Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

What an incredible, emotional, heart-wrenching book!

I'm so glad I started listening to audiobooks a few years back so I could experience The Only Plane in the Sky in this format, because reading this in print, while surely still being a 5-star read for me, would not have had the same impact.

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cajunliterarybelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Tears came to my eyes, I audibly gasped and felt chills, and I even shouted out during the listening of this audiobook. The entire book delivers nothing but powerful, emotional accounts of September 11th, 2001 in the US. That September I was 13 and in 8th grade, and even living in Louisiana I will never forget how the Tuesday unfolded. Thank you to all the brave souls who relived the events to recount the history for others and to the author for putting all the individual memories together. No one held back with their interviews, and the book could stand the test of time as a great primary source for the tragedies of September 11th.
Expect heartbreak, graphic gore, and death, because nothing but the truth is found here.

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milesjmoran's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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oliviaja's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I was a 6 year old in rural Canada on 9/11, and though I grew up with it’s consequences, I knew shockingly little about the actual day. This was incredibly informative and fascinating. I can’t recommend the full cast audiobook enough.

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sarahweyand's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This book took a lot out of me, mentally and emotionally, but it's something I'm glad I did. It feels wrong to 1) put this is my favorites of the year because it wasn't but also 2) rate it anything lower than what I'm rating it. No matter what number rating I give, this book will stick with me for a long time, probably forever.

I was born in 1999, alive for 9/11 but not old enough to remember it, no personal connection to the tragedy but somberly informed and taught about it every year for my entire primary education. This book taught me things I didn't know and gave a much more personal account of the various events of the day. The oral history is long, and 90% of it takes place on September 11. There is slight discussion of September 12 but not of any events past that date, which I think is important to place the proper emphasis and respect on the heroes and events of the attack itself.

Everyone knows what this book will be about going into it, so you know it isn't an easy read. However, if you can stomach it, I near demand you listen to the audiobook. It's wonderfully read by a full cast of voice actors who fully do the oral history justice; I fully believe it's how this book was meant to be consumed. Some air traffic controller transcripts, phone calls, and briefings use actual historic audio, which can certainly be triggering but add so much. ***Note on this: emotional personal phone calls or other disturbing audio is not used; I definitely would not have been able to handle the inclusion of that material. Audio inclusions are done tastefully and respectfully; any anecdotes regarding personal messages or last words are paraphrased and read by voice actors.

If you can, I would add this to your list and give it a listen or read when you feel you're in the headspace to do so. Its importance and impact really can't be overstated.

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