Moving to the shadow of Ground Zero in the Financial District in New York City in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9-11 opened the eyes of the author, who has seen firsthand how her community struggled. She and her husband lived in the closest residential building open for re-occupation since the attack, the most devastating on U.S. soil. In this new book, the author focuses on the perseverance of a community facing uncertainty with cleanup and demolition of contaminated buildings and a reconstruction project lasting a decade.
Review We assume we know what happened at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001; the towers fall, office workers leaping from high windows. The aftershocks would emanate as far as Baghdad and Kabul. Much has been written about these world-shaking events, but Susan Fox focuses her compassionate pen on an overlooked part of the story: the lives of the people in the affected downtown New York neighborhood. As the Dust Settles well fulfills the promise of its subtitle: Finding Life At Ground Zero. From horror to recovery, Susan allows us to know her communityoffice workers, bartenders, shopkeepers, priests, residents and morewho come together to heal a scar. You will be inspired by this story of hope and resilience.
James Bradley, author of Flags of our Fathers, Flyboys and The Imperial Cruise.
As the Dust Settles presents a previously unexplored aspect of the attacks devastation and a communitys response to it. Chapters detailing everything from artists and residents near Ground Zero to affected businesses and corporate workers. During her research, the author interviewed more than 130 people who live, work or are otherwise associated with Ground Zero; the book features 35 of these sessions, told in the subjects own compelling words.
Fox describes experiencing the first anniversary of the attack and seeing the emotion of the doorman in her building, which was essentially below the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and hearing the name of one of her first students read from the list of the dead. Black and white photographs provide a haunting glimpse into the neighborhood shattered by the attack, as well artists response to the event. This honest documentation of a neighborhoods struggle to rebuild adds a needed voice to the tragedy of 9-11.
This is the first book for author Susan Fox, who received her MA in philosophy and Ph.D. in comparative literature from Binghamton University in New York. Fox lived in the Financial District from August 2002 to November 2006. She teaches at the Corcoran College of Art & Design and lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and son.
For more information, visit http://www.afterthedustsettled.com
"As The Dust Settles: Finding Life At Ground Zero"
Susan Fox
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-145750-399-3
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