Propeller One-Way Night Coach

by John Travolta

When his actress mother decides to move to Hollywood, Jeff--an eight-year-old boy who dreams of flying in a plane--begins his journey with connecting flights, airline food, stopovers, and time spent in first class.

Genres: Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kendra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes, the John Travolta. That's why I picked it up ... at a used bookstore in Minnesota.

He apparently wrote this for his family, as a sort of gift. They loved it so much, he decided to "share it with the world."

As a gift, I suppose it's quite cute.

As a published work, it falls very short.

I think in his sharing, he should have allowed an editor to have at it. He's obviously not a writer. Or anything remotely resembling one.

Super-short little story about a boy who loves flying. His mother is a wanna-be actress who loves sleeping with married men. Wee.

It's billed as a fairy tale for all ages. I would disagree.

Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Worth the $1, I suppose ;)

[A Rye · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Travolta is a fairly good actor.

John Travolta is famous.

John Travolta is quite wealthy.

John Travolta is a scientologist.

John Travolta can therefore publish a book.


It's lighthearted enough, but honestly, the sum is not greater than or equal to its parts.

[Tina M · Rating 1 out of 5]

meh; don't quit your day job, Travolta

[James F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

No substance purchased for grandchild but not really worth the time he should stick to acting

[K B]

Travolta likes planes and has mommy issues? Wow, who knew?

My aunt gave this to me, in person, with a weird smile on her face. The way she said “I got this for myself and I thought you’d REALLY like to read it” came out a bit tongue-in-cheek, and since neither she nor I have expressed interest in John Travolta (aside from his membership in a certain cult) I was puzzled and now I remain puzzled. There are a few fun details in here about the history/evolution of the airlines/domestic flights in the US, but it boils down to a kid’s uncomfortable relationship with his mother and it felt, uh, revealing to read. Not to mention the bizarre epilogue (idk) and the now bittersweet dedication to his son Jet and wife Kelly, now deceased.

Also… it claims to be a fable but I guess John and I have different definitions of what that means.

[Jana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spotted this little book in the T section of the library while I was looking for War and Peace, by Tolstoy. I'd never heard of John Travolta's book and you're probably wondering why you haven't heard of it either, so I'll tell you. First, it's not a fable like it states on the front cover. Also, it's not for all ages. (I'm so glad I didn't start reading this out loud to my kids, as sex is mentioned at least twice.) When Travolta wrote the story, he meant for it to be a family gift, so that was nice of him. He probably should have had an editor review it before it was published.

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a nothing little book. Not merely because it has so few pages for after all it's meant as a children's book, but because the story is so pointless. The little boy as the narrator is rather generic, not really fleshed out. No mention is made of the boy's father, or what the boy feels, longing or sadness. His joy concerning the flight is very evident and it's finely written, but the rest of it is flat. And the ending is just too pat. The retiring captain of the night coach gives the little boy is wings. Then in the epilogue he reveals he made used of the wings by becoming a pilot of jets. But then further ties it up in a bow stating that he married the stewardess of that night flight? He's only 8 years old and is somehow able to keep in touch with a dishy blond adult and 17 years later (or a 17 year old age gap) they marry. I know Travolta had a much older first love in his life, but in this story it just seems too much and even a little unseemly. I wouldn't recommend it to parents of small children as a bedtime story.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book for a dollar as a joke gift for my brother's birthday, but couldn't resist reading it first. Despite the terrible writing, weird illustrations, and complete lack of plot or story structure, it was rather entertaining.

[Nancy Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute little tale about a boy who is experiencing his first air plane ride. It is his dream come true, which is the whole point of this little fable: if you wish hard enough, sometimes your dream will come true.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute short story, but no fantastic read. I bought it because I love John Travolta. I still love his movies. Don't give up your day job John!

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute little book, had no idea Travolta had this much love for planes

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute pile of garbage. Terrible writing. Horror show of illustrations. The worst.

