Rating: 
Summary: Where's your proof?
Review: This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be. The quote on the front cover, "A powerful reconstruction of the flight's final moments. . . . Made me thinks of John Hersey's Hiroshima." from the New York Times is misleading. Hersey documented the events of the bombing of Hiroshima, while Longman just told us everyone's story, followed by what happened after the crash. Don't get me wrong, it was a great book - it just wasn't what I was expecting.
Reading about every single passenger's life was fairly boring. I was hoping to find out what really happened on the flight, but I guess that would be pretty impossible considering there weren't any survivors to tell the tale, only phone conversations. It's not completely credible either. No one can prove that all of the phone conversations mentioned are credible. And because the FBI won't release the voice recordings from the cockpit, we (the American public) have no true evidence that anything stated in the book really and truly happened.
The American people want to believe that someone out there was trying to defend us when everything else seemed hopeless. They want to believe that all Americans are superheroes. And this story gives off a strong picture of what Americans can be. But was everyone on that plane ready and willing to take down four armed hijackers? This book could just be our way of reviving the Big Stick policy of Teddy Roosevelt.
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe, all of this did happen. Maybe they are all real American heroes. But where's your proof?
Rating: 
Summary: Heartwarming-Heartbreaking
Review: "Among the Heroes" by Jere Longman examines the ordinary lives of the passengers and crew onboard hijacked United Flight 93, and their extraordinary attempt to regain control of the plane once they learned from friends and family via cellphone and Airfone that commercial planes were being used as missiles against American cities.
I normally would have read this book in one sitting. But it's hard to read while your eyes are filled with tears. "Among the Heroes" is a heartwarming yet heartbreaking tale of courage and grace.
Rating:
Summary: SKEPTICAL AT FIRST
Review: A friend loaned this book to me, and I began reading with the intent to close it immediately if it turned out to be another narrow tribute to only the well-known names on that plane. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mr. Longman took great care to paint an equal picture of all crew members and passengers on that plane, not just the 4 who supposedly stormed the cockpit (and after reading the book, were did we all come up with the notion that Todd Beamer led them and there were only 4?) If you find that you are tired of Lisa Beamer being held up by the media as the Poster Child of 9/11 Widows, Mr. Longman dedicated 2 or 3 pages of his book nobly trying to defend her. A great book. I was in tears and grateful to all 40 individuals on that plane who decided to fight against evil. We don't know what each one of them did, but I have no doubt they all did somethng, and each one earned the right to bear the title HERO.
Rating:
Summary: Among the Heroes
Review: A must read if anything good came out of September 11th, it was because of the hero's on Flight 93. They alone made September 11th, the story of what our great country is all about. We all should model ourselves after them and never forget ever the heroic actions of the passengers and crew of this flight.
Rating:
Summary: very moving
Review: a tribute to heroes, indeed. this book exemplifies the courage shown by 40+ heroic americans on that fateful day in September. From the biographing to the memoralizing, this book shows what happened at the first battlefield of the war on terrorism. God Bless America.
Rating:
Summary: very moving
Review: a tribute to heroes, indeed. this book exemplifies the courage shown by 40+ heroic americans on that fateful day in September. From the biographing to the memoralizing, this book shows what happened at the first battlefield of the war on terrorism. God Bless America.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and Harrowing Story of United 93
Review: Among the Heroes by Jere Longman tells the story of United 93 and its 911 highjacking. The writing itself is about as indepth as you would expect a sports writer to be, but this is an admirable effort for Longman to latch onto an important non-sports story. A portrait of practically every passenger is given via friends and family. Unfortunately it gives a 2 dimensional image of some of them along the lines of "He was a good man", "Very athletic, helpful, etc."
For me the most interesting passengers (i.e. the ones I felt I could relate to the most) were Jeremy Glick and Kristin Gould. Kristin was a writer/artist who lived among some icons of '60s literature (Thomas Pynchon) and music (Joan Baez, the Stones, Stevie Wonder, etc.)while Glick and a few others were into Eastern Philosophy.
