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88 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thunder Dog...A Compelling & Good Read, July 27, 2011
This review is from: Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero (Hardcover)
With the events of 9/11 forever etched in my memory, I was eager to read "Thunder Dog" by Michael Hingson with Suzy Flory. As the subtitle tells, it's "The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero." Reading a story about a man who survived the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is compelling enough. But add to the story the fact that the man, Michael Hingson, is blind, has a guide dog Roselle and has to descend 78 stories on foot to get to safety and you have a gripping survival account by an unforgettable pair. The story is well told, with a moment by moment account of Michael and Roselle's escape, along with colleague David Frank from their office located on the 78th floor in Tower I of the World Trade Center. Interspersed with the details of that fateful day are stories of Michael's life. Michael was born two months premature and was blind due to pure oxygen he received as part of the standard medical treatment for premature babies. Michael parents didn't listen to the doctor's advice about putting him in a home for the blind. Instead they brought him home and raised their son no differently from his older brother Ellery. Before he ever had a guide dog or white cane, Michael was expected to grow, learn and explore his neighborhood on his own two feet. This boy had a spirit of adventure and he learned to ride a bike and even drive a car. Michael's feisty can-do spirit helped to prepared him to survive the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Through Michael's story we learn about the bond between a blind person and their guide dog. Roselle is a special dog and was able to keep her focus and concentrate on guiding her master down 78 flights of stairs and through the streets of New York filled with debris and a monstrous toxin filled dust cloud that pursued survivors running from the World Trade Center. I highly recommend this book. It was a gripping, interesting and unique story of survival by Michael Hingson and his guide dog Roselle. "Thunder Dog" is a touching and memorable book. I received this book free from the publisher through the [...] <[...]> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 <[...]> : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Events of One Day. The Story of a Lifetime., August 7, 2011
This review is from: Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero (Hardcover)
On September 11, 2001, Michael and his seeing eye dog, Roselle, walked down 78 flights of stairs in the North Tower of the World Trade Center and survived. The story of this day is told throughout the book, interspersed with the story of the author's life. As the author states, "The real story, in my mind, isn't how I got out of the World Trade Center...it's how I got there in the first place." (p. xiv.) As I began this book, I was impatient to hear the story of September 11th and was a bit irritated with the interruptions of the story of the author's life; however, the more I read, the more I appreciated this way of telling. The story of how Michael seized life shows the attitude, education and faith that provided a means to cope with this horrific challenge. One cannot be told without the other. Michael never saw himself as disabled, just different. He rode his bicycle around the neighborhood, excelled at math and competed for a job with an office in the World Trade Center. Even as a youth, his audacity led to his receiving his first seeing eye two years below the minimum age to enter the program. This book holds not only the story of one man and his dog on one day; it is the story of a blind community, the story of Guide Dogs for the Blind, a story of technology and a story of friendships and love. In these stories we learn of courage, teamwork, patience and faith. This book is published by a faith based company. The first mention of Michael's faith comes on page 120; however, God's hand is evident in every page. Even though he made it out, Michael does not claim to know why he survived and others did not. He just makes the most of each day. Highly recommend. P.S. Check out the wonderful appendixes! Great stuff! * Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Roselle deserves more attention, August 17, 2011
This review is from: Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero (Hardcover)
This unique tale about a remarkable Guide Dog who led her handler down 78 floors of stairs to safety during the World Trade Centre attacks is both interesting and well written, and has made us sad that we don't offer half paws, as it really does deserve slightly more than a 3. However, a couple of things stopped this book getting the full 5 paws up. For one, the dog featured in it too little to, in our opinion, really classify this as a `doggie story'. True, Michael made it out of the World Trade Centre with his Guide Dog at his side, but she seems to be mentioned as a mere afterthought at times and this book was, we thought, more about overcoming the difficulties posed by blindness than about Roselle as a character. Having said that, we did enjoy reading about her antics before and after the event, and are sure that is deserving of all the accolades she has earned in the past ten years. Sadly, Roselle died in June 2011, so will not be accompanying Mr Hingson on any of the publicity for the book about her bravery. I doubt that will make much of a difference to the `campaign trail', as it seems this book is more about educating people about disabilities than about Roselle herself. I found Mr Hingson's constant lecturing about how the blind wish to be treated and how he lived a normal life despite being blind began to wear on me after a while. (Especially since he seems to demand equal treatment and then highlight this by detailing an occasion where he had to kick up a fuss to get things his way, therefore making people go out of their way to accommodate him.) Equally, I doubt the value of the essays and glossary etc included as appendixes to the text. No doubt someone reading the book in another context would find them significant, but as our group are interested in the canine aspect of the story these didn't add to my enjoyment or study of the book at all. I would have liked to have read more information about Roselle's life and training, or, indeed, more details on any of Mr Hingson's past Guide Dogs. I also felt that Mr Hingson talked down to the readers a lot. Passages which, for example, explain that on September 11th 2001 two planes piloted by members of a terrorist group called Al Qaeda crashed into the North andSouth Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York felt patronising and needless, given that everyone in the world knows about the events of that day. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he included this information to make the story perfectly clear, and perhaps to make it last the annals of history or to be more accessible to people, but every once in a while he would go to the trouble of re-iterating what is largely common knowledge and it began to stand out and annoy me. Finally, the other thing that Mr Hingson did which grated with this reader was to go on about how his religion influenced his life, how blessed he felt, how God was his guide and so on. Perhaps this is a personal thing (being an affirmed atheist), but he seemed to put more faith in the Lord to see him safely home than his Guide Dog, which seemed to make Roselle an interesting footnote in the whole thing rather than the star character. Personally, I would have enjoyed this book more if it was less about God and more about Dog. But, all those negatives aside, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in blindness, Guide Dogs or American history, as it is a truly unique tale and gives a very good account of what it was like to be involved in a moment in history. Like his dog, Mr Hingson doesn't get caught up in the ideology of the moment or the anti terrorism/disaster rhetoric that so many Americans are prone to when recounting that day's events. He tells his stories - his life story and his September 11th survival story, interweaved throughout the book - with very little self pity and in a clear and concise manner. Co-author Susy Flory has obviously had a lot of input on the actual writing and the structure of the book and it works. I'm sure this will become a popular read once it is released in the more inexpensive paperback format.
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