Customer Reviews

A Weekend in September

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In hurricane terms, this book would be a category 5, catastrophic damage to any idea that hurricanes are not potentially deadly. This was an amazing account of the 1900 hurricane that slammed into Galveston, causing unimaginable death and destruction. This book came to my attention after reading Isaac's Storm, a book about the same hurricane. While that book was very good, this was even better. The author interviewed survivors of this storm, and the stories are amazingly frank and clear. When told through the eyes of so many survivors the book takes on a life of it's own. While it does document an event, it never dry or dull. It brings the power of a hurricane to reality and helps the reader to realize that this power is not something that man can control. To realize that predicting the weather has made such a giant leap forward from 1900 may lead people to be complacent in the face of a hurricane,but read this and you will never feel that way again. The descriptions of the sounds and the level of noise were vivid and made me clearly remember the category three hurricane I went through with my family a few years ago. This should be required reading for anyone who lives along the coast, and even inland where hurricane damage can still be catastrophic. Mother Nature deserves respect, and if you don't give it to her.......well.......read the book!!

I read "A Weekend in September" after finishing "Isaac's Storm", in order to learn more about the hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas almost exactly 100 years ago. John Edward Weems' book was first published in 1957 and was reissued for the seventh time in 1999. He was able to interview many of the survivors of the Galveston hurricane, and one of the differences between his book and "Isaac's Storm" (which was published over 40 years later) is that Weems tells his story from many more points of view.

Erik Larson, author of "Isaac's Storm" writes a more in-depth narrative about fewer survivors.

Another difference 40 years has made, is that Larson is able to go into much more detail about the origin of the hurricane and the science behind the forces that made it so devastating. He spends much more time describing the days before the hurricane hit Galveston, and Weems spends more time describing the aftermath of the storm and how the survivors recovered and rebuilt.

Both books are compelling accounts of this country's worst natural disaster. You should read both of them, especially if you happen to be in Galveston on the hundredth anniversary of the Great Storm...and another hurricane is rolling through the Gulf.

"A Weekend in September" is a fantastic account of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. The author interviewed many survivors of the hurricane and recounted their experiences in such a way as to make the reader believe they were actually THERE! I could hardly put the book down! Great pictures. Very helpful map of the city that I referenced again and again while reading the book. This is a must-read book for those who are interested in Galveston history, or a history of significant hurricanes.

I was introduced to this book in the 60's and found it compelling reading again this year. As a BOI (born on the island), and lifetime resident of the Gulf Coast, I am reminded of its bone chilling depiction of the 1900 storm each time a hurricane threatens the Gulf Coast. "A Weekend in September" is well constructed, historically significant and should reside on the bookshelf of every family in or near a hurricane prone area. Furthermore, it should be re-read every June 1 !

Waco author John Edward Weems interviewed actual survivors of the deadly 1900 hurricane that almost wiped out Galveston, Texas. He reconstructs the killer storm, blow by blow. The result is a griping narrative that has as much real-life drama and suspense as producer James Cameron's Titanic movie. I have read and re-read this book, and it is a fact-based thriller. Weems describes in startling detail how some people literally had to run from room to room as the storm blew their houses away piece by piece. So horrific was this ordeal that several people kept their mouths open so they could drown more quickly and get it over with. More than 6,000 people died in this deadly storm, which occurred before the system of naming hurricanes began. Although the book was first released in 1957, it stands the test of time. With the upcoming hurricane season predicted to be a bad one, this historical account of one of the deadliest storms in American history is once again a timely topic.

This book is more of a story that a documentary. It is the best book on the Galveston 1900 Storm. It could easily be made into a movie more interesting than Titanic because the love story was real. Why no film writer hasn't capitalized on this story, especially this year, is stupidity. Read this before Issac's Storm.

Please, just read this book. Perhaps it's because I live in Houston and visit Galveston often and have "been through" hurricanes, but this TRUE book just blew me away. I hate history and read this book for it and will read it my whole life. It starts off slow, but it's worth the read! It's horrific and eye opening. We have it so good...

It's odd that no titantic movie has ever been made about the greatest natural disaster to ever occur in the United States. Kind of like East Texas, the Big Thicket, and the swamps, the Galveston disaster somehow didn't become part of the Texas myth. Yet, what happened was more devastating than the Chicago fire, San Fransico earthquake, and the Andrea Doria.

Having lost a childhood home to a hurricane on the Texas coast and seeing, with my own eyes, the result of a true 'catagory-5 hurricane,' (the 1900 storm is not rated as a catagory 5), this book terrifies me and makes me feel fortunate at the same time.

My sister and I have studied the maps and explored Galveston Island again and again. We have located where houses or businesses once stood and marvel at the houses (especially on Broadway) that withstood the storm. We stand at the sites and try to imagine what it was like before, during, and after. But nothing we, or anyone now, do can come close to understanding the terror of what happened that night. The Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay met and covered the island. There was no warning.

And those who live on the Eastern coast know, there is to this day, no true warning. One of the few things that make weather reports different now from then, is a person inside a tv set equipped with a pointer and big swirling map broadcasting a warning about a hurricane that may or may not hit New Orleans, Port Aransas or Canada.

It's not the weather reporters' fault. It is the fault of the United States government for underfunding the weather bureau and weather research. It's so much easier to blame the people stupid enough to live on the coast in the first place. Just like it's easy to blame the people dumb enough to live in California on a fault; those who live on or near mountains; those who live in fire-prone areas with wind and trees; those who live in flood zones in the desert when it rains, etc.

Somehow, out of all the horrors described in this book, the image that sticks most in my mind is the description of the two terrified women at Morgan's Point seeing a light nearing their house. They are filled suddenly with hope of rescue, until they see the light pass them by and head on downstream, and realize it's a lantern atop a table inside a house that belongs to a neighbor.

For years Galveston did everything it could to wipe out the memory of what had happened there. Now the 1900 hurricane is a huge tourist draw.

All of the natural barriers that saved the place where I now live have been dredged up for its' shell the past 30 years. To this day, the Army Corp of Engineers continues to destroy Galveston Bay in an effort to give itself a reason to exist. In the end, the Corp of Engineers and our own government through its weakening enviromental policies, have destroyed more here than that weekend storm in 1900.

I am not "writing" for the purpose of reviewing the book - I think the existing reviews have done more than an excellent job of synopsizing the book and its impact - both in terms of the hurricane's devastating effect on the land and people of Galveston. I just wish to concur with the opinions expressed by the majority of reviewers - this book is definitely a "5-star read", whose imagery will remain with you long after you've finished reading its words.

A hundred million kudos to John Weems for having the foresight in the middle 1950's to realize that the actual people that lived through the 1900 storm were not going to be around for much longer, and set out to chronicle their amazing stories for posterity. The book is basically a brilliant collection of individual eyewitness accounts of the time, deftly sewn together by Weems into a priceless tapestry for the reader. Prepare to be emotionally drained when the book is finished, for you 'live' the hurricane's hours with the folks that are telling the stories. A truly, truly superb read that does not come around often. A+++++