My Recommendation

It's hard for me to recommend a piece of fiction that we have read to a friend because both my friends and I are not avid readers. We tend to spend most of out time doing physical activities, leaving very little time to sit down and read for pleasure. Knowing this, I would still not be ashamed to strongly recommend Alexie's "Flight Patterns" to my good friends. I believe this is a story that is not difficult at all to read or understand, somewhat short and to the point, and its message is an extremely powerful one.
"Flight Patterns" is a story of the many perspectives of the world, deep character insight, and deals with every day stereotypes that civilization continually struggles with. "Flight Patterns" starts off giving detail about the main character, William, and his family situation. William is constantly on business trips, leaving his wife and daughter behind him as he travels the country selling his ideas. I'm sure many of us can relate to watching our parents leave for multiple extended periods of time that they call "business trips," possibly causing dilemmas to arise around the household. The story looks through the eyes of William as it analyzes both his view of the situation and the possible thoughts of his family. I really like this concept of taking multiple perspectives and bringing up tough questions, such as which view is more valid, and also the concerns for the family. The story then dives into the stereotype genre and makes a very clean attempt on looking at why stereotypes arise and how we can lessen their impacts.
The other literary element that is making me want to recommend this story is that of character development. For such a short tale, "Flight Patterns" dives deep into the readers mind as it portrays the similar and yet totally different characters, William and Fekadu. The simplicity of their concersations makes for an easy read, but contemplating and understanding the arguments and questions that arise can leave a reader puzzled for a long time. "Flight Patterns" is easy to relate to, as stereotypes are everywhere in contemporary society, and that is why I would strongly recommend this story to any of my overly-stressed college friends.