Robin Gaby Fisher

This is a pretty interesting account of Tania Head, a woman who pretended for several years to be a 9/11 survivor. In fact, she was nowhere near the attacks and virtually nothing she said about herself or her past history was true.

The first two-thirds to three-quarters of the book were excruciating to read, as I watched Tania dig herself deeper and deeper. As a child, I couldn't stand it when someone on TV was about to get in trouble and I often had to leave the room when the terrible denouement arrived. So knowing that this is all going to come crashing down around her made me feel stressed out and, in fact, slightly ill at some points. Essentially, I experienced this part of the book as a horror story. But a pretty well-crafted one; I thought the authors did a good job of building some suspense into what is a fairly straightforward narrative.

The end of the book, though, was a disappointment. It felt tacked on. I really wanted to know more about Tania -- why did she do this? What did she think about what she did? What happened to her? Did she believe her own lies? The authors don't even acknowledge most of these questions. There is a brief suggestion that she was scarred by childhood problems, and then the book ends. (That's an oversimplification, but not much of one.)

I can't really blame the authors for this, because Tania is apparently not speaking to anyone and doesn't seem to be a terribly self-reflective person anyway. But it's a big hole in the book. It's worth reading, but don't go in expecting an explanation, because you're not going to get one.… (altro)