Rating: 
Summary: Around, above, and even below Ground Zero
Review: "American Ground" is indeed one of the best of the flood of books that have come out since the terrorist outrages of 9/11/01, and William Langewiesche tells his story with eloquent prose and the experience of having been the only journalist allowed unrestricted access to Ground Zero. His description of an expedition underground to locate and examine the remains of the WTC's air conditioning plant is utterly fascinating, a kind of archaeology of ruins. Langewiesche's honesty is refreshing too, and apparently upsetting to the few 1 star reviews you'll see below; no, not everyone at the site was a hero, and while some heroes were dying, some losers were looting (anyone who's worked an airplane crash with the NTSB will tell you that the crash site is thoroughly looted before they arrive - this is unfortunately common "human" behavior even in the face of tragedy).My one gripe about the book is the fact that what's here is basically what was in his three-part series in the "Atlantic Monthly." Considering that Langewiesche was at the site for months, 205 undersized pages seems awfully succinct. I think most readers also would have preferred to pay a few more bucks and have some illustrations included. Langewiesche's final scene of the book has the steel from the WTC being chopped up and dumped into the hold of a rusting ship to be sent oversas as scrap. To send the steel of these buildings to be turned into cans and possibly weapons to be aimed back at us is the ultimate irony. The steel should have been saved, carefully studied (the hurried clearance of the site and ensuing destruction of the evidence has always seemed foolish to me), and then it should have been melted down and gone into an aircraft carrier. THAT should have been the fate of the WTC's superb steel, but once again America sells her heritage for a mess of pottage. Shame.
Rating: 
Summary: Fallen heros
Review: A wonderful and moving book. If only the media had been as honest about the fire department at the time. The riot showed quite clearly that they are not what they were made out to be. The way they treated civilian dead is both sickening and sadening. Unfortunately the protests lauched against this book by fire departments show how deeply ingrained the elitist, money grubbing attitude is entrenched within their ranks. This book just made it more clear. After all I watched the riot on television and read the reports of their contempt for civilian bodies long before this was published. Given the choice between a firefighter and a stewardess as a hero I would take the stewardess.
Rating:
Summary: Buy This Book
Review: American Ground in essence makes the pain of this tragedy bearable by adding behind the scenes human faces to the immense width of this story. I followed the excerpts in The Atlantic and bought the book as soon as it was available. As someone who watched the World Trade Center going up on the horizon through High School and College from the Jersey side, and who visited the towers often, I needed this book. Langewiesche deflates the hype and PR, the phony patriotism and the pseudo bravery by telling the stories of those that truly meet the definition of "Hero" and whose work will endure as an effort that triumphed in the face of the most insurmountable obstacles that have ever been placed before us. Journalism at it's finest. Give the man the Pulitzer.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: American Ground is a fantastic read, a compelling page-turner, and on its own terms, inspirational. Don't let the hysterical negative customer reviews posted here dissuade you from buying/reading this book. Langewiesche tells his story in an original voice, with clear-eyed honesty and detachment, which seems to have provoked the ire of a small group of people who are invested in perpetuating the one-dimensional "hero" myths that 9/11 spawned.
Rating: 
Summary: Too bad this man wasn't at Ground Zero
Review: As an Ironworker who was at ground zero, I can attest to this man's uninsightful look at the Ironworkers role at the site. First of all a couple of hundred Ironworkers were at that site within hours of it's fall, my brother included. I got there by the third day and got paid to be there. My brother didn't, he was there when it fell. He volunteered and worked in incredibly harsh and dangerous conditions. He slept on the floor of one of the financial buildings across the street, (does the author know those building)? My brother as well as most Ironworkers at that time were working very steadily and usually getting overtime at dangerous yet safer than Ground Zero jobs but still volunteered to clean up for free. After 3 days then they were paid but not for the first three days, for the rest of the job. My brother does very well as the main guy in his company but stayed there til the end. What was in it for him? Nothing except ironworkers, including our Father and Uncle built them towers. Those two towers were a monument to our hard work that makes so many people money. There were unsavory things going on down there but not with the Ironworkers but, hey, I guess to sell books to the unknowing you need to manipulate the truth huh?
