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Sunday, September 08, 2002

By Bob Hoover, Post-Gazette book editor

No matter how ethereal, writing is based in the tangible world. It is the raw material for all dreams to come.

	Among the many post-9/11 books, "Firehouse" by David Halberstam stands out in its portrayal of heroism. Halberstam is shown here in working in his New York office in 1993. (Mark Lennihan, AP Photo)

As the anniversary of the terrorist attacks arrives, writers are still sifting through the tangible, the sounds, sights, smells and tastes of that day. The ever-growing pile of their books, now nearing 100, has yet to rise above Ground Zero.

First are the photo documentaries, many with the same images we've seen so often that they've lost some of their impact. Americans, though, have been used to experiencing horror from the safe distance of photography since the moment the dead of Antietam were displayed in a New York gallery in 1862.

Then come the accounts of the "heroes" of Sept. 11, both what we know from what happened on the ground to what we don't know about what occurred in the doomed airplanes above.

These books, including the best of the bunch, "Firehouse" by David Halberstam, insist that the response to the disaster -- extraordinary heroism -- was for some reason greater than at any time in our history.

"I believed the stories about these people, these heroes, would be something of value," explained Jere Longman, author of "Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 & the Passengers & Crew Who Fought Back."

"After all, they gave the country its one victory in a day of defeat. I wanted to know who these people were."

In words attributed to President Bush in Life Magazine's upcoming book, "The American Spirit: Meeting the Challenge of Sept. 11": "We are a different nation today: sadder and stronger, less innocent and more courageous, more appreciative of life -- and for many who serve our country, more willing to risk life in a great cause."

The thousands of Americans who sacrificed their lives in America's wars might take issue with those words, but they sum up the prevailing attitude in most of the Sept. 11 books. Whether they capture the reality of the nation is another matter.

Authors offering inspirational titles -- Rudolph Giuliani to Deepak Chopra -- are marginal at best and exploitative at worst: "Chicken Soup for the Soul of America," for example.

The rest are peripheral: the history of the World Trade Center and plans for its replacement, blurry photos of Frenchman Philippe Petit's high-wire walk across the WTC towers in 1974, collections of stirring quotes from patriots long dead and paeans to the flag.

More serious and more important in the long run are titles on Islam, terrorism and foreign policy. The blame-game, which followed the attack on Pearl Harbor, has also begun. The newest is "The Cell," by a trio of authors, that charges lax and complacent security before Sept. 11.

So much for reality. Where are the poets and fiction writers? Many poets, particularly Lucille Clifton, have been trying to say something definitive, but so far nothing distinguished has emerged.

It is not the tradition of America's poet laureate to respond to calamity, but if it were, our current national bard, Billy Collins, lacks the solemnity.

Great novels are not about specific tragedies, but tragedy in general. And until the blood of the victims of Sept. 11 is allowed to mix with the blood that has stained this ground for centuries, one will not be written.