On 9/11, 38 planes landed in a town of 10,000 people. Gander took in every single passenger.
One of the most comforting books about one of the darkest days in modern history. Short, warm and full of kindness; the prose is plain and there are a lot of names. Four and a half out of five.
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
Is The Day the World Came to Town worth reading? An honest review of Jim DeFede's book about Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11: the kindness, the people, what doesn't work, and my score.
What really happened in Gander, Newfoundland after September 11? The facts behind The Day the World Came to Town and Come From Away: 38 planes, 6,595 passengers and crew, the people, the animals, and how it became a musical.
Loved The Day the World Came to Town or Come From Away? Six true stories to read next: Hiroshima, The Only Plane in the Sky, 102 Minutes, A Paradise Built in Hell, Humankind and Five Days at Memorial.
Book vs musical: The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede against the Broadway musical Come From Away. Who's in both, what changed, what each does best, and which to start with.
Is The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede worth reading? A one-minute, spoiler-free review: the setup, the catch, and my score.
The Day the World Came to Town (2002) is journalist Jim DeFede’s account of the week after September 11, 2001, when 38 diverted planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland, and the town and its neighbors took in more than 6,500 passengers and crew. It later inspired the Broadway musical Come From Away.
Below you’ll find a review, the true story and the numbers, a book vs musical comparison, and six true stories to read next.
On the morning of September eleventh, after the attacks in New York and Washington, the United States closed its airspace. Hundreds of planes over the Atlantic had to land somewhere else.
Thirty eight of them landed in Gander, a small town in Newfoundland with a population of barely ten thousand. Suddenly, more than six and a half thousand passengers and crew needed food, beds, medicine and comfort, for days. This book is about how the town, and the villages around it, took care of them.
On the morning of September eleventh, after the attacks in New York and Washington, the United States closed its airspace. Hundreds of planes over the Atlantic had to land somewhere else.
One of the most comforting books about one of the darkest days in modern history. Short, warm and full of kindness; the prose is plain and there are a lot of names. Four and a half out of five. Read it if: you loved come from away; you need a hopeful true story; you want a short book club or classroom pick. Skip it if: you want literary nonfiction; you're not ready to revisit september 11. Review: The Day the World Came to Town →
Book vs musical: The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede against the Broadway musical Come From Away. Who's in both, what changed, what each does best, and which to start with. Book vs movie: The Day the World Came to Town →
Hiroshima by John Hersey, The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff, 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit, Humankind by Rutger Bregman, Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink. Books like it: The Day the World Came to Town →
Yes. It is journalist Jim DeFede's reported account of the week after September 11, 2001, built on interviews with real passengers, pilots, police and volunteers in Gander, Newfoundland.
Thirty-eight, according to the book, carrying 6,595 passengers and crew. Gander's population was barely ten thousand.
About 250 pages, organized day by day from Tuesday, September 11 to the following Sunday, with an epilogue. It was published in 2002.
They tell the same true story but are separate projects. The book came out in 2002; the musical's writers, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, did their own interviews in Gander in 2011.
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