Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman

by Zac Unger

Book Overview

A remarkable memoir, by turns funny and deeply moving, of one man's coming into his calling and his transformation from ambivalent Ivy League grad to skilled and dedicated firefighter. Zac Unger... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143034952
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.6" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

I'm an accidental fireman too!

I absolutely loved this book. It is as close to understanding what it's like to be a fireman as you can ever get...without actually becoming one. I passed it along to my family & friends just so I could say "Here...THIS is what my job is like". Unlike many other books...Working Fire tells the story of firefighting from the point of view of somebody who didn't grow up with fire in their blood & soot in their lungs. Unger fell into firefighting...whereas so many others view it as a birthright, passed down from father to son. The best thing abotu this book is that it's so well-written that you don't have to be a firefighter, firefighter's family member...or even a fire buff to enjoy it. It's a great story about a unique character.

what the job is today

As a fireman, I have been looking for the contemporary replacement for the 1970s tome "Report from Engine Co. 82" since I first read Dennis Smith's account of the FDNY. I read and reread Smith's book, checking it out of the library at least once a year until it was rereleased in hardback in the 1990s and I bought my own copy. The fire service has changed since the days when the south Bronx and other parts of other cities were burning at a rate unprecedented before or since. With the advent of emergency medicine and active fire prevention and investigation bureaus, our job has grown in the thirty years since Smith's Bronx burned. Before my career is over I expect as much development or more. These changes only firemen can truly see -- from within the ranks. In "Working Fire," Zac Unger communicates which traditions remain and which traditions are changing in his piece of the firefighting community, while more broadly presenting the daily reality of the modern municipal fire department. On objective terms, a previous reviewer condemns the firefighting aspects of Unger's book. "Working Fire" it is not a training manual. Nor does it claim to be. The reality is that the specific skills Zac Unger learned on his first days in training are very different than the skills he uses or needs daily on the streets of Oakland. Unger's book is not meant to belittle the pain or suffering of others through its accounts. Nor is it meant to glorify obcenely the acts firemen perform. Unger tells the job as he sees it -- as it stands at the turn of the twenty-first century, in a fire department where tradition is met head-on with the needs of a contemporary society. I have been looking for the new "Report from Engine Co. 82." I have found it.

Engaging fireman

Unger joined the Oakland Fire Department in the 1990's. An Ivy League grad, son of Berkeley intellectuals, he had a calling for dangerous, physical, activities that baffled his parents. From feeling, and looking, like a fish out of water, he learned to be a part of the close-knit tribe of firefighters. Mixing just the right amount of self-analysis with a healthy dose of anecdotes and observations about the social, physical, and physical challenges of big-city firefighting, Unger manages to infuse the narrative with a sense of duty, honor, and respect without sounding sappy. He notes that firefighters spend most of their time answering medical emergency calls, often among the city's least respectable populations. He describes the visceral joy of destruction, chopping one's way through walls and roofs to quench a raging structure fire, of demolishing an expensive car to save the accident victim trapped within. Engaging.

Transcends Typical "Fish Out of Water" Memoir

(Note: this may be a duplicate review.) As a librarian, I am guilty of reading many books and commenting on few. "Working Fire" was just too good not to say so to others. "Working Fire" is an entertaining, honest, and frequently humorous story of Unger's transformation from crunchy Californian and Ivy Leaguer to firefighter. Like Ted Conover's excellent "Newjack," Unger uses the fish-out-of-water theme to take us deep inside a profession most of us only barely understand. Unlike "Newjack," in "Working Fire" we know that Unger wants to become part of this profession, not just observe it for a while, and this adds elements of tension and authenticity that place this book above reportage and make it a classic coming-of-age story. Unger isn't quite as much out of his element as he would like to make us think--we see that when he makes it through firefighting school while others do not--but the constant tension between his past and present life will keep you turning pages, and the well-drawn characters and situations that serve as foils for his development are entertaining as well. Unger also wisely limited the number of fire scenes. Those he uses are swashbuckling good reading, but are drawn swiftly enough so that readers with only a nominal interest in firefighting will not lose interest in the larger story. (That said, I turned pages without stopping during these scenes, in part because most of the fire scenes are really about Unger, people, and the larger theme of transformation.) It is also refreshing to read a memoir where the subject is not in recovery, the parents are not evil, and many of the characters are well-meaning and likeable. "Working Fire" is due out in paper in 2005. With its readability, essential humanity, and "something for everyone" appeal, "Working Fire" would make a great pick for a book club, but it is also a great choice for anyone looking for a good story well told.

Great and insightful and interesting writing

Zac Unger is educated, eloquent, and, most importantly, observant. I'd never have thought that the subject of firefighting would be something that I'd take the time to read about, but I was wrong and I'm very glad this book somehow found its way into my hands. It isn't just the firefighting part, even though that's something that maybe all of us are curious about - and here's someone who can and will tell you all about that subject. But this book is particularly special because the person who wrote it understands different people and different situations and takes the time to write incredibly well about his experiences. Thank you, Zac, for the excellent read, and I hope you didn't take too much "heat" around the firehouse for writing it down. Stay safe.