Just read this one with the 20th anniversary of 9/11 fast approaching.

It is so interesting to hear so many different perspectives of the events of 9/11. The entire day is so emotionally charged for so many Americans. It was very informative!

An important book.

I can't really remember 9/11, but this book is a great learning, remembering tool. I enjoyed the concept of putting an oral history into print form. I think it really helps encapsulate the moment. I have heard the audio of this book is wonderful, and I hope to listen to it soon.

For anyone who remembers 9/11 -- and of course millions don't, including a lot of the people who'll be voting for president next year -- this is a hard book to read with dry eyes. It consists of thousands of quotes, deftly arranged to tell the story. The most jarring appears early on, when a helpful ticket agent warns a latecomer in Portland, Maine: "Mr. Atta, if you don't go now, you will miss your plane." Mohamed Atta did manage to squeeze onto his flight, and a few hours later flew a Boeing 767 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

The courage on display is both marvelous and widespread, among civilians as well as sworn fire and police officers. Even the Bush White House comes out looking good, though the same can't be said of the senators and representatives who were hustled out of the Capitol. "You've now taken 535 of the most important people in the country," marveled one of these self-important folk, "and put them out on the lawn." (Italics added.) I knew, but had forgotten, that the F-16s sent to intercept United Flight 93 over Pennsylvania were unarmed: they were ordered, though not in so many words, to ram the airliner. One pilot decided to fly his fighter into the cockpit while the other agreed to tip off the tail. But the passengers tackled the hijackers and caused the plane to crash before the sacrifice was needed -- a near miss that makes one rethink our bafflement at the Japanese kamikaze attacks toward the end of the Second World War. We can never know what we're capable of, until we're called upon to do it.

For me, The Only Plane in the Sky faded toward the end, as if Mr Graff just couldn't let good of his story and kept telling it again and again, including a cringe-worthy chapter about "The 9/11 Generation." Nor did I ever figure out the title, since the F-15s and F-16s never ceased prowling the sky. But those are quibbles: every American should read this book. Indeed, everyone should read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It is extremely well done and powerful. Graff has collected so many different voices to be a part of the story of 9/11 and it makes this oral history rich and gripping. I think the first 1/3 of the book grabs you from the first page, the rest of the book is great, but the first third really encapsulates the feelings and anxieties of 9/11.

The only thing that was challenging in this book is that there are so many people we meet, I often felt like I couldn't keep their stories straight. Someone would reference something that had happened to them that morning, but that was 50+ pages ago and I couldn't remember the detail. Its a minor issue with an otherwise exceptional book.