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    The Man Who Ate the 747
    Unavailable
    The Man Who Ate the 747
    Unavailable
    The Man Who Ate the 747
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Man Who Ate the 747

    Written by Ben Sherwood

    Narrated by David Schramm

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This is the story of the greatest love, ever....

    J. J. Smith, Keeper of the Records for The Book of Records, is an ordinary man searching for the extraordinary. J.J. has clocked the world's longest continuous kiss. He has verified the lengthiest single unbroken apple peel. He has tasted the world's largest menu item. But J.J. has never witnessed great love.

    That is, until he comes to a tiny town in the American heartland. Here J.J. discovers a world record attempt like no other. Piece by piece, a farmer is eating a Boeing 747 to prove his love for a woman. But when J.J. unexpectedly falls in love with the same woman, a woman as outwardly cynical as he is, J.J. learns why records are made to be broken...and why the greatest wonders in life can never be measured.


    From the Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 29, 2000
    ISBN9780553752892
    Unavailable
    The Man Who Ate the 747

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    Reviews for The Man Who Ate the 747

    3/5

    115 ratings10 reviews

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    • 1/5
      BOORRRRRRRING.....
    • 3/5
      A interesting, and very quick read, that features a rather incredulous love store.
    • 4/5
      Words that spring to mind regarding this book are harmless, cute and whimsical. It's an audacious premise but one that is rendered quite plausible in this easy, entertaining little story. There's a wonderful moment where the man in question rejects a can of coke, asking if there are any metal shavings to go with it. A sweet little tale with a lot of heart. On a personal note I was able to feel smug that I'd met one of the world record holders mentioned in passing (World's biggest bubble blower, Invercargill, New Zealand) - no doubt plucked from the Guiness book of World Records by the author.
    • 3/5
      this is a gentle book. JJ Smith is unremarkable, but his life is devoted to the remarkable. He is a keeper of records, and now he is onto something. He has found Wally, a man eating a 747 to win the love of a woman, a woman JJ finds himself drawn to.
    • 5/5
      It's unfortunate that so many of the words that come to mind to describe this book - sweet, charming, touching, quirky, whimsical - seemingly belittle it, because it deserves only the highest praise. Sherwood has created an engaging tale about achieving love and greatness in our frequently incomprehensible world. "This is the story of the greatest love, ever." So begins The Man Who Ate the 747 and the narrator, J.J. Smith, "Keeper of the Records" for the Book of Records, ought to know. He has spent his entire life searching for and recording world records, from the longest kiss ever to the world's largest menu item, to the man hit most by lightning. Then he receives a letter about a man, his life. Wally Chubb, in Superior, Nebraska,is eating an entire 747, that crashed on his farm. And why is Wally doing this? So that the woman he loves, and has loved since he was ten, Willa Wyatt, will finally notice him and just maybe love him back. This would be the biggest and best record, yet. Off J.J. goes to Nebraska, for what will become the greatest adventure of his life.
    • 2/5
      Definitely not a book I would say that you have to read, but slightly interesting with facts of world record holders. About a man who verifies for the Book of Records, and travels all over the world. Will he ever really know what love is, or even find it? Yes you are right he does find love, but in a place he never suspected. So sweet.
    • 2/5
      sorry, this one really didn't do it for me - I didn't care about the characters, or even understand them, though I tried... nothing felt real, or even 'realistic' - a suspension of disbelief wasn't happening - it'd've been nice if it were a fable but it didn't have that storylike quality, either - I did manage to finish it but only because it was indeed short...
    • 3/5
      It was a interesting read. It's about a Guiness World Records employee who goes to a small town to investigate a man who is slowly consuming a Boeing 747 for a woman he proclaims to love. It was not what I expected. It is from the same author who wrote Charlie St. Cloud. I am anticipating the film
    • 3/5
      This is a sweet, light and entertainingly original little romance that takes place in the small Nebraska town of Superior, Nebraska where a besotted man, Wally Chubb, is eating an entire 747 (that just happened to fall into his cornfield) in order to show town journalist Willa Wyatt the depth of his love for her. When Keeper of the Records, J.J. Smith, who has spent a lifetime recording stunts, feats and attempts for the renowned Book of Records, receives an anonymous letter regarding Wally’s attempt, he thinks this might be just the record to revive his slump and save his beloved career. Little does he realize that stepping into the town of Superior will change his perspective on life forever. He’ll be swept off his feet, re-evaluate his life choices, and crush and revive hope in the town’s people all within a few weeks. Sherwood’s tone is light, quirky and sweet. The story slides down like a cool sorbet between courses.
    • 3/5
      This is a simple, quick book. Don’t go in looking for soulful revelations; insight to the greater workings of man; or the answer to life, the universe, and everything. (We already know the book that answers that last question.) This is, basically, a (and I absolutely loathe this term) summer read. With that epithet past my lips, let me add that it is a fun read, though flawed. It relates that story of a man who, for love, is eating a 747 (hence the title – pretty clever, huh?) that has crash-landed on his farm. (Plot point problem number one – you just have to get over some of these – and, no, I’m not going to enumerate them all.) But the story is actually focused on a man who verifies world records (for a thinly disguised Guiness World Record type book). His story is thin. The love story is thin. The town is thin. And the whole thing is just this side of implausible. Yet, it is still a nice enough story. I finished it, didn’t hurl it through the airplane (easy enough to finish on a flight from Kansas City to Phoenix), and felt satisfied that the book accomplished what I expected. Somewhere I heard (or maybe I read it on the blurb) that this has been optioned for a movie, and that may be the root of the problem with the book. It feels as though it has been plotted and charactered to be the next date flick. And, you know, it might do well. And Sherwood does his work well – enough that, while I’m not going out of my way to find another of his books, I wouldn’t run away if one wandered across my path. All and all I’ve spent a lot of words saying, “If you want something quick to read, you’re tired of Camus, there’s nothing else really pressing, and you’re smart enough not to waste your time on DaVinci Code, then you might enjoy this.”