Flying Sideways: A Memoir

Stunt pilot Fred North teams up with his wife and stunt coordinator, Peggy, for a high-octane debut memoir. A child of French parents in Senegal, Fred struggled in school and strained to impress his father as a young boy. After a chance opportunity to ride in a helicopter with his geography teacher, he fell in love with the experience of flying (“It is as though I’m meeting myself for the first time,” he writes) and grew determined to become a pilot. By the time he was 24, Fred had ditched the French army to earn his pilot’s license and, after working as an aerial photographer for off-road races, became a stunt pilot for Hollywood films. The juiciest bits of the narrative include Fred’s adventures on the sets of films including Fantastic Four,The Incredible Hulk, and Seven Years In Tibet. Throughout, his enthusiasm is galvanizing, though some of his testosterone-fueled asides (one of his heroes “pisses adrenaline”) can teeter into arrogance. Thankfully, Peggy’s voice balances things out, as when she applies to become Fred’s stunt coordinator on their first meeting and insists she’s “probably too qualified” for the job. It’s a rush. (Oct.)