Book of Sept. 11 front pages says little, shows all

Since it was published in early November, Sept. 11, 2001, a collection of newspaper front pages selected by the Poynter Institute, has sold approximately 400,000 copies.

The book, which was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, reached number five on The New York Times paperback bestseller list. None of the organizations involved in the project has profited from the book and so far $300,000 has been donated to the United Way's September 11th Fund. Another $200,000 in profits and royalties is expected to be donated.

This is remarkable for a book that has almost no text.

With the exception of a brief preface by Andrew Barnes, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Poynter Institute (and chairman and chief executive officer of the St. Petersburg Times, which the institute owns) and an eloquent introduction by Max Frankel, former executive editor of The New York Times, readers are given no explanation for the 145 images which were culled from 400 submitted by papers around the world.

Perhaps the images don't require any explanation. This book is not a primer on how a front page is made or an explantion of why the terrorists attacked. It is a collective gasp.

Not surprisingly, the photographs don't stray too far from the fireball erupting as the second tower is struck. The same panicked faces appear running from the collapsing towers on pages from Hilton Head, South Carolina to Salt Lake City.

The headlines offer slightly more variety, ranging from the bellicose ("IT'S WAR" declared New York's Daily News, a sentiment echoed by Brazilian O Dia's "GUERRA") to blunt dismay ("UNTHINKABLE," was the Arizona Daily Star's headline Sept. 12 and "OH, MY GOD!" from the Akron Beacon Journal). More than one newspaper (including Business A.M. of Edinburgh, Scotland) chose not to use any headline at all, believing apparently the photograph defied explanation.

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