Afterwords

AFTER September 11, 2001, emotions couldn't be clearly defined.There were no WORDSstrong enough to justify, avenge, explain, or express the sheer magnitude of this horrifyingly unique moment in history.In this remarkable anthology, compiled by Salon.com's award-winning editorial team, Rick Moody, Janet Fitch, Caroline Knapp, and Jeffrey Eugenides join many contemporary literary talents and reporters in giving a voice to the day that left a stunning roar of silence across America.Dread, fear, heroism, and dignity color these pages from eyewitness accounts of ordinary citizens turned rescue workers, to an escape from the World Trade Center, a report on everyday New Yorkers finding comfort in "terror sex," and stories of miracles in the madness -- like that of a blind man led by his seeing-eye dog down eighty-seven flights of stairs to safety."Afterwords" also probes the aftermath of the attacks on the nation and the world's cultural, political, and social fabric through writing ranging from an in-depth interview with controversial social critic Noam Chomsky, to a female Pakistani-American journalist's meeting with a Taliban leader and his wives, and essays on how sheer horror gave way to heartening solidarity, macabre spectacle, and kitschy sentimentality.Immediate, raw, emotional, and empowering, this outstanding collection speaks brilliantly to the simple need to remember and comprehend what happened against that perfect blue sky on September 11, 2001.A portion of the royalties will be donated to the Twin Towers Fund and the Red Cross's Fund for Afghan Children.

Contents

Foreword ¦ David Talbot

Ground Zero

Running Against the Grain:

A Survivor's Tale ¦ Ann Marsh

A Season in Hell ¦ Christopher Ketcham

The Dig ¦ James Croak

Emotional Rescue ¦ William Harvey

The Devil's Smoke ¦ Christopher Ketcham

Nothing Will Be the Same

Writing in the Dark ¦ Rick Moody

No More High Heels ¦ Janet Fitch

Consciousness on Overload ¦ Caroline Knapp

Sex in a Time of Terror ¦ Cole Kazdin

Requiem for a Stranger ¦ Jennifer Foote Sweeney

U2 Elevate New York ¦ David Talbot

King Kong's Home Away from Home ¦ Stephanie Zacharek

The Enemy

Deciphering Suicide ¦ Jeffrey Eugenides

The Martyr in Waiting ¦ Asra Q. Nomani

At Home with the Taliban ¦ Asra Q. Nomani

Bin Laden's Creepy Charisma ¦ Joan Walsh

Bin Laden's Diary ¦ Tom McNichol

Afghanistan

All Crazy on the Kunduz Front ¦ Phillip Robertson

Panic at the Bangi Bridge ¦ Phillip Robertson

The First Casualties ¦ Sean Kenny

The Home Front

Get a Grip, America! ¦ Laura Miller

I Love Old Glory -- But Not the Creeps Who've Waved It All My Life ¦ King Kaufman

Islam's Flawed Spokesmen ¦ Jake Tapper

The Prime-Time Smearing of Sami Al-Arian ¦ Eric Boehlert

Stand Beside Her ¦ King Kaufman

Bringing the War Home ¦ Damien Cave

A Memo to American Muslims ¦ M. A. Muqtedar Khan

Drafted into the Cult of War ¦ Chris Colin

Collateral Damage

The Kitschification of September 11 ¦ Daniel Harris

Dan Rather's Tears ¦ Stephanie Zacharek

Confessions of a 9/11 Widow ¦ A. R. Torres

Missing Women ¦ Lauren Sandler

The Island of Mourning ¦ Terry Golway

Not Exactly Fatherless ¦ Kevin J. Sweeney

Start Making Sense

America the Scapegoat ¦ Meera Atkinson

The Bloody Jordan River Now Flows Through America ¦ Gary Kamiya

America Is the Biggest Terrorist State: A Conversation with Noam Chomsky ¦ Suzy Hansen

The Making of a Hawk ¦ David Talbot

Author Biographies

Acknowledgments