The book makes alot of the coincidences from premonitions to the fact that many passengers onboard were brave and strong, to the point where it's suggested this was fate, destiny. Only Joan Glick, Jeremy's mother sees that the "fate" idea takes responsibility from Airline security, the government, etc. Then again maybe it was inevitable for the negligence to exist that allowed 911. I mean OF COURSE airlines care more about money than security (pre-911). And another family member nails this idea in a comment about airline security singling her out: "too little, too late".
And the father of one victim went to Afghanistan to meet with families who were innocent victims of the bombing there, which I feel is the ultimate in courage: to take such an unflinching stand for human rights while many Americans were reinforcing their rightwing anti-foreigner zealotry.
And we even get a portrait of Ziad Jarrah, the suicide pilot who led the UA93 highjacking. Imagine how many people he fooled, including his own family as well as everyone he came in contact with in the US and Germany. We are given as much information about what went on during the flight as is known, from cell phone calls to the Flght Voice Recorder to Air Traffic Control.
And of course the bottom line significance is that the passengers stopped the highjackers from hitting the Capital building (or the White House).
Finally a personal note. As a United domestic reservation agent up until the attacks, and being an ex-New Jerseyan based in San Francisco I could very well have been on the flight myself had my days off for free travel been slightly different. As it was I took calls from at least 2 of the UA93 passengers confirming their flights. One was Jeremy Glick, a hero, the other Ziad Jarrah, a terrorist. So therefore I REALLY relate to the families feelings of guilt.
Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Tribute
Review: AMONG THE HEROES is the heart wrenching account of September 11, 2001 United Flight 93. It taps into that common bond we all share with each other. Jere Longman's chronicle of the flight's final moments evokes the natural question we ask of ourselves, "How would I have dealt with the few moments prior to my own immolation?" As readers we also naturally empathize with the survivors' emotional pain and may also ask ourselves how would we react if a loved one were on that doomed flight. Longman did a very creditable job of handling the question of heroism and the conjectured roles the passengers and crew played. Some people have wanted to elevate a few into a super-hero status thereby implying the other passengers and crew members were deficient in courage and honor. Longman was able to explain and defuse this sensitive issue by emphasizing everyone's courage in the face of certain death. The reader can see what these otherwise ordinary and common citizens thought by revealing the content of phone calls placed during the take-over and prior to the devastating crash. Longman describes the sense of teamwork and camaraderie that quickly developed among these strangers in the face of overwhelming danger and extreme urgency. AMONG THE HEROES is an inspiring tribute to a group of fellow Americans. We can only imagine how different our country and the world would be if this fourth suicidal terrorist mission had not been stopped. We owe them all are deepest gratitude.
Rating:
Summary: Among the Heroes
Review: Among the Heroes, a documentary of United Flight 93, was a courageous and heartfelt book written about the fourth plane that went down on September 11, 2001, in Pennsylvania. Written by a reporter for the New York Times, Jere Longman, this book includes details of the 44 brave people who sacrificed everything to prevent the hijackers from succeeding in their mission. These men and women were true heroes in every sense of the word. Among the Heroes displays this message of hope beautifully through the interviews with the passengers' families and friends. It also includes bit and pieces of what was happening inside the plane athat fateful day. This book captured my attention because it was a whole new perspective. I have heard all about the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, but rarely heard of the plane crash in Pennsylvania. It is the plane that often gets overlooked. I gave this book four stars and would recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: This is THE book for Flight 93......
Review: As a dispatcher from Westmoreland County 911, I waited for this book. It was a worthwhile wait. Following Jere's details of the accounts I can personally verify, I am certain of the amount of time he has spent and the extra mile he has gone to get all the details. The heroes of Flight 93 deserve to have their story told by a caring author who is attentive to the details surrounding their efforts, and this has been accomplished. While everyone who was involved with or witnessed the incidents that occurred on September 11, 2001 certainly could not begin to believe what was unfolding, this book puts you up close to the individuals involved with Flight 93, those who witnessed the plane prior to the crash, those on the plane, and the families affected. A full picture in prose.
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