This non-fictional oral history would be best “read” on Audiobook.    I was reviewing the top-rated audiobooks and The Only Plane in the Sky won top honors in 2020 and had wide-reaching praise for the research, storytelling, and production.

The account is a moving one, telling the larger story from many perspectives, using the actual voices of the people who were caught in the disaster.   We hear from famous people, everyday citizens on the street, firefighters, nurses, pilots, husbands and wives, children and parents, witnesses, and survivors.   We sometimes hear a whole story told in parts so we can follow the before, during, and after phases.    Many of the tales are moving and heart-breaking.    There was much courage and humanity too, but it felt personal as if the individuals were speaking to me about the experiences.

Garrett M. Graff’s oral history is deeply researched, to the point of using first-person narratives, actual records, and authoritative published reports.    As a reader I found the telling of the events to be compelling and rewarding.   So much more is revealed than we were aware of, even though we watched the events on television and followed the story at the time.

There were times, I had to press the stop button to allow myself to breathe and take in what I had just heard.    I often had to walk away to process the import of one of the stories.

From having read/heard this story, “A sadder and a wiser man, (I).. woke the morrow morn.” (Coleridge).    This is a first-rate story, one we all should be asked to read. 4.8 out of 5.0 stars4.8