The Day the MGM Grand Hotel Burned Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Ok even though there are numerous copies for sale it seems no one has read this book. I have, so I will tell you what I think. First off I have read almost all the great fire books from the Circus Fire to Triangle Shirtwaist company and the Chicago theater, Chicago itself, Ou lady of Holy Angels school.
This book does two things. One it flatly tells the story as expected from a bunch of flat writing newspaper writers. There is not much for personal stories or vivid images of what happened inside the burning building. It is not graphic or gripping by any means. But it does tell the story.
Second this is the only fire disaster book that shows the fire department in a good light. It tels a lot of stories of rescue and how the fire department actually had the opportunity to save lives.
Good for the collector but not a great read by any means.

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The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"The Winecoff Fire" is the true story of America's worst hotel fire. Working in downtown Atlanta, I often pass by the still-intact but abandoned hotel on Peachtree Street. I knew a few facts about the tragedy: that a Tech student won the Pulitzer Prize for his picture of a jumping lady; that many of Georgia's top high schools students were victims; and that many of the 119 dead were Georgians. I was curious to know more and, fortunately, this book came out. It includes the many aspects involved: cause, characters, individual experiences, scientific, political, historical, courage, benefit of info released years later, etc. Yet the book never bogs down. Yes, there are some vivid descriptions, but I didn't find them gratuitous at all. In fact, those tough parts brought home to me the real human horror of this tragedy. (Like what "Saving Private Ryan" did with war.) Even with the objective narrative, I get a sense of the authors being appalled and astonished at what happened. Sympathy, compassion, an understanding of sheer heartbreak, poignancy, and a quiet-but-obvious disgust with bad characters all kept emanating as I read. Those qualities made this book a lot more than just the "fact book" that I had originally bought it for. It was interesting that several friends read the book and they were surprised to learn of some family/friend connections with people involved in the fire. Years ago, Ralph McGill (the Atlanta journalist called the "conscience of the South") had encouraged someone to write about this story, but the effort was derailed. Fortunately, Mr. Heys and Mr. Goodwin put this together.

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