"Thunder Dog" Review

Thunder Dog

by Michael Hingson with Susy Flory

                                                            8 /10

My Synopsis:

Where were you on September 11^th, 2001 when the first plane hit the World Trade Center?  Most of us remember that day vividly but perhaps not as vividly as Michael Hingson.  Michael was in his office on the 78^th floor of Tower One when the plane struck.  He had to descend those 78 stories to escape the burning tower and he had to do it blind.  Michael is blind and relies on Roselle, his guide dog, to lead him through his daily adventures.  But how will a service animal handle the extreme circumstances of that fateful day?  Can their bond withstand the strains of an emergency of the largest scale?  Thunder Dog is their story.

My Opinion:

Thunder Dog is a wonderful story of love, life and triumph.  I personally love reading memoirs because thinking that “this actually happened to someone” as I’m reading their account of their life makes the story more interesting to me.  Thunder Dog was no exception.  On a day when America was changed forever and most of us were glued to our television sets, hearing one man’s personal account from inside Tower One was amazing.  I can’t imagine putting myself in that position, let alone to be blind on top of it all.  The tale of Michael and Roselle is so heartwarming.  The professionalism with which Roselle acted was an amazing feat given the situation.  I was interested in reading this book but was also hesitant, not wanting to relive too much of that horrible day.  The author was able to find a nice balance of detail without being overly vivid.  If anything, I think I wanted more from the story of their escape.  The book switches back and forth between their ordeal that day and Michael’s life growing up blind.  At first I was disappointed at this second side of the book but it was well written and ended up being very interesting.  I learned a lot about the blind community and what life is like for blind individuals.  Overall, it was a very good book.  A short read but it would have been stretching it to make it any longer.  8 out of 10.