or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

American Widow [Hardcover]

Alissa Torres , Sungyoon Choi
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.00
Price: $14.73 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $9.27 (39%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 15 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 24? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover $14.73  
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

September 9, 2008
"At the heart of "American Widow" is the notion of Sept. 11 as a personal, rather than a national or political, tragedy, which, this achingly tender work reminds us, is exactly what it was." -- LA Times

Want to honor those who passed during 9-11? Turn off the stupid documentary glorifying all of those images we've seen over and over, and read this sincere account of how that fateful day effected one person that represents all of us.” — Aint It Cool News

“[A] raw, occasionally maddening, bracing graphic memoir… Unbearably moving.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Reading it, you feel that Torres could be your friend or neighbor; she makes an epic tragedy intimate.” — Newsday

On September 10, 2001, Eddie Torres started his dream job at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The next morning, he said goodbye to his 7½-months-pregnant wife, Alissa, and headed out the door.

In an instant, Alissa’s world was thrown into chaos. Forced to deal with unimaginable challenges, Alissa suddenly found herself cast into the role of “9/11 widow,” tossed into a storm of bureaucracy, politics, patriotism, mourning, consolation, and, soon enough, motherhood.

Beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated, American Widow is the affecting account of one woman’s journey through shock, pain, birth, and rebirth in the aftermath of a great tragedy. It is also the story of a young couple’s love affair: how a Colombian immigrant and a strong-minded New Yorker met, fell in love, and struggled to fulfill their dreams. Above all, American Widow is a tribute to the resilience of the human heart and the very personal story of how one woman endured a very public tragedy.

Frequently Bought Together

American Widow + Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art + Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Price for all three: $40.71

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Torres's husband, Eddie, started work at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center on September 10, 2001. The next day, Alissa became one of the terrorist widows of 9/11. American Widow chronicles Alissa's first year without Eddie—including the birth of their child, two months after his death. It also traces their courtship, marriage and the last few days of Eddie's life. This deeply personal book is at times raw, angry, bleak and lyrical. The best prose comes out of Torres's moments of pure, lonely grief, which punctuate her confusing and at times horrifying experiences with various aid agencies, family members, friends and strangers. Choi's art is reminiscent of the work of Andi Watson and Craig Thompson, and complements Torres's writing by emphasizing the ordinary in Alissa's extraordinary circumstances. Torres and Choi do best with the confusion and shock that come with a sudden death, laying out scene after scene without quite connecting them—just as events seem to go on and on without meaning when one has lost someone important. What this book lacks in technique and narrative drive, it makes up in its heartfelt look at the universality in one woman's loss. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Alissa Torres lives in New York with her family.

Choi is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has produced short comics as well as illustrations for The New York Times.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Villard; First Edition edition (September 9, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345500695
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345500694
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #472,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

The drawings are hauntingly beautiful. Michell Grunberg  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
I opened it out of curiousity, and ended up reading it entirely in one sitting. Dante  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars American widow: Graphic grieving September 10, 2008
Format:Hardcover
The events of September 11, 2001 will go down as the day international terror began to rule the United States and an era of battle readiness gained prominence. For Alissa Torres, and those left behind by the deaths of the thousands in the towers, a painful chapter in life began.
On many levels, Torres bares her soul as she wades through the intense emotions surrounding the loss of Eddie Torres, her husband. Pregnant on September 11, 2001, the birth of her child by a dead husband put her into a situation even more intense. Betrayal, loss, anger, loneliness, and desperation ooze through in the sparse diary/dialogue laden narrative. The art by Sungyoon Choi is simple, and does not overwhelm the angst filled text.

Content wise, most Americans will never get a more honest education in the politics of humanitarian aid, whether Red Cross, or government based. The frustration the survivors must have dealt with are intimidating in lowpoint emphasis. The transformation from wife, to widow, to victim, to charity dependent, and finally to independence is compelling.

This will be a controversial book given the subject matter. Agree with Ms Torres or not, you will find yourself wanting to find out `the rest of the story'.

Tim Lasiuta
www.randomhouse.com
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A deeply moving story. August 23, 2008
Format:Hardcover
American Widow is a graphic novel revealing the story of Alissa Torres who was left widowed at seven months pregnant by the tragedy of 9/11.

The story includes that fateful day up to the one-year anniversary with alternating flash backs including scenes of Eddie at 10-years old, his life before meeting Alissa and their courtship, marriage and pregnancy. In chapter one alone, my arms were covered with goose bumps. 9/11 was just Eddie's second day at his new job with Cantor Fitzgerald. Included is Alissa's deeply frustrating struggle with several assistance agencies and the government plus you see how different friends and family react to her circumstances.

The story exposed shows us just a glimmer of what surviving family members endured that I would have never imagined. When Alissa's private thoughts are shared you get a sense of how difficult and confusing this time in her life was and you can't help but be affected by this deeply personal story.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEAUTY OF TRUTH September 11, 2008
Format:Hardcover
With time inexorably passing by, and amongst the far too many pointless narratives exploiting 9/11 to nobody's gain, here comes Alissa Torres' extraordinary book. The blessing of truth, unmitigated and at times scathing, as it emerges page after page in American Widow, does more for our collective and individual insight than any increasingly pale, and vain, anniversary celebration. And the splendid drawings make this book highly recommendable for any curious and intelligent child and for all New Yorkers, really.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A Deeply Personal Telling of a Public Tragedy
9/11 is a national (even international) tragedy, and in that sense we are all victims. As time passes we might think that we know something about that tragedy, how we should... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Leland Vall
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
Wow. What an amazing book this is. It really opened my eyes. I loved that this book was from the perspective of someone who actually lived this. It was so real. Read more
Published 18 months ago by IV
3.0 out of 5 stars Missed Opportunity
I was disappointed with this novel. I agreed with a previous reviewer that there are important gaps in the information. Why was Torres mad at her husband before he died? Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mickey
2.0 out of 5 stars missing an editor?
I find it hard to believe that no other reader noticed that the book is missing some words/lines here and there. Read more
Published on September 26, 2010 by Lynn S. Dopkin
3.0 out of 5 stars Not every survivor of tragedy is a hero
September 11, 2001, was Eddie Torres's second day in a great new job at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Read more
Published on January 27, 2010 by Michael K. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Some answers come. Some don't.
Alissa and Eddie shared not just an American love story, but a New York one, a story that didn't receive the happy ending it deserved. Read more
Published on November 24, 2009 by GraphicNovelReporter.com
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Effort, but Falls Short
The premise of AMERICAN WIDOW is gripping; a woman loses her husband on 9/11, which is also the second day of his new job. Read more
Published on October 11, 2009 by B. Wolinsky
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard To Sum Up
This is a biographical graphic novel in the tradition of "Maus" or "Fun Home", with flashbacks intercut into the narrative. Read more
Published on June 2, 2009 by E. A. Montgomery
3.0 out of 5 stars Had no idea was in comic book form
I admit it, I didn't like it...

I expected a story , heartfelt from this woman who had been through so much and to be fair these drawings were her way of dealing with... Read more
Published on May 18, 2009 by Patrizia
2.0 out of 5 stars a comic book
This is completely done as an illustration. In the fashion of an old comic book. I know comi books - or illustrated books - are quite popular but it was not as I expected. Read more
Published on March 22, 2009 by MM
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category