Last Man Down: A Firefighter's Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Daniel Palsner (Author) "I remember what we all remember about that morning: clear horizon, high sun, visibility stretching to forever..." (more)
Key Phrases: reentry door, rubble field, brother firefighters, World Trade Center, Mark Ferran, Jay Jonas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, Picciotto, an FDNY battalion commander, was inside it, on a stairwell between the sixth and seventh floors, along with a handful of rescue personnel and one "civilian." This outspoken account tells of that indelible day, and it will shake and inspire readers to the core. The book starts by listing the 343 firefighters who died from the attacks, setting an appropriately grave tone to what follows, which begins as the author heads to work at Engine Co. 76 and Ladder Co. 22 on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Then comes a call on the intercom, and soon he is racing down to the World Trade Center. Arriving, he dodges falling bodies, runs inside and upstairs with a battalion not his own. Early in the book, this straightforward accounting is intercut with flash-forwards to 9:59 a.m., when Picciotto, on the 35th floor of the north tower, experiences the collapse of the south tower not visually, but aurally and in his body ("the building was shaking like an earthquake... but it was the rumble that struck me still with fear. The sheer volume of it. The way it coursed right through me... like a thousand runaway trains speeding toward me"). Picciotto, writing with Paisner (coauthor of autobios by Montel Williams and George Pataki, among others), pulls no punches, naming those who hindered his work and those who helped, taking numerous swipes at what he sees as a fire department bureaucracy whose money pinching puts firefighters at risk. This mouthiness can grate, but it certainly gives the flavor of a man and a department whose heroism became clear to all that day. It's Picciotto and his comrades' courage and willingness to sacrifice that every reader will remember, and honor, upon closing this gritty, heartfelt remembrance of a day of infamy and profound humanity.

From Booklist

This gripping, first-person account of a 9-11 survivor provides a firefighter's view of the World Trade Center catastrophe. An invaluable eyewitness to history as well as a professional just doing his job, Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto was inside the North Tower when it collapsed. Determined to be the last man down, Picciotto coordinated the rescue effort of several dozen incapacitated civilians. Stranded on the landing between the sixth and seventh floors when the building came tumbling down around and on top of him, Chief "Pitch," a small band of fellow firefighters, and one grandmotherly civilian improbably survived the collapse in a small vacuum created by the placement of the twisted debris. Collaborator Paisner, a best-selling biographer, allows Pitch to tell his harrowing story in his own no-nonsense voice. Picciotto bluntly castigates the departmental administrators responsible for the cost-cutting and ultimately life-threatening measures that left the leadership ranks depleted and the men on the line seriously underequipped. Certain to be a best-seller, this inspirational account serves as a tribute to all the firefighters and rescue personnel who unquestioningly put their lives on the line that day. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1st edition (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425186776
• ISBN-13: 978-0425186770
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #603,657 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story about the WTC collapse as seen from its 7th floor., May 4, 2002

By	Stephen Goldenberg (Aspen, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had seen Chief Picciotto and heard parts of his amazing story on TV last September but nothing takes the place of reading the details of his 9-11, in his own words.
His description of being in a stairwell on the 35th floor of the North tower when the South tower started to collapse will bring tears to your eyes. The recounting of his controversial decision to evacuate the rescue workers that were still climbing up the stairs of the North tower was compelling and probably saved the lives of hundreds of fire fighters. Reading his description of the collapse of the North tower while he was still on its 7th floor is almost as indescribable as the sounds he was hearing. And then his description of trying to figure out if he was dead or alive ("maybe this is what it feels like to be dead") are just some of the highlights that come to mind. But after all is said and done, it's the "diary" of his entire day, in story form, from the senior FDNY officer in the upper floors of the North tower, that puts you in the tower, with he and his men, in one of the most horrible, unimaginable situations the civilized world has ever experienced.
What made the story even more real for me is that the book covers about 12 hours of Picciotto's day and took me about 12 hours to read, making it appear as a "real time" account of this piece of 9-11 history.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brother Survivor, May 17, 2002

By	Robert Tyrie (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Last Man Down is a clear, nerve-wracking, compelling personal account of one professional's experience on Sept 11. It is story of a midtown Battalion Fire Chief, who leads with courage and experience on that horrible day. What make it great is that it covers the detailed technical aspects of rescue work in high-rise disasters, as well as the personal account of a victim of terrorism, it works on both levels.

The description of the day is clear and so well described, it will help people who were not there to better understand how so many people were saved that day. I know. I was in the North Tower on Sept 11, on the 40th floor when the first plane hit. As I went down the stairs, stairwell A or C, (I'm still not sure which), it was exactly the scene the Picciotto laid out. We did not see firefighters until I was down to the 20's, so I am sure that I saw some of the companies described in the book. Reading the book helped me understand better what they were doing and why. As we were going down, when we saw those men, with all that gear going up those stairs with such persistence, some part of me knew that we would survive. They helped us out of Hell itself.

I knew then what real heroes are, Picciotto and his brothers have set the bar, and they've set it high. I remember that on one of the landings near the teens there was one fire fighter, he was a big guy, 6'3" 250lbs, standing, calm but breathing hard. He was in full turnout gear with oxygen on his back, his helmet cocked back on his head. Our eyes met, he had clear blue eyes and a thick blond moustache. I said good luck and really meant it. And he just nodded clearly confident, knowing he was doing his job, saving people. Picciotto helps us all remember that strength and courage.

His account doesn't pull any punches, or mask things over to romanticize what went on. I respect his criticism of the FDNY, he is taking his celebrity, and using it powerfully. I hope people listen, especially the politicians. You need to give them the tools they need to do the jobs we expect of them. You'll do well to support the rescue workers we must have to live the lives we have chosen.

Read the book. The FDNY deserves it. Picciotto deserves it.

Thanks Pitch. I hope that you've been able to work through the aftermath with the leadership and courage you had on that day. For me the weeks following were much harder than the day itself. I'll see you at the big one.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Man's Journey Through Hell, September 7, 2002

By	H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Richard Picciotto's story is so horrific that I found it in places almost unbearable and almost put the book down. However, I decided if this man could live through this awful day and write about it, I could finish his story. This is the account of Chief Picciotto and other New York Firefigters' heroic rescue of many people in the north tower of the World Trade Center, then the tower falling around them, their being trapped for 3 or 4 hours in a tiny space, not knowing if they would ever get out, and thank God, their ultimate escape to safety.

The book is very well done and is full of painstaking details. For example, we learn that the sky was totally clear that awful day; otherwise the misguided monsters would not have been able to fly into the tower. As Picciotto and other firefighters are clearing the tower, he comes across on a twenty-seventh floor "a well-dressed broker-type hunched over at his desk, typing crazily on his keyboard. . . at first I thought I was seeing things." (Can you believe this?) There is also the account of the rescue of a group of disabled people who had somehow gathered on the same floor. When Chief Piccioto first sees them, he doesn't realize that they are disabled. "And as they moved toward me, I thought I was seeing things. There were people in wheelchairs, people on crutches, people moving with the aid of walkers and canes, people hardly moving at all. There were people old enough to have been my grandparents--and they moved with the kind of hurry you usually find in tortoises." When the tower falls and Chief Piccioto stops moving, he is in a small space in total darkness. "I thought I was dead. Really, I actually wondered if this was what it felt like to be dead. Think about it: It was pitch dark. There was no sound, no movement, no nothing." For me this is one of the most touching passages in the entire book.

So we have yet another account of one decent man of many responding with valor and courage in an impossible situation. This is as good as anything I've read about the awful events of September 11.