Report from Ground Zero

June 3, 2002
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.