Report from Ground Zero
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4.7 • 23 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The tragic events of September 11, 2001, forever altered the American landscape, both figuratively and literally. Immediately after the jets struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center, Dennis Smith, a former firefighter, reported to Manhattan’s Ladder Co. 16 to volunteer in the rescue efforts. In the weeks that followed, Smith was present on the front lines, attending to the wounded, sifting through the wreckage, and mourning with New York’s devastated fire and police departments.
This is Smith’s vivid account of the rescue efforts by the fire and police departments and emergency medical teams as they rushed to face a disaster that would claim thousands of lives. Smith takes readers inside the minds and lives of the rescuers at Ground Zero as he shares stories about these heroic individuals and the effect their loss had on their families and their companies. “It is,” says Smith, “the real and living history of the worst day in America since Pearl Harbor.” Written with drama and urgency, Report from Ground Zero honors the men and women who—in America’s darkest hours—redefined our understanding of courage.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Powerful readings combine with equally impressive reportage in this stirring and frequently difficult account of the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Smith (Report from Engine Co. 82), a retired New York City firefighter who spent 18 years with the department, blends his own impressions with several first-person testimonials to convey the chaotic events of the morning of September 11 and their bitter, lingering repercussions. Seven different readers take turns at voicing the thoughts of the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers and others whose stories Smith has collected, and the technique works well. The alternating approaches punctuate the difficult subject matter, and the readers convincingly express a range of tones tough, scared, determined or simply overwhelmed. Smith also provides a detailed history of the buildings and an analysis of the structural phenomena that led to their collapse. His experience as a firefighter and a writer provides him with an eye for detail and a knack for subtle, emotive passages that clearly move even the narrators. The result is a emotional recording that will give even those who spent countless hours watching news reports on TV a new understanding of the horror of the ordeal and its devastating consequences for those who were most directly affected by it. Based on the Viking hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Important
Long and somewhat repetitive, but important and historical. Part oral history part diary, there are a lot of different perspectives and stories that bring 9/11 back to the human scale. However some of the entries are repetitive and could have been cut for brevity while still retaining the meaning and essence.