Rating: 
Summary: A story that has not been told
Review: William Langewiesche is a superb writer. I had read one of the three articles on the Trade Towers he had written for the Atlantic Monthly and was stunned by the insight and honesty of what he had observed and been a part of while at ground zero. I could not wait to get my hands on this book to read his entire account.
Mr.Langewiwsche brings us the story of what happens in the days after the Trade Towers collapsed. He has made it clear that there is a distinction between what happened on September 11th, and during the rescue and recovery phase. I have heard him in an interview on NPR radio saying that all the people on September 11th were heros. Absolutely. Many died trying to save others. The true focus of his book is what happened to the people left in the aftermath, left to do the clean up of such a horrendous tragedy, left to deal with the wave of emotional devastation and loss. Some rode the wave admirably, and some did not.
What makes this work so special is the very way the author lets us see the humaness of the people working in the disaster site. We are all a mixture of good and bad, hero and coward, recognition seeker and recluse. Langewiesche brings those characteristics to the front of his story. He took me into a world that I fear we will see more of. Great, unthinkable tragedy, and our response to staggering loss.
Human beings still have to deal with their strengths and weaknesses, even when the world turns upside down. We all hope that our better sides will come shining through in the event of a catastrophe. This book is a blue print to make sure that happens. It focuses on the ways we are great-- taking risks to save others, working tirelessly day and night, and on ways we are not--petty turf wars, insensitive pride and self rightousness.
I have noticed that friends I have given this book to have very strong reactions to it. They either love the book, or find the writers' story offensive. They were bothered by the image of a fire truck filled with stolen Gap blue jeans, of firefighters searching for lost brothers ignoring the civilian dead, and of battles over which group got to dig for bodies in different areas. One friend thought that any bad bahavior reported about the Trade Tower clean up was anti-American. I disagree. I think the writing shows how resiliant and strong Americans are and I think it shows us how human we are. In war, there are all kinds of reactions and responses, some admirable and some not. In this work, I found a guide to decide what kind of person I want to be should another tragedy fall on us. One of the finest pieces of writing I have read. Could not recommend highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: All sides of the tradegy revealed...know them all.
Review: William Langewiesche's account of the clean-up after 9-11 may be one of the finest pieces of non-fiction i've ever read. Prior to this book, I was aware of the high quality of his writing. After reading his revealing and very human, and humane, account of the clean-up I'd say that his clarity admist a stunning array of chaos and sorrow is profound. I don't agree with the protests against this book. His criticisms of the firefighters, and others as well, are a very small part of the book and he points a fair and critical eye at all involved. His publisher and the Atlantic Monthly have been adamant that the fact checking in this book is of the highest level. I'm inclined to believe them. But the larger point is that this is book is also an incredible testament to the incredible efforts the rescue and clean-up personnel demonstrated at Ground Zero, or as they called it, "the Pile." His analysis of the defacto organization that sprung up from nowhere, and without anyone's actual approval, to run and lead the cleanup efforts is fascinating. The "on the fly" ingenuity that many of the engineers, construction workers and other onsite personnel display is in a word...inspiring. Please don't turn your back on this book because it doesn't paint everyone in the best light. The best reporting often doesn't. It's real, heartwrenching, brutally honest, celebratory and epic. William Langewiesche should be lauded for cataloging the best, and the worst, of our human nature and as American citizens.
Rating: 
Summary: "American Ground" unsteady footing
Review: William Langewiesche's account of the months of clean-up efforts at Ground Zero has been described as an honest, "clear-eyed" account about the nine months after September 11 in downtown Manhattan. Langewiesche received access at the Trade Center after faxing an inquiry to Kenneth Holden, one of two Department of Design and Construction officials Langewiesche would later turn into the main characters of his book. Holden, according to Atlantic, "was an avid reader of The Atlantic Monthly and a fan of Langewiesche's writing in particular (he had bought and read Langewiesche's books)." Langewiesche was on the site, as he said, "without anything identifying me as a member of the press. I was given the same credentials as any engineer with full access to every part of the site, as well as full access to the meetings and to the files." Some people have applauded American Ground because of Langewiesche's untold stories from the "private world," inside the perimeter lines, including one particular story which states that certain firemen were looting the Trade Center shops before the towers fell. Langewiesche's unconventional and unsteady reporting methods have resulted in many questions and challenges to the veracity of American Ground; As a journalist, I work as part of a group investigating Langewiesche's methods and the results of his work on American Ground. Regarding probably the most controversial scene describing the looting of blue jeans, at his interview on tour at the South Street Seaport Museum in NYC, Langewiesche said he was 'writing about construction workers reactions, not what actually happened,' and that as for the facts of what did or did not happen, he is 'entirely unsure.' Why is he entirely unsure? Because he wasn't there. But when you read the passage, it sure sounds like he was there, even if he is "entirely unsure," if what he wrote was fact or rumor. The book is filled with ambiguity about sourcing (an earlier edition of the story, a published, uncorrected proof of the book names the field superintendent and attributes the quote to him instead of a group of construction workers). The jeans story reveals the sort of problems found throughout the book. According to New York Newsday, Nov. 19, 2002 'Langewiesche, in a telephone interview before the 20-minute protest, defended his work, saying it accurately reflected the emotions of rescue workers at the time.' The emotions? Not the facts? He conceded that he had not checked out many of the stories he heard while he working on the book. 