Rating: 
Summary: Remembering September 11th
Review: I bought this book because I saw the author being interviewed on one of those morning talk shows. He seemed like a nice man and the way in which he described his book interested me. As most of us were deeply saddened by the events that took place on September 11th, this book made me feel like I knew these firemen that lost their lives. Some times I had to put the book down because it became too painful. By reading the book I can see that firefighters and police officers are a breed set apart. May be now I have a little more respect for those men described in the book. I understand them a little more but I don't think I could handle their jobs. I did however get to know a little more about the bonding of these men at the Firehouse. This book is somewhat of a memorial for those men that lost their lives. Afer I read the book I felt a little like someone who had lost a friend. They all had such interesting lives and families that loved them. I really feel for the families and hope that by the writing of this book it will help them heal.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Sad
Review: I have never read a book that made me laugh at some parts of the book, and then leave me crying at the end.
Rating:
Summary: very respectful to the firefighting profession
Review: I just finished reading this book and I say it was awesome! I bought it because I wanted an inside view on what really happened that Sept day at ground zero. The book goes into detail about the men at house 40/35, and gives you a great understanding of how a firehouse operates. I commend the author for sharing his findings and helping the world know about those wonderful men we lost on 9-11-01.
Rating:
Summary: A LITTLE BOOK WITH BIG HEART!
Review: I met and spoke with David Halberstam at the L.A. Times Book Fair and he said this would be his next work and he was happy of the effort the publisher had made to get this book to print. And we, as readers, should be happy too that this book is now available.There will be volumes written about the events of 9/11, what makes this book special is that it gives us insight into the character of the men who gave their lives that tragic day. Of the 13 men who left the firehouse on 9/11, only one would survive. Halberstam makes no mystery of who dies, all you have to do is look at the back cover to see the pictures of the twelve men who passed away when the World Trade Center towers came down. What Halberstam does do is make us have a feel for who these brave men were, as well as their families and friends who most now go on without them. As always with Halberstam this is is very well written book. This book is almost a coda, another chapter, of his latest major work, "War in a Time of Peace" which was published just weeks before 9/11 and mentions on the last page that the new threat to the United States will not come from some super-power or established nation but rather from terrorists and extremists. To understand the loss we as a country truly paid on that tragic day read this book. This is a touching book and slim though it is it is very special. It will touch your heart.
Rating:
Summary: Giving Thanks for Those Who Give All
Review: I would guess that I am not the only one guilty of taking firemen for granted before September 11. Sure, I knew that in between relaxing at the firehouse, they got to go out and have some excitement, and that they did good work, and it was all commendable in a very manly way. But with all the losses to the New York Fire Department (343 killed), and the vigil over the site of the World Trade Center as their bodies were finally unearthed, and the heartfelt mourning of their brothers at one funeral after another, my admiration for fireman has increased to something around the level it had when I was a kid and like all kids I wanted to be a fireman. David Halberstam lives on the West Side of Manhattan, and had a distant admiration "for firemen, for their courage, for the highly professional and immensely good-natured way they go about their jobs, and for the fact that they constantly have to deal with terrifying fires in the high-rises that surround us." He had, before September 11, never been in his neighborhood Engine 40, Ladder 35 Firehouse. The firehouse lost twelve of the thirteen men sent on the engine and ladder to the World Trade Center, and Halberstam, in _Firehouse_ (Hyperion) tells us of their lives and work. It is a small, graceful, moving, eye-opening homage to firemen and their values. The values are a family matter. Not only are the members of a firehouse family to themselves, for they literally depend on each other for their lives. Significantly, however, firefighting runs in families. Some of the men lost that dreadful day were third generation firemen who, sometimes against the advice of their fathers, never wanted to be anything but firemen. Halberstam tells a good deal about the inner life of the firehouse, such things as the tension felt on both sides as a new firemen on a probationary period (a "probie") is assigned to the station, the refusal of some firefighters to take the steps that would make them officers, the deliberate distance and respect between officers and men. Among the stories here are many of firemen who had swapped shifts or just went off shift so that they were not among the ones to answer the first call. Halberstam gives brief biographical portrayals of all twelve men, the one who was an expert at putting up wallpaper and did it for the homes of all the others, the one who was a former auto mechanic who kept all their private vehicles running smoothly, the golfers, the cooks, the one who had just shown up for his first workday at the firehouse, suiting up among strangers for the run five minutes later. Halberstam writes quietly, with admiration and even awe, but he describes his tale as one about "the nobility of ordinary people." He says that there "are very few stories that I have written in my 50 years as journalist that have been so personally rewarding," and the story shines because unlike his previous books on Vietnam, the American press, or professional sports endeavors, this is one on heroes in a profession anyone can unabashedly admire. "Even with elite combat units, when a soldier runs across a field of fire to carry off a wounded buddy, he is doing it for a pal;... [firefighters] perform acts of exceptional courage to save complete strangers." They were doing it before September 11, and they do it still, but we have more reason to be grateful, and less to take them for granted.
