SOURCE: Kirn, Walter. “Notes on the Darkest Day.” New York Times Book Review (8 September 2002): section 7, p. 7.

In the following review, Kirn assesses various literary works about or inspired by the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The first question, and the toughest one to answer, about the great drifts of Sept. 11 books now blowing into stores and libraries, is why do we need even one book about what happened when we saw the whole awful thing happen for ourselves, again and again, in telephoto detail, and we saw it so recently, just 12 months ago? Can the books help us remember? We haven't forgotten—and for those who wish to relive things anyhow and achieve a catharsis that wasn't possible during that lurching, dissociated morning, television has powers that print can't match. Can the books help us move on? It feels too soon for that. Can they place the disaster in context...