Rating:
Summary: Too bad this man wasn't at Ground Zero
Review: As an Ironworker who was at ground zero, I can attest to this man's uninsightful look at the Ironworkers role at the site. First of all a couple of hundred Ironworkers were at that site within hours of it's fall, my brother included. I got there by the third day and got paid to be there. My brother didn't, he was there when it fell. He volunteered and worked in incredibly harsh and dangerous conditions. He slept on the floor of one of the financial buildings across the street, (does the author know those building)? My brother as well as most Ironworkers at that time were working very steadily and usually getting overtime at dangerous yet safer than Ground Zero jobs but still volunteered to clean up for free. After 3 days then they were paid but not for the first three days, for the rest of the job. My brother does very well as the main guy in his company but stayed there til the end. What was in it for him? Nothing except ironworkers, including our Father and Uncle built them towers. Those two towers were a monument to our hard work that makes so many people money. There were unsavory things going on down there but not with the Ironworkers but, hey, I guess to sell books to the unknowing you need to manipulate the truth huh?
Rating:
Summary: Leaders Everywhere
Review: As the senior writer for an online leadership magazine, I was particularly struck with the "situational leaders" in Langwiesche's book. Over and over he stresses that who you were and what you'd done didn't matter on The Pile. What counted was what you could contribute right now. Some leaders rose to prominence with one set of circumstances and sank when circumstances changed. Others remained leaders by growing and moving with the changes.
Langwiesche is free of the maudlin emotionalism that has characterized so much of the 9/11 writing, but he presents a much more inspiring vision of what Americans can rise to when the opportunity is thrust upon them.
Rating:
Summary: 9-11 Up Close and Personal..........
Review: Extraordinary account of the events of 9-11-01- seen up close and personal. I read the 3 installments written by
Langewiesche, upon which this book was based ,in "The Atlantic Monthly" and raved about the writing and the first-hand account.
William Langewiesche gives us a vivid portrait of the first day
and days after 9-11. He was there with all of the people most intimately involved in the clean-up and the research of who,what and how. He provides the stories behind the police and firemen issues and we get to know the real people involved.
I recommend this book to everyone- a great read!!!!
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Rating: 
Summary: Compelling but skimpy
Review: Has some very fine descriptions of the "unbuilding" of the World Trade Center, and details found nowhere else. The problem is that one comes away from this slim volume unsatisfied. It simply isn't long or detailed enough. This book appeared as three installments of the Atlantic Monthly--and it shows.
Rating:
Summary: Not the way it happened; ...
Review: I am a college instructor whose brother in-law is FDNY. I find it disturbing that intelligent readers are so eager to debunk the mythology of "heroism" that they embrace sensational journalism, as well-crafted as it may be, for the "truth". The "truth" is far more complex than America Ground presents it, and far more compelling. I read the last installment of American Ground in The Atlantic and I was scandalized by not only the poor reportage (outlandish remarks supported by statements such as "rumors had it that...") but by allegations the author made which I knew not to be true. While firefighters are human and some assuredly do unpalatable things, such as loot, anyone with ties to the firefighting community knows that firefighters do not rush into danger out of some macho bravado, but out of a Kantian sense of duty to rescue. To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand the psyche of these extraordinary people. If Langeweische had total access to the site and to the firemen then he must have known that many of the firefighters took last rites from on site chaplains before going into the WTC...hardly the rash, thrill seeking behavior American Ground alleges. Yet Langewweische does not include this bit of information. Why? Yes, the firemen grieved irrationally...as their rioting demonstrated. But where is it publically disclosed that probationary FDNY make 36K...not even enough to pay rent in NYC. And yet many probies died on 9/11...for about ... an hour, after tax. If anyone needs a definition of a hero, look no further.
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