Rating:
Summary: A book about 9/11/01 that deserves to be read
Review: Mr. Halberstam, known well for his books about history, has written a little book about 9/11 that will hopefully remain long after most of the other 9/11 novels are ancient history. This novel tells the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 in Midtown Manhattan, a firehouse that lost 12 of 13 men who went to the World Trade Center. Each fireman is described - what role he had in the firehouse and how he came to be a fireman. The story of the 13th fireman, Kevin Shea, the one who lived, is also told. Some have criticized this story because it leaves out any negatives, character flaws, etc. that these men had. I dispute this as one in particular is characterized as a "human cactus". And why, I ask, should we want to learn the things people disliked about the men who died? They did die as heroes, even though this book illustrates that heroes is probably the last thing that any of these men would have wanted to be called. They were just doing their jobs. The book also goes into some detail about the families of these men and how they reacted after the tragedy when they came to realize that their husband/son/father would not be coming home. Out of all the books written about September 11th, this is one that deserves to stand the test of time. It wasn't written in a hurry so that it would sell tons of copies and make lots of money - instead it was published in May 2002, long after many books had been out and the publishing craze seemed to be over. It also serves as a reminder of what happened that day. Eventually, 9/11/01 will be just another date, hard as it seems to believe right now. Eventually it will be like 12/7/41 and children will learn of it, but not fully understand and appreciate the tragedy that occurred that day. If this book is still around, I will recommend it be read by everyone who doesn't remember that day, so they can understand that lives were lost that day - lives of real people.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine tribute to heroes
Review: This book does a wonderful job of explaining the wide range of emotions felt by the families and members of Engine 40, Ladder 35 FDNY. David Halberstam has produced a book that is a must read for anyone in the emergency services or anyone with an interest in the aftermath of September 11. I highly recommend FIREHOUSE.
Rating:
Summary: If you only read one book on 9/11, this should be it.
Review: This book is one of the most devastating things you will ever read. This is not a tale of blood and gore and the evil that men do. Rather, this is the back-story to a firehouse that responded on 9/11. You get to know the men. You get to know their humour, their temper, their personalities. Then, you get some small sense of the loss that this world has felt since FDNY lost 343 heroic firefighters that day. They were not nameless and faceless statistics, but each one was a person. Each one answered a higher calling. This book is fully deserving of your attention.
As a side note, to my brothers in the fire service out there, keep this one away from the wife. She will cry for days.
