Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57218 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Released on: 2005-04-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780805078442
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Deputy Chief Ray Downey, the most highly decorated firefighter in the history of the FDNY, died during the World Trade Center rescue operations, but months earlier, he had arranged for his nephew, filmmaker Tom Downey, to make a documentary on the emergency experts of Brooklyn's Rescue Company No. 2, the "most active firefighting unit in the city." After the completed film, Still Riding: Rescue Company New York City, aired on September 11, 2002, Tom Downey continued his research, writing about firefighters for the New York Times. For this book, he follows the efforts of the new captain, Phil Ruvolo, to take command and establish a rapport with his men. Interweaving the history and lore of landmark fires with daily chores and rituals, Downey recreates the firehouse's kitchen table banter and sardonic humor. He probes the physical toll and psychological problems firefighters experience, along with the job's dangers: "Crawling in for a job, a fireman would feel the linoleum, think it was safe to enter, and then fall through." Limning individual personalities and capturing the company's camaraderie with amusing anecdotes, Downey's descriptions burn into the pages with searing intensity. Writing with verve and energy in a gritty style, he explores all extremes of the firemen's world, from triumphant moments of heroism to bitter tragedies. The concluding chapters document 9/11 and its aftermath from the firemen's point of view: the "horrible losses" resulting in a massive shortage of qualified firefighters to fill the ranks of the rescue and squad companies.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Downey's father and uncles were firemen, and the late chief Ray Downey, an uncle, was in command of Brooklyn's Rescue 2 for 14 years. Rescue 2 firefighters are experts in every kind of emergency; if you are trapped under a train, pinned in a car wreck, or buried in a building collapse, these are the people with the tools and the knowledge to save your life. The author lived in the firehouse for months, spending night shifts cruising the borough with them. He had just started to work on the book when the 9/11 disaster struck, but most of it deals with the years before that tragic event. He profiles several of the firefighters and their families; he lets us in on their taste for practical jokes and the merciless hazing that recruits face, as well as the make-work chores they carry out between fires. And he explains the procedures in fighting a fire and defines firehouse jargon, all of which adds to an intimate look at the daily lives of veteran firefighters. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Superb
This book is incredible. The author does a fantastic job of mixing in detailed accounts of historic fires along with the day to day part of the job. Of course the real heros are the fireman, a special breed. There are several anecdotes that show they don't want recognition (in one case, a man wanted to pay them $2000 for saving his mother, but they told him to save his money and buy a smoke detector!), just to do their job. The love of fighting fires comes across in spades as does the work ethic, the humor, the comraderie and the intense drive of the rescue 2 group. The characters are unforgettable. I wanted to cry when one of them in particular died (I forgot his name, but he was the gentle, quiet one who would give neighborhood boys free 10 point checks when they came in to get air in their bike tires.). I was left with great sadness that these dedicated men, everyday heros, are left with very little money for their efforts and most have to struggle by taking second jobs even with their insane hours. We should rise up and honor these men by paying them better salaries and honoring their work. They make our lives possible. By all accounts, this is a riveting book and a great piece of NY/Brooklyn/Queens history.

A must for firefighters and those who love them...
Only one other book I've read truly captures the true lives of firefighters and their community to the depth and extent that The Last Men Out does. It is called Braving the Waves - Rockaway Rises... and Rises Again, by Kevin Boyle. Boyle and Downey ought to get together and write a TV series that would give us the real, funny, tough, tragic, duty-bound stories of New York firefighters. Good job, Tom Downey!

a mini history of new york
I think this is well worth the read. Downey captures a tremendous amount of rich detail about blue collar life in New York. By recording the oral history of a few men, some of them lost on 9-11, Downey captures the cadences, rhythms, foods, and attitudes of working class Brooklyn. It's a mini-history of New York and firefighter lore - told by an author who studied that world before it was shattered by 9-11 and has watched the struggle to rebuild it. It's amazing to think that if Downey hadn't written this book, this oral tradition may have been lost to the rest of us.