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start out by saying that I was initially disappointed when I finished reading this one. I had hoped for more. What I was looking for, I'm not sure, I just knew I didn't find it in these pages. I finished the book, went to sleep, and fully intended to put it in my going away pile in the morning. The more I thought about it, however, the more I came to appreciate it. It's a short story about a boy's flight on the one way night coach. The thing is, my first flight was also on a little prop plane, and this book reminded me of that flight. It reminded me of the way that airports used to be - so full of excitement and wonder, and the true joy I used to get from flying. It's all there, in those pages, waiting for you to find it, if you only let it percolate for a bit. This is one of those stories that grows on you. It may not be one that a younger audience appreciates, hell, most of them don't remember a pre-9/11 airport, but for those who do? It's everything that flying once was.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eight-year-old-boy has for years dreamed of flying in an airplane. His name is Jeff and his mother told him that if he saved his small change, then they would take a trip together on a plane. His mother is a grade-B movie actress, and she decides to take a trip from their hometown of Newark, New Jersey to Hollywood. This is in the days before there were transcontinental jet airliners, so their trip will be by prop plane with several intermediate stops.
Travolta captures the joy of a boy living his dream while he mixes in his mother drinking, smoking and apparently cavorting with a man she met on the plane. There are also several lies put forward regarding the status of his mother’s acting career. It may be fiction, but this story has all the attributes of being based on real events.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lmao once again I am giving five stars to a book that everyone seems to hate!

I will say I read this for the first time as a child and have read it many times since then, so maybe that's coloring my judgment. It's a cute book about how airplanes used to be. It means nothing to me that John Travolta wrote it, honestly. I just like the story. It's sort of a comfort read for me at this point? YMMV.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitled A Fable for All Ages, John Travolta wrote and illustrated this short story of less then 50 pages in 10 days. It is about an 8 year old boy who goes for his first airplane flight from Pittsburgh to Loa Angeles on a propeller plane. The boy reports on all the events on the multi-stop trip with his mother.

[Monty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay, and perhaps the sex parts aren't really appropriate for 8 year olds. But I really liked reading the descriptions of airplane travel in the early 1960s--Oh for the days of no need for security and for passenger comfort.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wellll.... not much ummph to it, to coin a phrase. Interesting in a mild sort of way, but not really entertaining. Easy to tell this was a quickly thought out plan without much preparation for it.

I don't discourage folks from reading it, but I can't say I would encourage them to do so either.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

You never know what you're going to find in a thrift store.

I'm not sure why this is called a fable. I didn't feel there was any lesson presented. Everything was just so great the whole story. Probably would have been better as a picture book.

[Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book is a biographical and chronological view of John Travolta's love of flying as seen through his eight year old eyes. Remarkably fresh, a literary breath of fresh air.

[Henry Acuña · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story. It is a pitty that John Travolta hasn't written more books so far. I liked the human way he treats his family characters.

[Thea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a little creepy.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story to inspire kids who would like to fly, with the exception of a couple passages implying sex and other detailing smoking details, is pure entertainment for younger readers

[KBookblogger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me chuckle, this made me smile and yes it made me want chicken cordon bleu!

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh...not so great. Cool that it was written by John Travolta and neat to see into the mind of a young boy.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was cute enough, but the epilogue left a weird taste in my mouth. It kind of ruined the whole experience.

[Carmen Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable short story by THE John Travolta!

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why so many people gave this book one star; I found it charming and conversational. Many children would like it, imagining flying a plane for the first time :)

[Reading Sunshine]

Quick and decent read.

[Louisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

John Travolta is an excellent actor -- amazing in "Pulp Fiction," and a dancing machine in Saturday Night Fever". He's a great family guy, and probably would be fun to have as your pilot.

But who ever thought he could write a children's book? No one who reads this book!

Do you think celebrities get the urge to write and think, "How hard could it be to write a book for kids?" Pretty hard, if you're going for quality!