BOOK REVIEW: Owen Beddall – Confessions Of A Qantas Flight Attendant

BOOK REVIEW: Owen Beddall – Confessions Of A Qantas Flight Attendant
Random House, 1 July 2014, Rrp $34.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
4/10

Owen Beddall (with Libby Harkness) promise “true tales and gossip from the galley” in a “hysterically funny guide” to what goes on behind the Qantas galley curtain, but despite some fun moments, all too often the book gets mired in Beddall’s clichéd whining and bitching about customers, other staff members and the airline themselves.

Hanging the book on “sex, drugs and plenty of celebrity sightings” might give an indication of the flimsiness of the content: Beddall serves and has brief chats with Katy Perry, Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue, Venus Williams and Cate Blanchett, but the exchanges are so inconsequential as to warrant little more than a bit of gossip over a glass of wine after work, rather than a book deal!

Let’s qualify my position here: I think gossip rags are a waste of paper, and reality television is one of the great scourges of modern society. I realise millions disagree with me, and some of them might find this book titillating or sensational, but in reality I get up to more sex and booze than any given chapter on any given weekend, and Beddall’s tales singularly fail to impress here.

Category: Book Reviews