Robin Gaby FisherCritiques

I didn't learn much more from the reading the book than I did watching the documentary. It's still a very good read, however, and captures the length some people will go to in order to deceive others and get attention.

This is a fascinating story. But the book has little depth to it. You never hear the why, or get any inkling of what is real. Even the chapter about her "real" life is completely vacuous and unsatisfying -- and again it's a single short chapter!

If you are interested in Tania Head's story, I suggest skipping this book and instead listening to the episode about her on the Swindled podcast, which condenses it and offers more takeaways.

couldn't put it down! escaping the high echelons of Scientology in order to live her truth as a lesbian

This is a pretty interesting account of Tania Head, a woman who pretended for several years to be a 9/11 survivor. In fact, she was nowhere near the attacks and virtually nothing she said about herself or her past history was true.

The first two-thirds to three-quarters of the book were excruciating to read, as I watched Tania dig herself deeper and deeper. As a child, I couldn't stand it when someone on TV was about to get in trouble and I often had to leave the room when the terrible denouement arrived. So knowing that this is all going to come crashing down around her made me feel stressed out and, in fact, slightly ill at some points. Essentially, I experienced this part of the book as a horror story. But a pretty well-crafted one; I thought the authors did a good job of building some suspense into what is a fairly straightforward narrative.

The end of the book, though, was a disappointment. It felt tacked on. I really wanted to know more about Tania -- why did she do this? What did she think about what she did? What happened to her? Did she believe her own lies? The authors don't even acknowledge most of these questions. There is a brief suggestion that she was scarred by childhood problems, and then the book ends. (That's an oversimplification, but not much of one.)

I can't really blame the authors for this, because Tania is apparently not speaking to anyone and doesn't seem to be a terribly self-reflective person anyway. But it's a big hole in the book. It's worth reading, but don't go in expecting an explanation, because you're not going to get one.

This is a fascinating story, and in the hands of better writers it could have been a great book. Instead, it's a lumbering linear narrative which gets more tedious the longer it goes on. We know going into the book that Head was a fraud, but there's no insight into WHY Head needed to insert herself into the 9/11 tragedy, nor any investigation into the life she was actually leading while she hoodwinked everyone. If she wasn't working for Merrill Lynch as claimed, just what was she doing? Did she have a job? How did she afford a swank Manhattan apartment? She claimed to have gone to Sri Lanka to assist with rebuilding after the tsunami - did she? Unfortunately, none of these questions are answered or even addressed. At 304 pages, there's a lot of repetition and many over-dramatized dialogue sequences, as if the authors are stretching thin material into an acceptable length for a book.

Well written fascinating account of a women who fooled a nation. What to me is really interesting is that from what I can see she got very little financial gain from her deception, so what made her do what she did. I really would have liked a little more of what happened to her since and maybe some insight into her motivations. It really fascinates me how she wasn't found out sooner and lets face it, she had to know she would be found out somehow. I give it only a 3 because although it is well written account of what transpired, it doesn't go into more. Feel the author should have done more research into what has happened to her since, some background information. This is just a personal observation, what is written is well done, but I wanted more. I felt very much for Linda, she stood by someone she believed in and was so utterly betrayed. I truly believe that "Tania" was a Psychopath and let me tell you I have had someone like that in my own life. She sucks you into her drama and makes you feel like you "need" to help her, but its just all a con.

This is a pretty interesting account of Tania Head, a woman who pretended for several years to be a 9/11 survivor. In fact, she was nowhere near the attacks and virtually nothing she said about herself or her past history was true.

The first two-thirds to three-quarters of the book were excruciating to read, as I watched Tania dig herself deeper and deeper. As a child, I couldn't stand it when someone on TV was about to get in trouble and I often had to leave the room when the terrible denouement arrived. So knowing that this is all going to come crashing down around her made me feel stressed out and, in fact, slightly ill at some points. Essentially, I experienced this part of the book as a horror story. But a pretty well-crafted one; I thought the authors did a good job of building some suspense into what is a fairly straightforward narrative.

The end of the book, though, was a disappointment. It felt tacked on. I really wanted to know more about Tania -- why did she do this? What did she think about what she did? What happened to her? Did she believe her own lies? The authors don't even acknowledge most of these questions. There is a brief suggestion that she was scarred by childhood problems, and then the book ends. (That's an oversimplification, but not much of one.)

I can't really blame the authors for this, because Tania is apparently not speaking to anyone and doesn't seem to be a terribly self-reflective person anyway. But it's a big hole in the book. It's worth reading, but don't go in expecting an explanation, because you're not going to get one.

Tania Held told a compellingly tragic story of her survival on 9/11 as she fled from the South Tower amidst fire, smoke and unimaginable horror. She told of the kind man with the red bandana over his face who carefully patted out the flames on Tania's burning clothes and helped her to the emergency stairs as she held her nearly severed arm in place. She remembered the dying gentleman who pressed his wedding ring into her hand and pleaded with Tania to return it to his wife. Most heartrending of all was Tania's realization when she recovered from a coma in a hospital after 6 days that her husband, Dave, had died in the North Tower. As she faced her future alone Tania found solace in internet chatrooms with other survivor's and she quickly became a champion for their cause. She accomplished many beneficial things as the president of the Survivor's Network and readily told her painful story to help raise funds for memorials. Unfortunately, everything about Tania, including her very name, was a lie. She carried on her charade for nearly 6 years, fooling everyone, politicians, friends, families of those lost on 9/11, and it seemed at times that even she was convinced of her own tragic story.

I don't know why I don't remember anything about this woman or her story. It was first reported in the NY Times, whose investigation led to the lie being uncovered, and in countless other national news outlets. The book itself is well written and a quick read and I feel I am probably rating it unfairly at a 3 because I am sickened by the woman who is the subject.

very disturbing. I'm surprised that it took so long for her to be discovered

Betrayal, Deception, Emotions, Grief, Mystery! True, this story is full of it all and more . . . .

Liar, Liar, your pants on fire . . .

One can easily visualize each scene as the pages unfolded. The author was very descriptive in the writing - as it placed the reader in the moment.
The story itself is very fascinating. This book basically covers what is already a known fact about the events. Looking for newer discovery was not revealed in telling this story. This is done too often: how a person can captivate so many people by pretending to be someone they're not. Not only did it happen then, today it is still in existence. With their devious actions, amazing how they prey on others' emotions to gain whatever it is they seek to achieve. Only makes one wonders, have they a conscience? And that's frightening!!!! People like this person, we may never know why the "Tania Heads" do what they do. We just know it is done. If we stop to think, there are so many people in our midst these days in need of medical (physiological) attention. For sure, Tania is not alone. And she still lurks out there among those she emotionally hurt. But, will she ever apologize for all the lies told? 'Tis the least she can do!

Tania Hand is among the more disgusting people I've ever read about. Posing as a survivor of the 9/11 attacks, she manipulated and bullied real survivors for several years until the New York Times exposed her as a fraud. No, she didn't take money from anyone; what she stole was something more valuable--their trust. The most telling comment comes at the end of the book when the people she conned remark on how, for the first time in years, they're able to focus on their own healing rather than worrying about Tania's state of mind.

The author does a good job of relating Tania's rise and fall as a "celebrity survivor. However, I wanted more explanation as to why someone would do such a thing. Although Tania refuses to explain herself, the author could have done more research--talked to psychiatrists and other experts who could offer insight into why someone would perpetrate this kind of fraud. As written, the book leaves the reader with almost as many questions here as at the beginning.

This book was sort of entertaining but at the end of it all, the authors knew nothing about Tania Head other than that she decided to play a 9/11 victim and tell all kinds of unlikely lies. These lies brought her to the forefront of the 9/11 survivor movement and made her a star of sorts.

