After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Steven Brill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2003

The story begins on September 12, 2001. It reads like a novel. But the characters in award-winning journalist Steven Brill's America are real. They don't have all the answers or all the virtues of fictional heroes.

It is because they are so human -- so much like the rest of us -- that makes the way they rise to the challenge of September 12 such an inspiring story about how America really works.

A Customs inspector somehow has to guard against a nuclear bomb that could be hidden in one of the thousands of cargo containers from all over the world sitting on his dock in New York harbor.

A young woman in New Jersey, suddenly widowed with three young children, doesn't know how to get the keys to her husband's car, much less how she can challenge the head of a federal victims' fund.

An entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, who makes machines that screen luggage for bombs, can't decide if this crisis is an opportunity he should seize.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has no idea how to find the new, hidden enemy living among us.

The young, just-hired director of the American Civil Liberties Union wonders how he can keep Ashcroft from going too far.

The CEO of a giant insurer has to decide whether to risk economic panic by not paying damage claims that he might legally be able to avoid.

Red Cross President Bernadine Healy has to figure out how to collect and allocate donations while dodging a hostile board of directors.

Career civil servant Gale Rossides has to recruit and train the largest workforce ever hired by the government -- the new airport passenger screeners.

A proprietor of a shoe repair shop -- helped by two young women, pro bono lawyers -- has to rebuild a business buried in the rubble of Ground Zero.

A Detroit Border Patrol agent -- whose bosses want to fire him for speaking out about how unprotected his stretch of border is -- has to choose whether to risk his family's livelihood by sounding the alarm.

Tom Ridge has to run through a bureaucratic wall to mount a true homeland security defense.

Drawing on 347 on-the-record interviews and revelations from memos of government meetings, court filings, and other documents, Brill gives us a front-row seat as these and other players in this real-life drama cross paths in a series of alliances and confrontations and fight for their own interests and their version of the public interest.

The result is a gritty story -- and trailblazing journalism -- that inspires us not because these Americans or their country are perfect, but because they were tough enough, anchored enough, and living in a system that encouraged and enabled them to meet the awesome challenges they faced.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Within moments after the collapse of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, and the downing of United Airlines Flight 93 over a field in Pennsylvania, the shocked world knew that much more than the spectacular New York City skyline had changed forever. Steven Brill shows us how profoundly true that is in this richly detailed, day-by-day account of how America mobilized to protect our now-clearly-vulnerable homeland and to help rebuild not just Ground Zero, but the thousands of shattered lives that were affected by the attacks. One marvels at the extent of the destruction and at the speed of the response. However, After does not present an always-pretty picture of good will and cooperation. Instead, we are shown a year of stunning juxtapositions: of extraordinary charity, brain power, and good intentions versus greed, self-interest, and bureaucratic incompetence. "It would all make for a harrowing test of a system in which all the players in this American symphony square off in a robust, often messy clash of ideas and special interests that is supposed to produce the public interest."

Brill presents a cross-section of the constituencies that were suddenly bound together after the catastrophe and deftly interweaves their stories. The book is at once personal and public, intimate and far-reaching. However, because of its very scope, it is at times ponderous. Many of the power players are familiar--Ashcroft, Schumer, and Ridge--but it is the others--the victims' families, the border patrol and customs officers, the newly targeted members of the Arab community--that give this story a human face. As Brill suggests, the story of After is far from complete. While some of the challenges presented in the book have been resolved, we know we will be confronting many of the others for years to come. --Silvana Tropea