Rating:
Summary: The quiet courage of Americans
Review: This book sums up the problem with Halberstam's career in journalism - - - he has an ongoing fascination with power, courage, heroism and duty without ever quite understanding the origins of these qualities of character. Quite simply, courage exists because anything else is unthinkable. This is a tribute to firefighters who responded to the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. It may well be the best book written about the human side of the event, a focus on one firehouse where 12 of the 13 men who responded were killed. Anyone who's read The New York Times since is very familiar with the format of personal snapshots that Halberstam uses, and he does a credible job in a much expanded version of what the Times could ever offer. But, he seems to be left grasping for an answer to "Why did they do it?" My response, quite simply, is because they couldn't do anything else. Halberstam outlines the spirit of camaraderie among firefighters in the first half of the book, very similar to a military unit where people train, live, play and work together. They become family, as close as their other families of wives and parents and children; like a good family, they don't "think" of danger to each other - - - they feel it instinctively. It's the same reaction that occurs in good military units, and among the crews of good ships. Unlike the police, who often have the luxury of waiting for negotiators to defuse a tense situation, firefighters must respond immediately. As Halbertsam points out, being as much as a minute late may cost lives that could otherwise have been saved. His observations from firefighters are like those of soldiers I've interviewed who served in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. It reflects what I've found to be an underlying but absolutely rock-solid quality of Americans - - - regardless of the person, their unquestioning dedication to honor, duty, loyalty when the chips are down. Halberstam offers all the ingredients of this "pudding" in his book, which I think every reader will recognize. My one complaint is that he fails to draw it all together into a coherent analysis and tribute to the enduring American character. In that, he's very like the firefighters he describes; they don't boast, and they're not overly introspective - - - they simply do what needs to be done when whatever it is needs doing. Perhaps it takes a non-American to recognize this fundamental quality of most Americans; not just firefighters, but of all Americans when faced with a crisis. Like most brave people, firefighters don't flaunt their courage; like the astute journalist he is, Halberstam doesn't invent reasons his subjects don't talk about. Yet, it is all in his book. Time and again, readers will recognize gems of courage, duty, honor and selfless dedication to family that good firefighters posses. Perhaps it's the best way to describe what motivated the men of Engine 40/Ladder 35 who responded and died that fateful day. They didn't boast, Halberstam doesn't. Instead, he tells the story of these men who are so like the firefighters in every community. In his low-key manner, he describes qualities of ordinary Americans which draws the admiration of the world. Had he tried for more, he would have come across as a pretentious twit. Instead, when you read this book, there's a real sense of the heroism that shone through like a beacon on Sept. 11, 2001. Halberstam has done a masterful job. As a foreigner, let me recommend this book as a superb even if understated tribute to the quiet courage of Americans, and especially firefighters.
Rating:
Summary: The quiet courage of Americans
Review: This book sums up the problem with Halberstam's career in journalism - - - he has an ongoing fascination with power, courage, heroism and duty without ever quite understanding the origins of these qualities of character. Quite simply, courage exists because anything else is unthinkable. This is a tribute to firefighters who responded to the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. It may well be the best book written about the human side of the event, a focus on one firehouse where 12 of the 13 men who responded were killed. Anyone who's read The New York Times since is very familiar with the format of personal snapshots that Halberstam uses, and he does a credible job in a much expanded version of what the Times could ever offer. But, he seems to be left grasping for an answer to "Why did they do it?" My response, quite simply, is because they couldn't do anything else. Halberstam outlines the spirit of camaraderie among firefighters in the first half of the book, very similar to a military unit where people train, live, play and work together. They become family, as close as their other families of wives and parents and children; like a good family, they don't "think" of danger to each other - - - they feel it instinctively. It's the same reaction that occurs in good military units, and among the crews of good ships. Unlike the police, who often have the luxury of waiting for negotiators to defuse a tense situation, firefighters must respond immediately. As Halbertsam points out, being as much as a minute late may cost lives that could otherwise have been saved. His observations from firefighters are like those of soldiers I've interviewed who served in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. It reflects what I've found to be an underlying but absolutely rock-solid quality of Americans - - - regardless of the person, their unquestioning dedication to honor, duty, loyalty when the chips are down. Halberstam offers all the ingredients of this "pudding" in his book, which I think every reader will recognize. My one complaint is that he fails to draw it all together into a coherent analysis and tribute to the enduring American character. In that, he's very like the firefighters he describes; they don't boast, and they're not overly introspective - - - they simply do what needs to be done when whatever it is needs doing. Perhaps it takes a non-American to recognize this fundamental quality of most Americans; not just firefighters, but of all Americans when faced with a crisis. Like most brave people, firefighters don't flaunt their courage; like the astute journalist he is, Halberstam doesn't invent reasons his subjects don't talk about. Yet, it is all in his book. Time and again, readers will recognize gems of courage, duty, honor and selfless dedication to family that good firefighters posses. Perhaps it's the best way to describe what motivated the men of Engine 40/Ladder 35 who responded and died that fateful day. They didn't boast, Halberstam doesn't. Instead, he tells the story of these men who are so like the firefighters in every community. In his low-key manner, he describes qualities of ordinary Americans which draws the admiration of the world. Had he tried for more, he would have come across as a pretentious twit. Instead, when you read this book, there's a real sense of the heroism that shone through like a beacon on Sept. 11, 2001. Halberstam has done a masterful job. As a foreigner, let me recommend this book as a superb even if understated tribute to the quiet courage of Americans, and especially firefighters.
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