Love, Greg & Lauren: A Powerful True Story of Courage, Hope, and Survival

by Greg Manning

Book Overview

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, Lauren Manning-a wife, the mother of a ten-month-old son, and a senior vice president and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald-came to work, as always, at One World... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055338189X
• ISBN13: 9780553381894
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A true love story

Lauren was entering the WTC just as the fireball came down the elevator. She was burned over 82.5% of her body. The survival rate for a burn victim is 100 minus the percentage of burn; therefore, Lauren had less than 17.5 percent chance of survival. Greg sent emails to friends and family everyday regarding Lauren's condition, their 1-year old son Tyler's latest achievements, Greg's daily activites (which included some stories of other WTC burn victims whose families he got to know rather well). The emails were published into this book. It's a true love story with personal insights of the tragedy of 9/11 that I never saw on tv or read in the papers. I rate it five stars and four hankies.

An essential title in the 9/11 library

A cottage industry of Sept. 11 books is now under construction. Most will cover the same horrific ground. Some will advance our understanding of events leading to the attacks, others might suggest courses of action and new perspectives for a post-9/11 world.None will have the power of this book. Love Greg & Lauren is being promoted first and foremost as a love story and rightly so. But it is also literature of the first order, in the same way that Samuel Pepys's diaries of London in the time of plague and fire were, as a real-time transcript of people caught in the crosshairs of history. Moreover, it follows the edict of great factual narrative: Report Truly and Well. This Greg Manning does, in a book notable for its honesty and its eye for detail. The Mannings' lives were changed irrevocably that day, and just the sheer cruel swing of fortune takes your breath away: Greg is late to work and so survives, though most of his colleagues die, while Lauren, despite not being at her desk in the doomed Cantor Fitzgerald offices, is engulfed by a fireball anyway.The grim tally of the thousands who died that day excludes the far smaller group of attack victims who lived but required hospitalization. And few of those hospitalized were as badly injured as Lauren Manning. These daily emails are dispatches from a front line lived out over months in a place past the headlines -- a burn unit that, as Greg writes, became "Sub Zero" for the families who were frozen in place praying for their loved ones' recovery and insulated from the swirl of events beyond the hospital doors.At times, the dispatches are dry eyed and clinical, patiently explaining the complicated yet fascinating recovery process for burn victims. But they also include a widening circle of individuals and events, life in a Manhattan remade by 9/11. Greg's description of his visit to Ground Zero three weeks after the attacks is particularly memorable. Even so, the letters are restrained and almost laconic; they merely describe the events and actions, never telling you how to feel. And the humor -- yes, there is humor -- is playful and sly. It all makes for great reading, with several dramatic swings, even though we know how things turn out. Indeed, it's the daily reports of how Lauren claws her way to recovery that give this book its power. When Lauren, weeks in a medicated coma, first speaks, it's absolutely transporting. Those posters who don't like Love, Greg and Lauren are entitled to their opinions, but their reasonings are curiously incomplete. One says the book wouldn't have been published if not for its connection to Sept. 11. Yes, and your point would be?Another says the book should have covered other issues, but never says what those are.And for those who feel it somewhat problematic that the Mannings are comparatively well-heeled (or were before the hospital bills), well, that's the thing about history. It rarely selects its chroniclers according to our wishes. As it is, we are very

Intensely Powerful, Moving, Genuine, Brutal, and Inspiring

I wept while reading Greg Manning's honest, brutal, genuine, and always heartwarming account of his wife Lauren's difficult but amazing road to recovery. There is never a hint of self pity. Even in the lowest moments of despair, this family has found an incredible and overwhelming mix of courage, hope, and love to fight the biggest battle of all -- the survival and restoration of the human spirit. This is a story of hope and resilience while every day facing unbearable loss, tremendous obstacles, and the constant reminders of what was, and what could have been. Yet every day, Lauren and Greg make the choice to embrace their new course of life. They constantly revel in how lucky, grateful, appreciative, and blessed they truly are.Love, Greg & Lauren deeply touches and inspires in ways that force us to examine our own lives and gives a new, welcome perspective in the face of great adversity.

EMOTIONAL CHARGED FROM START TO FINISH

I cannot believe that there is anyone out there whose life was not touched in some way by the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Whether one was a victim, a family member, a friend, a rescue worker or simply a citizen watching the event from your own little corner of the world, you will probably never forget the tragedy.Through Lauren Manning, a victim of the World Trade Centre disaster, we get an inside, close-up view of just how her life was instantly changed. With burns to over eight percent of her body, Lauren's strong will, determination and love for her family overcame all obstacles. Through her husband Greg's eyes, we see the true meaning of true love, compassion, support, unfaltering faith and encouragement.Readers will not be able to read this book without shedding a tear for Lauren, Greg and their son. Each of us has our own trials and tribulations to overcome, but when one compares day-to-day challenges in life to Greg's and Lauren's most of our own problems somehow seem less imminent and signigicant. This emotionally-charged book is well-written and is also a beautiful tribute to all those who aided in Lauren's recovery - five stars from beginning to end!

An inspiring love story from our most tragic day...

A truly heroic tale from the congeries of the author's daily writings about one of the few seriously injured survivors of the deadly World Trade Center attacks on September 11. Lauren's fortitude and intransigence staring death down outlasted the almost insuperable odds. It is a true story of the adrenaline that love engenders in overcoming human tragedy. The author (Lauren's husband) is enormously talented and his prolific prose captures the pith of the human experience. Every American whose life was deeply affected by the events of September 11 must read this compelling narrative of a true miracle; the recovery and the struggle of a victim to return to her simple quotidian routines.The author's description of the shifting medical prognoses and the seemingly relentless surgical procedures, as well as the recounting of other survivors' experiences are both harrowing and enthralling. His editorials on the attacks and of the ensuing relevant events offer a unique birds-eye view from one deeply affected by the maelstrom of it all. Kudos to Mr Manning for sharing his story with us.