I was running errands in the car this past week and flipped on the radio for a little background noise. On came our local NPR station, which I have gratefully discovered provides the only interesting talk radio I care to listen to in this area. I admit to “discovering” NPR only in the past few years, usually only listening to the radio in the car and then only tuning in top-of-the-hour newscasts, traffic reports and music programs. I’d dropped into an interview with an author, and the subject immediately caught my attention (because, as happens so often, I was wondering what I could write about this week in my blogs that would be travel-related and of some interest to the reader). Last August, Alain de Botton was commissioned by the British Airports Authority to write a book about his week spent as a writer-in-residence in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. He would sit at a desk in the terminal, the words composed on his laptop appearing in real time on a large screen behind him and a poster explaining the project beside him. He would also be free to roam the terminal, interviewing passengers, airport executives and employees. The result, a slim book with lots of photos, would be published within a month and the first 10,000 copies distributed free to Heathrow travelers. De Botton likened his commission to wealthy patrons of bygone eras hiring artists to paint their portraits or write a poem or play. His deal with the BAA was that although they were paying for his meals, lodging and a retainer during the project, he would be free to write whatever he chose. They agreed, not expecting nor desiring a virtual extended advertisement but instead a different means of drawing attention to the entire airport experience. De Botton’s interview with his NPR host piqued my interest enough in his book, A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary, that I’ve decided to add it to my “to read” list. He found the terminal a microcosm of our modern world, a container of heightened tension and emotion, and a fascinating window into a complex business that, as one reviewer put it, is “perpetually teetering on the edge of delivering failure.” I’d be curious if any of our GT readers out there have encountered this book (or even passed through Heathrow last summer during Alain de Botton’s residence there) and what their thoughts on it might be. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor