Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11 [Paperback]

Mitchell Fink (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2003

"The real voices of 9/11 are here, and they will echo down through history as a haunting reminder of loss and hope, courage and heroism."

-- Tom Brokaw

On September 11, 2001, waves of shock rippled through the country as the United States came under terrorist attack. Never Forget collects the unbelievably moving stories of survivors, rescue workers, volunteers, family members, and friends whose loved ones perished on that day -- from the moments the planes first struck the Twin Towers through the painstaking recovery efforts. As these unforgettable stories reveal, many Americans transcended their own confusion and despair to help one another escape, to offer one another kindness, and to affirm life in the face of catastrophe. This concert of voices shows, as never before, the heartbreaking grief and slow, but uplifting, healing process that the people of this nation have experienced individually and as one.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mitchell Fink, former New York Daily News gossip columnist, teamed with wife Lois Mathias to gather the first-person accounts of World Trade Center office workers, Pentagon employees, rescue workers, witnesses, and others who lived through the events of September 11. And while Fink does have a background in news reporting, his years plying the gossip trade actually serve him well in Never Forget. Part of the role of the gossipmonger, after all, is to reveal the human sides of public figures, to find the ways in which the famous are just like regular people. Fink and Mathias's interview subjects tell vivid details of what they experienced, forming fascinating, horrifying, and uplifting stories that provide a human face to the magnitude of that day's events. The book is not organized particularly clearly and, between sections, the authors unnecessarily underscore the stories with short inspirational messages rather than let their subjects' experiences do the talking. But the sheer force of the stories themselves is undeniable: the NYPD Chief of Police relates the experience of watching one of the towers collapse, a preschool teacher tells of the three days she spent searching in vain for her fiancé, an 89-year-old man describes his trip down 88 flights of stairs. After reading all of these stories, the reader may be struck with not only the enormity of what happened, but also a glimpse into the real impact it had on the people who lived through it. --John Moe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Fink is a print and TV journalist, and his wife, Lois Mathias, is an environmental activist and child advocate. Their book gathers first-person narratives by individuals whose lives were intimately impacted by the events of that day. From a construction inspector at the World Trade Center to a musician who lived in an apartment close by and witnessed the horrendous damage done by the first plane; from a young man and woman who escaped from their Lower Manhattan apartment and ferried to Staten Island, only to be subjected to a humiliating shower in public by hospital personnel, to the mother of a man on the hijacked flight that went down in Pennsylvania--all have their poignant, difficult stories to tell, which are neither easy to put down nor easy to keep reading. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060559705
• ISBN-13: 978-0060559700
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book Like No Other, August 28, 2002

By 

Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 (Hardcover)

This collection of essays from eye-witnesses to the tragedy of 9/11 is so personal, one may want to think twice before reading any of it. Culled from dozens and dozens of first hand account recollections, it is not for the timid nor even the brave. I found myself tearing up with every section. Each story is different and yet each one draws from the same source - the helpless horror that all felt on that day. It is heart wrenching and it is horrifically gory. Descriptions of that day are beyond belief and it is hard to imagine anyone surviving it without a lifetime of emotional hardship. It goes beyond that as well. It is impossible to describe this book as eloquently as those that lived it have. Every walk of life is spoken here and every voice is full of a human spirit we all share. I cannot begin to go further in recommending this book. It is therapy.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgetable, August 24, 2002

By 

Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 (Hardcover)

I saw the editors of this collection on Fox and Friends and figured I would just go to the book store and read a few of the stories. I ended up buying the book an hour later.

The stories are unforgetable. They hit the whole range of emotions. I had tears in my eyes reading these accounts.

This is really an important piece of history and should be read by everyone. The accounts range from witnesses, police, fire, volunteers, family members, office workers. Each story is unique and provides a different point of view, but they are all powerful first hand accounts.

Buy this book, read it, and share it with people.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reality Check, October 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 (Hardcover)

This book was not easy to read. Even though it was difficult, I felt that I needed to listen to these people tell their stories. I'm not into sensationalism, gore, or the like. I have never seen Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan -- it's too hard for me to know what to do with the information once I've been exposed. There's no place to file it in my mind and I'm afraid it will haunt me. 9/11 is different. I was nowhere near NY, but I think we all experienced a death that morning. I was compelled to read this book to somehow empathize with those who perished and those who survived. I was "safe" on the west coast, but I wanted to know what my fellow Americans went through that day. Beyond what I was being fed from the media, I needed to hear it from the people who were there so I could try to understand what they endured and what the continue to endure. I don't want to forget -- I want to remember.