Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 [Hardcover]

Damon DiMarco (Author), Thomas Kean (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1595800212 | ISBN-13: 978-1595800213 | Edition: 2nd

Including follow-up interviews that track contributors' lives since 9/11, as well as never-before-published photographs, this expanded second edition of a literary time capsule preserves a monumental tragedy in American history through the voices of the people who were in Lower Manhattan and elsewhere in New York at the time of the attack. The diverse stories chronicled here include a small group of people who made it safely down from the 89th floor of Tower 1, a paramedic who set up a triage area 200 yards from the base of the towers before they collapsed, and ordinary citizens trying to get on with their lives in the days following the tragic event. Voices represented include police, firefighters, paramedics, reporters, volunteers, eyewitnesses, the bereaved of 9/11, World Trade Center structural engineers, political experts, political dissidents, and children who witnessed the events.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The only widely available oral history of 9/11 from the perspective of New Yorkers, this monumental work (originally released by Revolution in 2004) has been updated for the sixth anniversary of the national tragedy. In the weeks following the World Trade Center attack, DiMarco, in the tradition of Studs Terkel, wandered Manhattan collecting the stories of Gothamites who survived the collapse of the towers, came to help or simply bore witness-whether from elsewhere in the city, across the country or overseas. Two major themes emerge, the first concerning the heroism of common decency: Florence Engoran, five months pregnant on the day of the attack, was helped down 55 flights of stairs by near-strangers, "two men who promised that they were gonna stay with me the whole time down, which they did." In the same vein, Jan Demczur relates how he used his window washing tools to save himself and an elevator full of people, and Dr. Walter Gerasimowicz tells of the men who aided him when he was forced to evacuate without his crutches. The rigors of loss and mourning make a second theme: Patrick Charles Welsh, whose wife perished on Flight 93, says, "I was so devastated by this unheard cry of souls... This moan of humanity going straight up to heaven." Though a good idea, the scholarly essays that close the book, concerning the U.S.-Middle East relations, feel off-puttingly distant compared to the stories that precede them. DiMarco's contribution to the memory of that horrific day is enormous; the testimonies collected here form an amazing, one-of-a-kind account. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Arguably the most successful attempt at capturing the enormity of the events of 9/11, Damon DiMarco's sprawling oral history [presents] human stories . . .with a raw candor a thousand times more affecting than any cold statistic offered by a commission . . . a riveting and disarmingly emotional read." -- MSNBC Today

". . .heart-breaking reminiscences by New Yorkers who survived the attack and then endured a decade of denial, doubt, and rebuilding." -- The New York Times

"The material it offers is unique, a multitude of firsthand experiences preserved as few other 9/11 books have done."  —Library Journal

"Humanizes stark fact and grants us the priceless opportunity to reach our own understanding of the event we must never forget."  —Bill Baroni, New Jersey General Assembly, 14th legislative district

"This is oral history at its finest."  —The Richmond Post-Dispatch

"This volume defends the understanding, as also the horror, of that day. We are indebted to Mr. DiMarco for the effort and for the editorial acuity."  —William F. Buckley

"I hope this book remains in print for a very long time to come, because everyone should read it. Our children should read it. With regard to 9/11, we—as a people—cannot allow a myth to take root. We must ground ourselves in our pain if we have any hope of moving forward. And move forward we must."  —Thomas Kean, chairman, 9/11 Commission

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Santa Monica Press; 2nd edition (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595800212
• ISBN-13: 978-1595800213
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Damon DiMarco was born in Princeton, New Jersey and currently lives in New York City. He holds a Masters degree in Fine Arts from Rutgers University.

Damon has been a guest on national television and radio, including FOX, CNN, The National Geographic Channel, and the Premiere Radio Network. He has been a guest speaker at colleges, universities, and community groups across the country.

A professional actor as well as a writer, Damon has appeared in primetime and daytime television programs on CBS, ABC, and NBC; commercials; independent films; regional theatres; and trade shows. He has written for the stage, television, and screen, and taught acting on the faculties of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey and the New York Film Academy in Manhattan. He teaches writing to PhD students in the History and Culture program at Drew Univesity's Caspersen School of Graduate Studies.

For more information, visit www.damondimarco.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tower Stories, March 16, 2005

By 

Andrae Garavito "Tyke" (Death Valley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower Stories: The Autobiography of September 11th (Hardcover)

If you're looking for an excellent book about 9/11, then look no further. This book will give the reader a clear idea of what it must've been like to actually be there in Manhatten and see the carnage first-hand. Read the true stories of men & women who experienced 9/11 and learn about how it has changed their lives forever. See the horrors from their perspective; the fires, the smoke, the debris, the falling bodies, the pandemonium, the collapse the the towers, and the aftermath. This book is a must have.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally-- something with taste and reverence, September 10, 2004

By 

Owen Philips (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower Stories: The Autobiography of September 11th (Hardcover)

I was wondering when somebody was going to put something out about this tragedy that wasn't a self-serving glorification or woe-is-us pablum. This book tells it like it was, in the hours and days after this horrible event, in the words of the people who were there, and elsewhere. DiMarco has done an incredible job of deciding what to include in this as each first person account is different, with different emotions and reasons for being. Some people you want to smack in the head for some of the things they say, like this one NY detective who talks about the ways of the street and how to get suspected terrorists to talk and how much he thinks the FBI is useless, and yet you also side with him because he seems to get results-- in his own limited world-view scope. Others break your heart with their stories of loss-- like the lead singer of the New York band The Bogmen whose wife Kristy perished in the Towers, and who years earlier had started the charity Secret Smiles,(to which DiMarco has pledged a portion of the royalties) and the husband of a flight attendant who was on the plane that went down in PA. He tells an incredible story of his incredibly life-loving wife-- you get to know her in his few page contribution that you end up crying your eyes out when it's finally revealed what he goes through when her fate is revealed. And that's predominantly what it's like to read Tower Stories. My wife is a pretty hard-nosed New Yorker but she spent an entire night sobbing and laughing while reading this book. It really captures the history of that horrible day as best I can tell, at least from what I imagine. Like the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission Tom Kean says in the foreword, this book continues the tradition of The Grapes of Wrath and The Disinherited and most of Stud's Terkel's work in that it creates a time-capsule for all eternity. Thankfully someone has done it. Let's just hope it's never again needed.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Supplement to the 9/11 Commission Report, September 10, 2004

By 

Bill Baroni, NJ State Assemblyman (Trenton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower Stories: The Autobiography of September 11th (Hardcover)

I believe that, years from now, two documents will survive as the recognized history of September 11th: the 9/11 Commission Report and Damon DiMarco's incredible oral history.

The Commission Report offers in-depth documentation of the attack and the forces preceding it. But it falls short of providing the personal recollections so vital to understanding history.

TOWER STORIES picks up where the Commission Report leaves off. It humanizes stark fact and grants us the priceless opportunity to reach our own understanding of the event we must never forget.