The 2008, seventh non-fiction book of British writer Martin Amis (pictured) – The Second Plane. September 11: 2001-2007, comprises 14 pieces. Its two short stories, one film review, four book reviews and seven essays all deal with the 9-11 terrorist attacks or related topics. The book’s name derives from the first words of the first piece: ‘It was the advent of the second plane, sharking in low over the Statue of Liberty: that was the defining moment’. In the book the 14 pieces appear in the order Amis wrote them – over almost six years from 18.9.01 to 11.9.07. Their arc reflects his maturing perception of 9-11, its aftermath and its meaning. Of all I’ve seen, read and heard about The Second Plane’s topic, Amis’s take is the furthest from politically correct, and the most frighteningly scary. It’s also the closest to mine, which is why I have nothing but praise for The Second Plane. The best piece of the 14 is the longest – a 30-page account of ‘The Last Days of Muhammed Atta’. Originally published in the New Yorker, it’s a chilling account of Atta’s last day – starting when he awoke at 4:00 on 9-11, and ending at 8:46:40 when the plane he was piloting struck the World Trade Centre’s North Tower. To the world that could’ve been a one-off accident. But, as Amis writes so well ‘For those thousands in the South Tower, the second plane meant the end of everything. For us, its glint was the worldflash of a coming future’. For sure.
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