Fire Fighters: Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting (Adrenaline)
One casualty of the terrorist atrocities of September 2001 was the ironic attitude toward heroism, which is reflected in the unabashed proliferation of the FDNY logo. Firefighters themselves deny any designation of hero, as this anthology reflects, explaining the risks they take in terms of simply doing their jobs. Those whom they protect, feeling otherwise, may find an outlet for admiration in the 20-plus stories editor Willis has assembled here. New York's firefighters are strongly represented: two articles profile men swept into the World Trade Center maelstrom: the FDNY's second-in-command, who died, and survivor Kevin Shea. In oral-history format, New York firefighters relate harrowing accident scenes, from flaming warehouses to plane crashes, which they bravely entered. West of the Hudson, Willis sifted the literature of forest fires and includes excerpts from Norman MacLean's wildly popularYoung Men and Fire(1992) plus several authors' direct experiences of working the fire line at Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Mere display guarantees this collection's circulation.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved