Lawrence Wright graduated from Tulane University and spent two years teaching at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a fellow at the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law. The author of five works of nonfiction—City Children, Country Summer; In the New World; Saints and Sinners; Remembering Satan; and Twins—he has also written a novel, God’s Favorite, and was cowriter of the movie The Siege. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.
“Powerful and important . . . a history of a man and a movement,
replete with the accidents of history and historic inevitability.”
—Kevin Horrigan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Don’t read The Looming Tower in bed. This book requires a straight
spine and full attention . . . The reporting is so good that it
will matter in 100 years. Wright’s determined, disciplined work has
made his book indispensable. “ —Karen Long, The Plain Dealer
“A page-turner . . . encompassing religion, politics, economics and
more. If you’ve been meaning to sharpen your understanding of what
all led up to September 11, 2001, then Wright may have written just
what you’ve been waiting for.” —Tom Gallagher, San Francisco
Chronicle
“Brilliant . . . describes the contorted intellectual journey that
has taken place among some Muslims which allows a holy book that
appears to condemn suicide and the killing on innocents to be used
to justify catastrophic terrorism.” —Stephen Fidler, Financial
Times
“A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on
character, along with Wright’s five years of fierce on-the-ground
reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off.”
—Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
“Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted.”
—Peter Bergen, The Wall Street Journal
“What a riveting tale Lawrence Wright fashions in this marvelous
book. ‘The Looming Tower’ is not just a detailed,
heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11, written
with style and verve. [It’s] a thoughtful examination of the
world that produced the men who brought us 9/11, and of their
progeny who bedevil us today. The portrait of John
O’Neill, the driven, demon-ridden F.B. I. agent who worked so
frantically to stop Osama bin Laden, only to perish in the attack
on the World Trade Center, is worth the price of the book
alone. ‘The Looming Tower’ is a thriller. And
it’s a tragedy, too.”
–Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review cover
“Dozens of intricately reported books about 9/11 are already
available; I had read perhaps half of them [before] starting The
Looming Tower. But Lawrence Wright’s book is my new touchstone.
None of the previous books led me to say ‘Aha, now I think I
understand’ as frequently.”
—Steve Weinberg, The Boston Globe
“A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on
character, along with Wright’s five years of fierce on-the-ground
reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off.” —Daniel
Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
“Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted.” —Peter Bergen, The
Wall Street Journal
“A searing view of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a view
that is at once wrenchingly intimate and boldly sweeping in its
historical perspective . . . a narrative history that possesses all
the immediacy and emotional power of a novel, an account that
indelibly illustrates how the political and the personal, the
public and the private were often inextricably intertwined.”
–Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
“Important, gripping . . . One of the best books yet on the history
of terrorism.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Lawrence Wright provides a graceful and remarkably intimate set of
portraits of the people who brought us 9/11. It is a tale of
extravagant zealotry and incessant bumbling that would be merely
absurd if the consequences were not so grisly.”
—Gary Sick
"Lawrence Wright's integrity and diligence as a reporter shine
through every page of this riveting narrative."
—Robert A. Caro
“A towering achievement. One of the best and more important books
of recent years. Lawrence Wright has dug deep into and written well
a story every American should know. A masterful combination of
reporting and writing.”
—Dan Rather
“Comprehensive and compelling…Wright has written what must be
considered a definitive work on the antecedents to 9/11…Essential
for an understanding of that dreadful day.”
--starred Kirkus review
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