razzamatazzblog.com/ (I'm majorly into blogs right now and this one is brilliant!)