The book explains what she did and how a handful of people became her pets as she scammed and lied, but at no point does this book ever explain Tania Head. We ended up knowing remarkably little about her real life. We got snippets from her childhood but we know nothing about Tania or her motivations.

Of course, Tania herself was unwilling to discuss anything. But when you can't get enough information to write a book you don't write a book. The reactions of a handful of people whose lives we know very little about don't really complete the picture. The reaction of one high school friend who was able to tell us very little about Head wasn't enough. All we know is that this strange little woman scammed people, which could have been covered in a Vanity Fair article.

Most important is that we never really get the reaction of the family of the key victim in this - the man Tania said she married, a man who died in the attacks on 9/11. This man never knew her, and she used his name openly in the public as her husband. It was a key part of her scam. Out of sensitivity to the family that was dragged into this ridiculous charade, they do not discuss the man, his family, their reaction or anything that would give a real human face to the harm Tania Head did.

I can understand that. I really can. But as I said above, if you don't have enough information to write a compelling narrative, you don't write one.

So we have 287 pages, very short chapters, of a woman telling lies no one should have been able to believe. She is telling them to an audience whose lives ultimately mean nothing to us other than respecting their experiences on that horrible day because they're just foils to a woman whose lies never really could stand in the light of day. We know nothing about Head or her motivations other than that she must have a lot of charisma in order for people to have bought her crappy lies. We know nothing about the impact on the survivor community other than the handful of one dimensional side players who played a foil to Head.

All of this is problematic when you realize that none of Tania Head's lies were worth a damn. This was not a woman who could weave a seamless narrative. She was extremely obese and indicated that a young man carried her out of the building. She said her arm was hanging by a few ligaments and was in the hospital for weeks but could not speak of the doctors or the nurses who helped her. She described the man she claimed she was married to as either her husband or her fiance. She never produced items for a 9/11 memorial museum that she promised. Not a single person who survived remembered seeing her in the Towers. And of course, the company she worked for never, ever heard of her. And yet she got away with this narrative for years. And we don't know why because the pictures of Tania are not of a woman whose appearance speaks of much charm and the descriptions of her speeches don't really seem like they would have much resonance.

The most annoying element of this book is that in most books wherein we are treated to the unfolding of a scam, we get to see how someone uncovers the scam. In this book the hoax is unraveled by the New York Times because they finally asked all the questions any sane person should have asked. But we are not privy to the process the reporter went through as they uncovered Tania's lies. One of the most compelling elements of a book like this and we are not permitted to see it as it happens. We get all the lies and all the people buying the lies that no reasonable person would have bought and we don't even get the catharsis of watching as it unravels for Head. That's a problem.

And all of this is even more problematic if you are looking at paying $26 for a book that cannot tell you most of the story you need to know in order to give a crap.

What a compelling heart-wrenching story. You feel the pain that Tania Head experienced. Her world fell apart on the morning of September 11, 2001, she almost lost her own life, and she did loose her beloved Dave, her husband/fiance. She recounts her horrific tale many times in this book, how could you survive all that she has lost?
You hear about the angel in the stair-well, with the red-bandana that helps save her life. She in turn helps fill in a void in his parents life, and brings them some feeling of satisfaction on hearing how he helped her. She becomes the head of the World Trade Center Survivor's Network, and she becomes a life line to so many in need. She leads the group in helping save the "Survivor's Stairway".
She becomes best friends with Linda Gormley, among others, and when she gets stressed, she treats them terribly. There are several others, that I was worried she was going to put them over the edge, and yet most just were in awe of her. In the end she is a total FAKE! So many people loved and trusted her! Tania actually has a gift of drawing people toward her.
This book will linger with you long long after you have turned the last page. You will wonder how someone could live with themselves faking such an unimaginable horror.

I received this book from the Publisher Touchstone, and was not required to give a positive review.