From Publishers Weekly

Brill, journalist and entrepreneur (founder of the ill-fated Brill's Content magazine), has written a sprawling, panoramic account of life after September 11. Proceeding on an almost day-by-day basis through the year after the attacks, he employs documentary-style crosscuts between episodes in the lives of a dramatis personae that is impressively and appropriately large and diverse. There are poignant but unsentimental portraits of the families of three of the victims. Brill follows several government agents on the front lines after the attacks, including a whistleblower from the hapless INS. Executives from Raytheon and a bomb-screening business angle for gain from the new homeland security regime, while the CEOs of an airport and an insurance company confront perilous losses. Brill, founder of Court TV, perceptively explains the legal battles of World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein and the theory behind the Victim Compensation Fund. Among the powerful, most notably rendered is Attorney General John Ashcroft, who comes off as heedlessly overzealous in his pursuit of terrorists. In contrast, Sen. Charles Schumer and homeland security chief Tom Ridge get respectful, sometimes cozy, treatment. To the extent that there's a theme to Brill's headlong narrative, it is the resilience of America's system of clashing interest groups. But the real achievement here is to convey the scope of the tragedy's consequences, which somewhat excuses the book's scattershot quality. Brill is no prose stylist, and the episodic, chronological method makes for a repetitive and long book. Still, Brill often displays formidable journalistic research, sharp reporting and lively characterizations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First edition (April 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743237099
• ISBN-13: 978-0743237093
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,972,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brill's Brilliant From Contrite Cynic To Critical Citizen!, April 6, 2003

By 

Joseph J. Janos III (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era (Hardcover)

I have come to admire Steven Brill for his honesty to admit when he is wrong, for his defense of public officials who deserve respect and for his ability to seek out the truth to better our society. This book emulates all three outstanding traits of the author by the way he investigates, dissects and proposes changes to the future from history.

Brill's first book, "Teamsters" caught my attention just out of law school. "Teamsters" was accurate, insightful, and dazzling work of spiritual dedication to the subject for the reader and should have been made into a movie.

He lost some creditability when he created "Brill's Content Magazine" to excused Bill Clintons' own personal King Solomon stain of sins that just needed to go away. Yet, I thought it was another brave attempt to save a not so perfect Public Servant President who cared about making tough decisions. Upon reflection, I now see Brill's brilliance in this attempt to teach the public to understand that American Public Service most of the time deserves praise not pity, appreciation not cynics and always respectful criticism.

In this book, he does exactly that by talking about the day after 911 and how America needs a new debate on our civil liberties and public safekeeping. He outlines how globalization combined with technological expansion enhances the destruction that leaves America vulnerable to loss opportunities for freedoms, economic development and public health assaults causing death and fear.

Thus, the writer is voicing the need for our society to approach this new change and re-think old policies and practices that will balance our freedoms with public security to ensure a personal viable existence with knowledge of fear but not domination from fear.

Brill writes the fine points on how President Bush and Governor Tom Ridge together created a Department of Homeland Security. How they change the face on how our bureaucracies can be made better to protect American Transportation, Security and Business Institutions. How they forced Congress to think much bigger rather than remain small fiefdoms for congressional committee critics to wave power by claiming we cannot protect anyone anymore.

The author freely admits his error as a, "New York City Fifth Avenue Ivy League Media Cynic," a long title but nothing to be ashamed of either, and no longer undervaluing the hard work, devotion and dedication of public servants such Tom Ridge, Chuck Shumer and President Bush just as he valued President Clinton's devotion.

He shows how Ridge left a cozy Governor's position to take a ill prepared newly created position that is easy fodder for any heckler and detractor to ridicule him. Yet, he praises Ridge's performance to date nothing short of sparkling dedication to duty and country.

Simultaneously, the author does not have the same feelings or findings for Attorney General John Ashcroft who Brill fears lacks the basic abilities to see the entire picture. The author has concluded the new Department of Justice policies are not well thought out and are having a negative impact on civil liberties while not meeting the needs to provide public security.

Brill blames much on the Department of Justice incompetence managing the Immigration and Naturalization Service and after reading his indictment one must agree with him. The INS is in shambles and need a public press purge to reform the personnel, polices and practices! I call upon every newspaper, magazine and media investigator to rain upon this agency and publicly change it by publishing its failures and the people responsible so they leave and competency is restored for our protection.

Brill concludes America is on the right path towards public safety but a plan is only as good as the people who execute it. Consequently, why he contributed his own voice to calling for more public debates to re-organize and balance of our liberties against national institutional safety.

Our nation needs more Steven Brill's who support our leaders in times of perils by telling us how hard of a job they have for our benefit. I credit him for telling us about the personal sacrifices of these men and women of public service we often put down as politicians preying as public serpents without remorse or apology. At the same time, he teaches us not to be afraid to tell us what needs to be improved and who needs to reform it by providing in clear exact details why someone or some agencies like INS and FAA are deteriorating into threats of our own making.

