Customer Reviews

Portraits: 9/11/01: The Collected "Portraits of Grief" from The New York Times

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In response to the reader below who was upset that the Times had not included all of the victims in its book, I think it might be helpful to read what the NY Times itself wrote, on December 31, 2001, about its "final daily edition" of the "Portraits" series:

"Through today's issue, The Times has published more than 1,800 sketches. The official count of those dead and missing in the trade center attacks stands at 2,937. Reporters have contacted, or tried to contact, relatives or friends of nearly every victim the paper was able to locate. Some have declined to give interviews; others said they were not ready to talk. (As more names become known and more families agree to interviews, the editors intend to publish additional profile pages from time to time.)" -- NY Times

With this in mind, I think that the Times has done a most admirable job, both in publishing the daily Portraits, and now in collecting so many of them into a single volume. The Times' book promises, and delivers, portraits of victims of the attacks; that it is not 100% inclusive is, to my way of thinking, neither a black mark for the Times, nor a detraction from the book itself. A future volume may be more inclusive, but even if this is the final version, we will still be moved by what we have here.

While they were being published, I was able to read some, but not all, of the brief bios presented in the "Portraits of Grief" series; they never failed to move me. I think that having a volume such as this available to all is a wonderful tribute both to the victims of the attacks, as well as to the brighter side of the human spirit.

I read many of these portraits when they appeared originally in the New York Times. Reading them became a daily habit almost a meditation for me. I would read the stories and then keep these people in my heart all day long. Sometimes I will hear a name of someone and remember having read about them.

This book is overwhelming to me. SO many lives interupted. The scope of the loss of life that day is dramatically illustrated just by the shear size of this book. But I get the same feeling reading the portraits again as I did when they were originally published. We lost some really extraordinary people that day.

This is an excellent tribute. Features short bio & photo of almost 2000 of those lost in the 9/11 tragedy. A nice look into the lives of these people. Not all are included in this book, but hopefully the New York Times will publish a second volume. Highly recommended.

I've been overpowered by the beautifully written NY Times series of portraits of 9/11 victims, so I've hoped mightily that the portraits would be collected in book form for remembrance and posterity. What stunned me when I received the book last night is that the Times appears to have rushed a book to print with only those portraits published through 2/3/02 - a fact not indicated anywhere on the cover or in the title, or (based on a quick skim) in the introductory text. The Times web site states that only IF the book goes to a second printing will portraits after 2/3 be included. What was the rush??? It seems to me that the Times should have made it clearer that these were selected portraits, or better, included ALL the persons covered in the series - and if that delayed publication a few more months, even in September, all the better and more fitting. That is my sole, though major, complaint about this book. Otherwise, the portraits continue to be powerful and beautifully written remembrances of the innocent victims of dastardly, cowardly, immoral, and evil acts.

I try to get through a page a day. We owe it to the Lost to remember them and the NY Times has done a great job to transform numbers to faces and lives.

In the days following Spetmeber 11, I was strongly drawn to the Portraits of Grief featured in the New York Times. As I sat there stunned over the tragedy, I felt so very connected to it by being able to share even a small portion of the lives of the people who perished that day. I felt honored and humbled and felt such love for individuals and families I had never met.

I bought this book to put away for my young son. It is vitally important to me as a proud American, as a mother, and as a citizen of the world, that my son truly understands the enormity of Septermber 11 and how the world is forever changed as a result of that day.

I could buy him some history books or analyses of how the events of that day unfolded but I believe this book will touch him in ways that no other books could.

Please, please consider doing the same for our future generations.

The bios of approximately 1,900 of those lost on 9-11. Although relatively short, they are informally written and each one conveys an essence of each life lost. Special people - in the ways that each of us are special - in both ordinary and extraordinary ways. Their hobbies, their loves, their pursuits - capsulized, along with a photo.
Although it is sometimes emotionally difficult to read through these, and to realize that in a period spanning about 90 minutes, every single life was lost. The wives, partners, parents, children, friends often contributed a quote or two.
People from all walks of life are profiled, and if you also have a chance to view the documentary that was filmed in connection with this book, it drives home the humanity of this disaster all the more intensely.
Nothing will ever be the same after 9-11. The blood, sweat and tears of those gone, and of those who mourn their loss must be channeled into a fitting memorial. Regardless of what physical monument will be built at the site, the emotional monument we carry in our hearts can be important in helping heal the pain. Not easily, and not without further tears, but with determination and vigilance. We must maintain the very freedoms that allowed the victims to be who they were - brokers, janitors, rich, poor, people of every religion and no religion. People who extolled the liberties of America by just being able to do their jobs, and pursue their goal of individual happiness. The sorrow and heartache that a handful of terrorists caused can never be fully comprehended - the scope is just so vast. But, we must not turn away. We must face the sorrow and find a way to go on.
Buy this book. Sit and read it - a few bios or a few pages at a time. Get to know some of those who fell victim to the unthinkable. Get to know some of our fellow Americans.

Everyone remembers the terrible events that took place on September 11, 2001. We have all viewed the images on television and in print, showing the airplanes striking the buildings, the fire, and the collapse of the World Trade Center. We have seen firefighters and rescue dogs searching for bodies trapped in the rubble. And we have seen politicians talking about the attacks and what must be done to prevent such an event in the future.

But one thing that we don't see very frequently is information on the human victims themselves. That is, until now. In this book, the New York Times has taken on a great task: Assembling together a full volume showing pictures and personal information on each of the victims who died during the attack on September 11, 2001. The Times originally started to do this in the actual newspaper itself, highlighting the different victims with a section called "Portraits of Grief". It was from these portraits that the book was derived from.

Most (but not all) of the victims are pictured in the pages of this book, with a small, black and white photo of the person's face, followed by a brief summary of the person's life, career, family, etc. The portrait information isn't extensive, but it manages to let you, the reader, know at least a little bit about each of the victims, complete with quotations from family members expressing how their lost husband/wife/child, etc. touched their lives in a positive way.

Besides the photos of people, there are other pictures in this book, with most of them dedicated to the funerals, remembrance gatherings, and other grief- related events. You won't find pictures of the smoking buildings in this book. It centers instead on the people.

Overall, this book is a nice effort on the part of the people at the New York Times. Approx. 143 people took part in the creation of this book, and their names are all listed in the back. It was a commendable effort and while I would have liked the book better if the pictures had been in color, I still think this is a book worth owning. My copy sits on my coffee table right now, reminding me of all the human tragedies that took place on the fateful day of September 11, 2001.

Without this book, I don't think that I could even attempt to have closure concerning all the horror that occurred in our lives last September. I have been trying over the last eight months to absorb every little bit of information that I could about the victims of September 11th. This book brings each person's life into focus, and reminds us all that it's not a list of names, these were husbands and wives, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They meant the world to someone. As the years go by, I will surely open this book again and again to revisit the pain of lives lost and the beauty of the love their families will always feel for them. This book brought me closer to a tragedy that occurred across the country and made me feel more a part of it. Though I can only get through a portrait or two at a time without tears, the pain is a small price to pay to get to know these people who just went to work one tragic day.

I am still going through the book. It's a beautiful book and has brief biographies about each victim of 911. By victims I mean the people who died that day. I had hoped one day someone would take the time to do something like this. To me it's a tribute to all of those people who thought they were getting up that morning to just another day. I wanted something to honor the firemen as well as the police and all of the people who reported to their jobs that morning. It's a big book but it has to be...so many were involved in the making of it. This book won't sadden me as much as it will help me remember all of those people whose lives ended way, way too soon. My most heartfelt thank you to all involved in the creating of this book.