102 Minutes

The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

By: Jim Dwyer, Kevin Flynn

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers; reading e-mails, making trades, eating croissants at Windows on the World. Over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages, one witnessed only by the people who lived it, until now.

New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn rely on hundreds of interviews; thousands of pages of oral histories; and phone, e-mail, and emergency radio transcripts. They cross a bridge of voices to go inside the infernos, seeing cataclysm and heroism, one person at a time, to tell the affecting, authoritative saga of the men and women, the 12,000 who escaped and the 2,749 who perished, who made 102 minutes count as never before.

©2005 Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

• National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction, 2005
• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Nonfiction (Abridged)

"A masterpiece of reporting." (The New York Times)
"The stories are intensely intimate, and they often stir gut-wrenching emotions....[Dwyer and Flynn's] reporting skills are exceptional." (Publishers Weekly)
"A fitting tribute to the people caught up in one of the great dramas of our time. And for people still haunted by the events of that day, reading 102 Minutes provides a cathartic release." (The New York Times Book Review)
"New York Times reporters Dwyer and Flynn have compiled an unbearably painful but indispensable account of what transpired inside the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001." (Booklist)

If you think you’ve

Read everything about 9.11 you would be wrong. I’ve read many books, been to the museum and these were stories I had never heard. Just heartbreaking.

Wow

Heartbreaking to hear so many stories of those in the towers but so worth listening too.

Riveting

Utterly and completely riveting. Far more insightful and heart-wrenching than any other material available about 9/11...

9/11 from the survivors view

Excellent rendition and collaboration of events which piece together the 102 minutes which defined American history. The stories are many and the author did a great job of molding them together to bring the story to life while intertwining them.

b. 1984

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It was about 11.30pm local in Sydney, Australia when I was informed by the BBC World Servce (via ABC Newsradio 630 AM) that one Tower had been struck by an airliner. They then informed me that the other Tower was struck and was an unlikely coincidence, most likely a deliberate act. At the time I figured it was OBL - he was the boogey man.Then I went to sleep since I had an important maths test next day. Some of my friends didn't know know about it until someone produced the cover of The Daily Tele at about 9am (Sydney local), he was shocked as everyone was.What transpired when I went to bed and what I woke up to is what '102 Minutes' is about. I never checked into the images of 9/11 until I began reading reports by Jim Dwyer in the NY Times around 2006, and this book became a must read.Takes you in the Towers with the rescuers and the victims. Its the RMS Titanic for our age..

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Engaging!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and plan on listening to it again. I do not know anyone that worked in the World Trade Center so it was not as emotional for me to listen to as it would be for others closer to the events. This book brought the events closer to me and made them more real. I also found the educational aspects of the book enlightening; such as, how high rise fires are fought, the architecture of the buildings, lack of communication between departments, etc. Definitely worth your time.

I Learned Some New Things

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This tells the story we all know, but the author adds in details throughout about how lack of communication between firefighters and the police created a lot of problems with the rescue. It was interesting, and I learned some new things.

What other book might you compare 102 Minutes to and why?

It reminds me of "Columbine" by Dave Cullen, because it describes the scenes in such detail that you feel like you were there in the midst of the tragedy. You can sympathize more with the victims.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

7/10 ⭐

This book does capture events before and during impact, entrapment, and escaping the two buildings, but a lot of the in-between and filler parts focus on back story. Safety regulations, laws at the time of construction, history and the like. It's useful info but it does take the listener away from the accounts. While still enjoyable, it very much reads like A Night To Remember. (it's even referenced a few times.) Not bad.. But it's not -just- accounts and stories on the actual escape and entrapment. There's a bit of fluff to work through. The Only Plane in the Sky has way more accounts and material.. Although it's across the board and not just localized to the towers.

Riveting!

My husband and I listened to 102 Minutes during our 3 hour drive up to Snowmass from Denver. We did not want to pause the audiobook, we were so captivated.

Wow - detailed, heartbreaking, human

This was such an interesting account from many personal perspectives of what happened. It’s amazing and devastating to think just better communication and tighter regulation may have saved more lives - I had no idea! Extremely enlightening, important book.