The Art of Uncontrolled Flight

by Kim Ponders

Even as a little girl, Annie Shaw wanted to fly. Her father, a Korean War fighter pilot, was a mysterious and elusive figure, who captivated her at an early age with his easy charm and adventurous spirit. When tragedy strikes her family, Annie vows to take control of her life and become an aviator in her own right. But her pride in having earned her wings as an Air Force pilot is quickly sobered by the emergence of war. Iraq invades Kuwait, and Annie finds herself deployed to Saudi Arabia, waiting for the Gulf War to begin.

A tough, independent woman, Annie holds her own inside the elite, male-dominated fraternity of flying, but a thrilling, ill-fated romance threatens to bring her personal and professional lives to a collision point. And when a critical error places her crew at risk, Annie learns that flying in wartime carries a shadow far greater than the mystique it held for her when she was a child.

Written by one of the first American female aviators ever to fly in a war zone, The Art of Uncontrolled Flight is an extraordinary story of a woman's perseverance in the tough and unsentimental world of military flight. In this compelling work, part romance, memoir, and war story, Ponders masterfully illuminates both the great joy and the terrible tragedy that result from love and from war.

Genres: Fiction

183 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2005

Reviews

[Shirley Trimmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book anticipating life as a female in a dominate male profession. After reading the book and learning of Annie's early life I took the title as a metaphor. In that aspect I could have rated the book higher. The book takes the reader on a life journey that I believe is not uncommon to people separated for long periods of time and able to compartmentalize their lives.

[H.L. Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad story, decently written, but somewhat disjointed. The story of a female pilot during the war was lost in her chaotic childhood which was never resolved. Lots of flashbacks and needing to piece the story together. Several rabbit trails about other characters' post-war lives that would have made for an interesting longer novel.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to give this novel three stars but it's one that I felt I needed to read twice in order to truly enjoy it. At first confusing, once you get into Ponders' rhythm of writing in vignettes, it's quite brilliant. In very few words, she tells the life of one woman who's early childhood experiences sculpt everything about her adult life. Well written but not an easy read.

[Anna Dufford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel chronicles Annie Shaw’s experience as a female Air Force aviator who served in the Gulf War. The writing style picks up and drops off storylines, which really conveyed the metaphor of flight that’s so prominent throughout. Not sure if I enjoyed this book because it’s simply well written or because I relate to Annie’s character so much.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about this was bad except how short it is which made me able to finish it. It's misogynistic, valorizes war, and lacks any character depth that could be there. The author managed to define the woman protagonist only through her toxic relationships with men, but was uninteresting about it.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are several time lines. In the earliest Annie thinks the sun rises and sets on her philandering pilot father. She so prefers him that when their house is on fire and her mother, lying on the floor of her bedroom, calls to her for help, Annie runs off leaving her to die. Dad takes up with a series of women, abandoning them all. As an adult Annie becomes a flyer as well. She has problems with relationships, married to Dexter but cheating while on duty with Jago. This character is lost, and the problem with the book is that we are given little reason to care. Annie is so lacking in appeal that it is a wonder that anyone would want to marry her. This is the fatal flaw of the book. None of the characters is redeeming enough. None of them encourage us to care about what happens to them. The images of combat offer a little improvement, but on the whole, I found the book unappealing. Not recommended.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a disappointment. It got off a to a pleasant start with the first chapter being told in first person as heroine looks back at some of her childhood, but the second chapter suddenly switches to third person. From that point on it was downhill. It switches time zones from paragraph to paragraph at moments. On one page she is married and about to deploy in 1990 and then suddenly a page later she is back to 1970 and her mother is crying over her cheating father and then yet a page later she is in late 80s with a bunch of Kennedy look alikes. The novel continues in this back and forth manner and grew too confusing for me. I spent too much time trying figure out what year and situation it was and who are these people again and the story was lost to me. I have to say tho, it was way too much about her mother and emotions and marriage and too little about the Air Force and flying. Perhaps more flying, less crying, and a better time sequence would work.

[Kerry]

I can't truly claim to have read this book. I tried a few times, but couldn't get past page 60 or so. I like to think that this would have been so much better as a straight memoir - the subject matter is theoretically interesting. But why anyone, including the author and her editor, thought that switching intermittently and for no apparent good reason between first and third person narration and between present and past tense (sometimes within the same paragraph) was a good idea is beyond me. Again theoretically this could be pulled off by someone with great writing skills. In this case, it was just impossible to follow, and eventually I stopped caring enough to even try.

[Jess Zerr · Rating 2 out of 5]

well anything involving an affair usually rubs me the wrong way, but this wouldn't have had to. the writing style is awful, switching voices and time frames like a schizophrenic. I wasn't sure what was happening half the time. But also the affair ends stupidly and it's the typical I'm married to a good man and I can't quit thinking about the man I cheated on him with. I hated her as a civilian. the rate glimpses of her in her unit where awesome, I'm not sure why that wasn't the whole story. This book is a total disaster, the author shouldn't quit her day job that's for sure.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected an inspiring story of a female pilot's experience during the Gulf War. What I got was all the baggage of her childhood that led her to become a distinguished pilot among men, but making the same mistakes through her adult life as her dysfunctional parents so that in the end she looks weak in her position, casting doubt on a woman's ability to remain objective in critical situations.

Parts were interesting, but overall, a let down.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 3 stars is a little higher than it deserves, but the 3rd one is for effort. The premise of the book -- daughter following in footsteps of cocky, womanizing pilot and experiencing the difficulties of being treated as "one of the guys" -- is interesting. The problem for me were the very many unexplained loose ends. There are a lot of teasers that if filled out would have provided a better read.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was about a female fighter pilot by a female fighter pilot. It was mostly drivel about her affair with a partner in the air force and about growing up with at father that was distant and drank too much and moved from woman to woman, about losing her mother at a young age-all strong themes that she did not develop. Not to mention, she didn't even talk about being a fighter pilot in a war. Very disappointing.

[Kayla Perdue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. I was in the mood to read about a badass woman, kicking butt, taking names, and tearing down the walls of gender inequality. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a sappy and whiny tale of a woman who's married to a stand-up guy named Dexter but truly loves, and has a long-standing affair with, her co-pilot Jago. The timeline and the narrator of the book changing often, and seemingly, without reason making it very hard to follow.

[Mary Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! A complex, well-told story.

[Vickie Rinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

could have been really good... too wandering and too much narcism by main character

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps I was in the wrong frame of mind, but I could not get into this book. I did not finish it.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just randomly picked this up and it was not the greatest. It took me a few hours to read and I never really got into it. It's about a female pilot so you know.......

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got through it because it was a fast and easy read.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read about a female pilot in the Gulf War.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actually didn't finish it which is very unlike me. Just got bored!

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out with potential but failed to deliver. Ended up skimming the last third of the book.