A horrible true store of crime that was perpetuated on inocent young boys and covered up for decades. Only by connecting on the Internet do victims unite and get some healing and a bit of justice. Worth reading again to learn the details especially if traveling in the panhandle of Florida and an understanding of the mindset of some of the people there is needed. How a small community can be so blind or insensative to what is going on in the vicinity! And to think all of this awful crime was done against black and white children not so very long ago. All who are in professions that deal with children ought to read this.

This book is so very well written that I read it in one sitting. The book flows easily between the police, family, doctors' and victims' stories. However, I imagine that many people will not be able to read this book because of the gruesome details of the two main characters burns. Be prepared to read all the gory details of how a human being recovers from burns over much of their body. I found the book fascinating and the amount of detail made the book even more interesting. Can't wait until the author writes another book.½

On January 19, 2000, a fire set by two inebriated students broke out in the freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, killing three and injuring 58 others. This is the story of two of the most severely injured students, Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos. They had been roommates before the fire, and became each other’s lifeline afterward.

Shawn and Alvaro were lucky to be taken to the Saint Barnabas Burn Center, recognized to be one of the top burn treatment centers on the East Coast and run by the driven and dedicated burn specialist Hani Mansour. The doctor thought that Shawn had a chance to live if he made it through the night, but Alvaro would need a miracle to pull through. But what Dr. Mansour and his burn unit team found over the ensuing months was that Shawn and Alvaro each had superhuman will, faith, caring family and friends, and perhaps most importantly, each other.

The two boys suffered greatly, and Fisher does not shrink from telling you in detail all that they had to endure. They each worked hard at rehabilitation, showing their strength in the face of the pain and the tears. They learned to cope with the stares and the insecurities and the anger, each bolstering the others' spirits during the down times. And they overcame the horrific tragedy, as much as anyone could who had been through what they had. Alvaro said to Shawn, “Sometimes I think I am one of God’s angels, sent down to do good. Maybe to help people who are not as strong as I am.”

The story of their trials is not an easy one, but it is perhaps one of the most inspirational you will ever read.

This is a quick read, but it is very powerful! I was instantly drawn into Shawn and Alvaro's story. Some might find the description of the burn treatment a bit much, but I thought the detail was necessary. It wasn't overly graphic, but was honest in showing the amount of pain the boys went through on a daily basis.

My only complaint with the book is that the ending seemed to be a little abrupt. The story focuses mostly on the burn treatment and rehabilitation with less attention being paid to how Shawn and Alvaro get along in their daily lives now. Maybe this isn't as exciting of a story lines, but it seemed to warrant a little more attention then it received.

Shawn and Alvaro's strength of character is wonderful and uplifting. The support they received from each other and their friends and family made their amazing recoveries possible. Although their lives haven't gone back to exactly what they were before the fire I think both young men learned valuable lessons about what they can achieve.

I don't generally read this type of book, the "tragedy turned inspiration" story, but I am so glad I read this one. The story of Shawn and Alvaro's struggle to recover from their burns is powerfully touching, and the strength of their friendship is truly inspirational.

Full review at The Book Lady's Blog .

After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival is based on true events. It is under sad and unfortunate events that this story comes about. The day was January 19th, 2000, a day that no one will ever forget. On this fateful day a fire spread throughout the freshman dormitory halls of Seton Hall University. The fire claimed young three lives and injured many more. Robin Gaby Fisher tells the story of two room mates Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos and the angels of Saint Barnabas Hospital, who helped saved these two friends.

After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival makes you feel raw, heart-wrenching emotions of sadness, joy and triumphant. After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival is such a powerful book that it is beyond words on how to explain it. I credit this fact dooly to Robin Gaby Fisher's talent as not only an author and writer but as an amazing story teller. I was blown away from the first moment I picked this book up to read it. If Mrs. Fisher's goal was to show how with lots of strength, determination as well as setting a goal for yourself you can achieve anything; then Mrs. Fisher accomplished that with After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival. If there is ever one book you must read in your life then it has got to be After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival by Robin Gaby Fisher.