'I am not a truth squad as far as 9/11 goes,' he said. 'I am a reporter. I was interested about what people really believed. My readers understand that and have understood it for years.'' And some reviewers have defended Langewiesche, saying that this particular story is only a few paragraphs, and that it's unfair to judge him on just those pages. This is a spurious argument; what Langewiesche alleges is a criminal charge. Is it really better not to make a fuss and to not bring the book into the spotlight again? Wrong. Rumors of venality presented as fact do not belong in a book that is being sold as an American History textbook, in addition to being required summer reading in other scholarly institutions, a book written by a man who is being lauded like Journalism's golden boy. Neither does plagiarism belong in such a book, especially since most of these academic institutions which use his text require originality from their own students. Specific charges of plagiarism in American Ground have remained unanswered by The Atlantic Monthly. Take the story of Betty Ong, for instance. American Ground has made serious allegations about the last moments of not only firefighters, but also Ms. Ong, who was a flight attendant aboard American Flight 11. "In terrified tones, gasping for air, Ong reported the hijacking," Langewiesche wrote, quite a contrast from the absolute calm heard when the tapes with her voice on them were played before the Sept. 11 Commission recently. And without speaking to the Ongs or Craig Marquis, who was quoted in American Ground, where did Langewiesche get this incorrect information? From a Wall Street Journal article, which was never sourced in the book. Those who have protested Langewiesche's specific factual errors in "American Ground" have been characterized as people who are "upset by plain talk," the kind of people who just want a good, heroic picture to be painted of the firemen, no matter what the facts. This is misleading. The people who protested did so against specific allegations for which there was no proof. Of course there was looting. Take the case of Johnny Dunham. As WNBC reported, "While posing as a firefighter, Dunham -- who was really an unemployed security guard -- took a handful of Tourneau watches and cash. He pleaded guilty to the charges. Another impostor, Roland Abarrategui, was convicted of stealing from another store when the jury saw pictures he'd had real police take of him in an NYPD shirt." People suspected the rescue workers because you had to show credentials to get into these places - and these two looters, at least, dressed up in stolen emergency personnel gear. WNBC goes on, in the same article, to say "So far, no city employee has been charged with committing any crimes while working at ground zero." People will believe what they want to. It's hard to do so when confronted by the facts. But for some people, it must be harder still to admit that you're wrong and make corrections. And blindly cheering for whatever "heroes," the television media throws at you is just as bad as cheering for whatever "anti-heroes," that the magazine and book publishers counters with.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Account of the WTC Disaster
Review: William Langewiesche's American Ground, an account of the WTC attack and cleanup effort, is one of the best pieces of journalism I've ever read. That it stands out among the thousands of articles, hundreds of books, and months of broadcast reports is a testament to the clarity and force with which Langewiesche addresses his subject. While the author has a technicians eye for details in construction, demolition, aviation, and rescue/recovery, he has found a way to make these fields understandable through the eyes of the people who suffered and struggled through the disaster. His greatest skill is making the experience real through human experience. As an example, we read the harrowing account of Pasquale Buzzetti, the Port Authority engineer who survived the collapse of the North Tower by a miraculous fall from within the 13th floor stairwell, to find himself stranded on a ledge of smoldering ruins. His story, from office and stairwell, through the roaring fall of the towers, to his rescue by fireman who haul him out of the ruins by winch and pulleys, and the elating cell-phone call to his pregnant wife, makes an epic event a personal experience. In view of all the tragic details of the attack, it was rewarding to hear one of the few stories with a happy ending. It is one of dozens of such stories in the book. As cinematic as that story is, there is a clarity and accuracy that makes it facinating non-fiction. There will certainly be people offended by his accounts of bureaucrats, firemen and police officers who acted badly during te attack and the cleanup. We are overly steeped in hero worship for the brave men who died, and we are shocked to find that many of them -- living and dead -- were all too human, and did things of which they may not want retold. That should not stop people from reading this book. I lived through the attack from a closer perspective than I care to remember (I'm a New Yorker, and worked in a tower next to the WTC) and I can affirm that Langewiesche got the thing right. This work should be held as an example to the media -- reporters, editors, cameramen, news anchors and interns -- as what you need to do as journalists to make people know and understand the news.
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