Rating: 
Summary: Can't wait for the movie
Review: I recently read in Variety that Tom Cruise might be making a movie of this book so I thought I would check it out. Turns out it's an incredible story -- made even more so by the fact that it really happened and hardly anyone knows about it. Once I started I couldn't put it down. This is one powerful book -- and so visually written. I'll be the first one at the theatre when it comes out as a film....
Rating:
Summary: No Longer Forgotten
Review: I'm not sure what is more impressive the scholarship and detail of a long ago tragedy or the riveting writing that brings it into the here and now. What could have been a dry history has been transformed into a big screen epic of misplaced ambitions, unwitting compromises and ordinary people turned into extraordinary heroes by awful events. This is a page turner that keeps you wiping your eyes and praying for away to travel back in time and correct the mistakes that led to this tragedy. A wonderful, wonderful read.
Rating: 
Summary: One Flaw Spoils Almost All of It
Review: If you're not interested reading a story that is absolutely factual or at least as factual as someone's research can make it, this book is probably one you want to read. After all, it is a dramatic telling of the cataclysmic explosion in Texas City in 1947. Yet if you are a fussy reader like me, something is going to bother you about the narrative. It's very simple. In the case of at least one of the major figures of the book, Father Bill Roach, the author puts words in his mouth; tells us what he is thinking; and frequently informs us in detail of his routine actions. This is despite the fact that Father Roach died in the explosion, and unless the author knows the secret of time travel or can speak with the dead, this means there is a large amount of fiction in the book. To me, this wrecks the credibility of the narrative. The enormous amount of research Mr. Minutaglio did almost becomes moot. He doesn't even give us footnotes, endnotes, or chapter notes, so we can pick out what amounts to pure speculation on his part and ignore it. His only sop to the readers is italicizing some passages. These he coyly describes as "external and internal dialogue" that he "built" from what is known as fact. In the end, I find myself wondering why he didn't just stick to the facts like most other writers of non-fiction do or simply write a novel about the explosion. He writes very well, and I bet such a book would have sold.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: In short, I couldn't put this down. The author has told us a story that's needed to come to light for many years. Why it hasn't until now still remains a mystery. I have distant family who were in Texas City at the time of this disaster, but for years it has only been mentioned, never really discussed. Now, in this post 9/11 time, what happened there resonates even more strongly . Kudos to Minutaglio, a veteran Texas journalist, for telling this story so compellingly. The individuals, the events, the context, the long-term repercussions -- it's a fascinating, interwoven tale. I will highly recommend to family and friends.
Rating:
Summary: Important Work on an Important Historical Event
Review: In the great literary tradition of Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, and Truman Capote, Bill Minutaglio, one of our country's best writers, has produced a wonderful non-fictional novel that should be on everybody's bookshelf. An absolute page-turner with a narrative that moves at a breakneck pace, it also, in light of the events of September 11th, couldn't be more relevant. Combining both stunning and, at times, fiery prose with brilliantly detailed research, Minutaglio brings to life a cautionary tale of history long forgotten, of a 1947 explosion that leveled the factory town of Texas City, Texas, caused the deaths of over 700 people (as well as injured over 5,000), and started a landmark legal battle. While a story of humanity at its worst-political ambition, big industry greed, racism-it provides the uplift of the indestructibility of the human spirit, of our ability to literally rise from the ashes. Minutaglio has magnificently captured this magnificent story and made memorable an important chunk of history that could've easily been forgotten forever.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of money
Review: In the great literary tradition of Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, and Truman Capote, Bill Minutaglio, one of our country?s best writers, has produced a wonderful non-fictional novel that should be on everybody?s bookshelf. An absolute page-turner with a narrative that moves at a breakneck pace, it also, in light of the events of September 11th, couldn?t be more relevant. Combining both stunning and, at times, fiery prose with brilliantly detailed research, Minutaglio brings to life a cautionary tale of history long forgotten, of a 1947 explosion that leveled the factory town of Texas City, Texas, caused the deaths of over 700 people (as well as injured over 5,000), and started a landmark legal battle. While a story of humanity at its worst?political ambition, big industry greed, racism?it provides the uplift of the indestructibility of the human spirit, of our ability to literally rise from the ashes. Minutaglio has magnificently captured this magnificent story and made memorable an important chunk of history that could?ve easily been forgotten forever.
Rating:
Summary: You'll Be Transported
Review: Minutaglio combines Michael Crichtonesque pacing with the unflinching detail of Capote. His book tells "a history" that takes the reader beyond the dry facts, figures and footnotes. Want banal... standard history? Go back to junior high and fall asleep at your desk (perhaps underneath the asbestos). Buy this book and find yourself inside a story, walking the neon streets and smelling the factories. I was thankful that Mr. Minutaglio didn't get too mired in some kind of academic repeat of microfiche minutia. His uncanny ability to tell the whole story even as he trimmed the fat and gave special attention to what was inherently dramatic was what made this book such a joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, forgotten history brought to life
Review: Not only does this book read like a compelling novel, but the author clearly did extensive research into this forgotten but significant episode in US history. I became interested in this book after I heard the author discussing it on National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show. I am very glad I picked up this remarkable book...it is one of the best works of narrative history I have read recently...my favorite book of the year so far. I learned so much.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of money
Review: Sometimes a small book about a local tragedy can be a great find -- a good action narrative worth the money. Unfortunately, this book isn't. I bought this book on the recommendation of a bookstore clerk, who said it hadn't sold well but promised an appealing story. As it turned out, the story is pretty predictable and lacks a writer's skill in the telling. The author deserves credit for attempting to present an ensemble of interesting characters, but mostly they are caricatures. The writing is fairly clunky and the promise of the subtitle -- that the horrific 1947 explosion in Texas City produced a landmark legal ruling -- turns out to be something of an overstatement. The death of 600 people is no small event, but the long-ago events of Texas City have been eclipsed by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. As a regional book, City on Fire might kindle the interest of Texas historians and descendants of those who died in the disaster. But for those who like good active narratives, this one falls short. A reader Houston, TX
Rating:
Summary: More Fiction than Fact
Review: Swings from over-simplification to exaggeration in City on Fire leaves this reader almost dizzy. It is fortunate the author incorporated the research of Hugh Stephens (The Texas City Disaster 1947) to somewhat stabilize his story. For "story" winds insidiously throughout what purports to be an historical account. The book's recounting of so many impossible-to-know private thoughts and actions of citizens, plus the seemingly arrogant absence of footnotes and sources weakens any credibility. Careless errors in first names of the citizens (sometimes even last names), the lay-out of the town in distances and directions and the 1947 construction materials of various structures add to the confusion.
The blast was indeed a disaster, but the author seems to stretch for sensational descriptions. In the first hours after the explosion countless ordinary citizens voluntarily stepped in to do what needed to be done. Their heroism is a legacy.
I found the book to be a mixture of fact and fiction with no map to help separate the components. Therefore, it is not credible to me. I will not add it to my library.
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