Ann Hood is the author of the bestselling novels The Book That Matters Most, The Obituary Writer, The Knitting Circle, and the memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief. Her most recent books are the memoirs Fly Girl: A Memoir and Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food. In Fly Girl (W. W. Norton & Company), Hood explores her years as a flight attendant. In 1978 flight attendants were the epitome of glamor and sophistication. Fresh out of college and hungry to experience the world – and maybe, one day, write about it – Hood joined their ranks. She survived TWA’s rigorous Breech Training Academy and learned to evacuate seven kinds of aircraft, deliver a baby, mix proper cocktails, administer oxygen, and stay calm no matter the situation. In the air, Hood found both the expected adventure and the sometimes unexpected realities of the job. She carved chateaubriand in the first-class cabin and dined in front of the pyramids in Cairo. She fended off passengers’ advances, found romance on layovers in London and Lisbon, and walked more than a million miles in high heels. It was a job that, she notes, despite its roots in sexist standards, empowered her.