The Second Plane

A modern classic from one of the most gifted writers of his generation: this collection of essays about 9/11 constitutes a provocative and insightful examination of one of the most momentous events of our time. “A walking tour of the motley post-September 11th mind—its fears, madnesses, misapprehension and insights.” —New York Observer At the heart of this collection is the long essay “Terror and Boredom,” an unsparing analysis of Islamic fundamentalism and the West's flummoxed response to it, while other pieces address the invasion of Iraq, the realities of Iran, and Tony Blair's lingering departure from Downing Street (and also his trips to Washington and Iraq). Whether lambasted for his refusal to kowtow to Muslim pieties or hailed for his common sense, wide reading, and astute perspective, Amis is indisputably a great pleasure to read—informed, elegant, surprising—and this collection a resounding contemplation of the relentless, manifold dangers we live with in the twenty-first century.