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    American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center
    American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center
    American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center
    Audiobook7 hours

    American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center

    Written by William Langewiesche

    Narrated by Richard Davidson

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Noted author, war correspondent, and award-winning writer for the Atlantic Monthly, William Langewiesche furnishes a riveting firsthand account of the excavation of the World Trade Center ruins following its destruction on September 11, 2001. American Ground is an inspiring look at the often contentious mixture of personalities, politics, and emotions that fueled this massive effort. It is also a testament to American ingenuity in the aftermath of a great tragedy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 14, 2008
    ISBN9781501992643
    Author

    William Langewiesche

    William Langewiesche is the author of four previous books, including the National Book Critic’s Circle Award finalist American Ground. He is currently the international correspondent for Vanity Fair.

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    Reviews for American Ground

    4/5

    63 ratings9 reviews

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    • 2/5
      A multi-generational saga told through some of the annual Christmas letters written to friends/family from 1944-1996.

      It begins with a letter from Birdie, a new bride with her husband serving in the Pacific during WW2. Over the years the family grows and eventually her daughter, Mary, takes over the letter-writing. Ultimately Mary’s daughter completes the saga. Each letter has a recipe at the end, which is somewhat indicative of the time frame.

      I was bored for much of this, and saw several of the events coming. But at least it was a quick read (just a couple of hours).
    • 3/5
      Letters written first by Birdie, then her daughter Mary, followed up with a final letter from Melanie, Mary's daughter.
      The letters are a little longer than normal Christmas letters to let the reader know more a out the characters. The information is interesting enough, but then in the 1990's Mary writes a letter that was shocking and heart breaking. Melanie's letter, I think, was supposed to counter what her mother wrote and be uplifting. It wasn't enough to gloss over the betrayal. And I wouldn't recommend this book as a cheery Christmas book.
    • 5/5
      perfect book for the subject, filled with great real world characters of varying rank and file and wonderfully illustrated details and anecdote
    • 4/5
      Lovely epistolary novel
    • 2/5

      Slow reading. Writing could have been better.

    • 4/5
      This is a novella by the North Carolina author who wrote On Agate Hill and The Last Girls to name just a few. It tells the story of three generations of women through the annual Christmas letters they write to friends and family. I always enjoy reading books that are told through letters and/or diary entries. This is a new take on that format for me. It really worked well in this case. You'd think that you couldn't convey all that much about a family in a relatively short annual letter; however, Smith manages to paint a vivid picture of these characters and how their lives are intertwined over place and time. It begins with Birdie writing home to her family as she is spending her first days away from home with her in-laws while her new husband is away fighting in WWII. Smith captures the excitement and the fear in the young bride's words without being overly sentimental. Birdie describes how much she loves taking care of her new baby, Mary in subsequent letters.It's this same child that takes up writing Christmas letters for the family years later. Mary had always been a very intelligent girl and dreamed of going to college. However, she quits school to elope. The children soon begin to come and life takes over as it often does. The reader sees the passage of time in society as well as in the family as the letters continue throughout the years. Just as in real life, there are joys and heartbreaks along the way.It's Mary's daughter Melanie who takes up the post to write the Christmas letters when she comes of age. Though things have changed in many ways, they are still a family. As always, Lee Smith does a great job portraying these characters as real people that I easily identify with. This is a book that I'll probably revisit often at Christmas.
    • 4/5
      A nice book just to read during the holiday or even after. This book is filled with Christmas Letters and recipes. I found the letters interesting. It made me think about my Christmas and if my mom ever wrote letters to family. I loved how the letters started out as just being written by hand to being carbon copies to being printed on a computer. Just added to the time line and seeing how things change. I enjoyed reading the recipes and wonder if I would be able to make any of them.
    • 5/5
      Well written look at the unbuilding of the World Trade Centre, some of the politics on the pile, how groups work, leadership styles
    • 5/5
      There is something so impressive when an author is given "unrestricted access" to his or her subject. To me, it inspires endless possibilities. When I found out Langewiesche was given "unrestricted access" to the cleanup after 9/11 I was excited. American Ground is the story of the physical breakdown, piece by piece, of the World Trade Center (hence the use of the word "unbuilding" in the subtitle). Probably the most fascinating part of American Ground was the unbelievable "territorial war" between the firefighters and the police, each believing their dead was more important than the other. There was a great disunity between the groups as the clean up continued. At the same time there were shining examples of people who selflessly went above and beyond to not honor find the missing but to honor the dead.