This book is a first-class read from a author, attorney and media reactionary for the political promotion of true libertarian values. Brill shows his own dedication not because of controversy but because of his honesty to defend, encourage and criticize public service when he feels the need to participate as a citizen.

I highly recommend this book!

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For those not looking for a sensationalist version of 9/11, March 30, 2003

By 

B-Man (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era (Hardcover)

This book follows everyday people, key political figures, and various other business and charity organizers and shows how their lives changed in the days, weeks, months and year after 9/11. What starts to emerge from a thoughtful reading of this book is that it reflects Americans and the United States in all its strengths and all its weaknesses. The people described and the country is not perfect, but the issues and pressures that are faced hour by hour, day by day, etcetera is truly remarkable. There is constant give and take as differing idealogies and philosophies of the freedom America should bring is played out, but in fast forward. Decisions, bills (both those needing to be paid and ones on Capitol Hill), opportunities, and obstacles come up and are dealt with, for better or worse in retrospect.

The only 9/11 book that comes close to this sort of balanced and careful analysis, albeit still early in the history of the post 9/11 era, is Inside 9/11 by the editors of Der Spiegel.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steven Brill's Brilliant Analysis is a Must-Read, April 18, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era (Hardcover)

"The terrorists' goal is fear, not conquest," states Steven Brill in his treatise on the attacks on America in September 2001. "If terrorists can convince enough people to be scared because their government hasn't figured out how to deal with any number of threats at the same time, they win. Yet from a political point of view, if he or she alarms people so much by talking about all the threats and making the price of addressing them so onerous in terms of freedom, cost, and convenience, the terrorists win that way, too."

AFTER: How America Confronted the September 12 Era is the story of how the nation banded together and fought those fears. In the dark days that followed what will be forever remembered simply as "9/11," millions of people, Americans and non-Americans, wondered how life could ever return to normal. But in Steven Brill's commendable book, readers will learn how quickly attempts were made to get the nation back on track.

Of course, the focus that day was on the victims who perished or were injured in the horrific attacks. The days that followed were filled with palpable sadness and mourning. Jews traditionally have a seven-day period of mourning, after which it is time to get on with life.

Brill, founder of The American Lawyer and former editor of Brill's Content, reports in painstaking detail the efforts made by New York and America, through a handful of examples, to do just that --- the widow, reluctantly giving in to the inevitability of her husband's death; the long-time shopkeeper who lost everything, wondering what to do next; the businessmen on both sides of the insurance table, anxious to rebuild on the one hand and trying to avoid massive payouts on the other; the New York senator trying to get the most available aid for his battered city; the ACLU lawyer, seeking to keep mass hysteria from infringing on the civil rights of those who might become targets of persecution simply because of their nations of origin; the airline official, whose entire industry is already down dramatically, looking for assistance to avoid total collapse in the face of lost business and potential lawsuits; and the Red Cross worker, trying to maximize assistance to victims of 9/11 while juggling political sensitivities.

Unfortunately, there are always those looking to capitalize on such a situation, whether they seek financial, social or political glory. "[I]t is pointless to try to gauge the mix of 'selfish' or 'selfless' motivations at work. We live in a society that depends on both," writes Brill in the book's epilogue.

The sum of AFTER is an amazing collection of research and yet it remains a human story, rather than cold facts and figures. Congressmen cry along with family members, while the phrase "I feel your pain," often considered a joke thanks to the previous Administration, takes on real meaning.

The reader also gets a sense of the enormity of planning to re-seed a new financial infrastructure where the World Trade Center once stood. To do less, to sit and brood for an extended period, despite the unparalleled depths of anguish, would be to grant an even larger sense of victory to the madmen behind the attacks.

Brill's brilliant analysis ends with a note of hope: "Although American freedoms and the legal system that protects its people have been tested and even changed, Americans are still fundamentally free."

Brill concludes: "The American people and the American system have been as resilient as ever. Even as the nation changed, it prevailed, because its people remained fundamentally the same --- motivated enough and tough enough to pursue the same mix of self-interest and public interest in the same spirited, open arena that, since its beginning has been the source of America's enduring strength."

AFTER does not make for emotionally pleasant reading. With the first real test of that national grit since December 7, 1941 --- another date to remember --- it is, nevertheless, important reading. It reminds us how far we have come and how much farther we have yet to go.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan