My wife and I found ourselves watching The Towering Inferno on the RETRO Channel a month or three ago. It was produced by Irwin Allen and the "Action Scenes" were "Directed" by him. That explains why the firemen are fighting fire in the hallways without masks and the smoke hugs the ground whilst the rest the rest of the movie is pretty damn good. So, during a commercial break, I mention the movie is based on two books. I pointed out, by way of example, that that's why the building is having the GRAND OPENING and yet people are already living in the building. Continuity not always Irwin Allen's strong suit...That hadn't occured to Michele before, so she wanted to know which book had which storylines and characters in them... long story short, we bought the books on eBay and took turns reading them...

This book had the residents story. Gene Kelly the conman is here and the archietect has more of the personality of the one in the movie. I would say more but ponies are on tv.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/471932/7490972

Taken a bookring trip across the country...

finally opened the package. Thanks for sharing! Will get them read and moving.

Hadn't been able to finish it. The age of the book is making my allergies crazy. I do recomment it though.

This book arrived today with two companions (The Tower and a Booklover's Journal), all in separate packages. Life is a bit hectic right now, but I'll get to this as soon as I can.

Thanks for passing it on.

Took me longer to get into this story than the other one, but in the end I found it an enjoyable ride. It seemed to focus more on the personalities of the tenants and staff...and it presented the fire as almost a living thing, which was interesting.

On the other hand, the idea that so many of the dangers were known when these books were written (and the WTC was being built) - and that they still contributed to the collapse of the towers a quarter-century later - is discouraging to say the least. And that's definitely the impression I got from my recent reading of 102 Minutes. Bureaucracy and the need to make a buck... :(

Gene Kelly as a con man? I'll have to watch the movie someday and see what I think of it. IMDB has some interesting trivia about it.

Headed to Minnesota as a contribution to another bookcrosser's OBCZ; this will be counted as a release for GoryDetails's 2012 Chills and Spills Read and Release Challenge.

Free your books - help spread the words!

What a surprise when this showed up in my mailbox! Thank you Hyphen8, I must admit I am intrigued and will look at them before I pass them on.

Took me this many months to get read this one after The Tower. Boy, does this book take me back to the disaster books of the 1970s. It was so strange to watch the World Trade Centers go up from the Promenade, while reading all these 70s angst books. This is a classic one.

Of course this is the part of the source of the Towering Inferno movie that focuses on the people caught up in an unfolding disaster. You have the pushy unethical newsreporter, aptly named Quantrell with his 'raiders', the honest architect who has been pushed out of the way once the building of the structure has started, the forty plus gay decorator, the unhappy acountant at the bank, the kindly 60 plus single school teacher.....

Slow to start, but once the book gets going it grabs you. If you are of the age (and of course if I saw the WTC being built....) you pick up the cultural keys right away as to who lives and dies (the floozie? of course, she's toast; the drunk and abusive maintenance man, same) and that is fun in the proper state of mind. This was a real slice of life of how the culture was in the early 1970s, attitudes, expectations, prejudices AND the underlying 'ouch' of exposing those prejudices. So this actually should be considered a classic just for that reason. Thanks for sending it on.

Sent off in
Already Book Crossed bookbox round 3
Hope the next reader enjoys this well traveled book!

P.S. If the book is too good to read and release, that's okay, you can keep it, just let me know that it's found a good home!

Arrived in BookLady331's "Already Been Crossed Bookbox." (Link) Popped back in the box to continue its journey!

Arrived home in my ABC book box. I am making the box virtual and I already have 30 in the VBB. I will reserve this book for either a future release, bookbox, or RABCK.

Enjoy! KTM book off to T02S03B11D20

Thanks for sending this book along with The Tower. Both look good.

In bin