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Bikeman
I live to talk about it,
to relate the tale as it happens,
not only its extremities and cruelty,
but also the goodness that flourishes too.
Seasoned journalist Tom Flynn shares his experiences on that “forever September morning” from his perspective as a journalist and neutral observer who stands apart from the event, but also as a participant, a survivor, and now a defining chronicler of the morning that changed our nation forever -- September 11, 2001.
What began with a bicycle ride to the World Trade Center to cover the first tower’s attack, continued as the tower fell and Flynn found himself both bearing witness to, and with a disquieting view, participating in, the very event his well-trained journalistic senses intended to record and report. From those whose deaths revealed the most private moments of their lives, to those who helped guide the way to safety like the medic Avi who called him Bikeman, Flynn writes of the fellowship he felt toward others who shared his experience.
In Bikeman, you will experience the battle against the blackness of a “boiling brimstone avalanche” of chaos, silence, life, death, heat, ash, and the rising and falling of the gray-colored unknown. “We did not live through it, we just did not die,” Flynn writes. What sets his story apart from other 9/11 accounts is his visceral interpretation of the event through a journalist’s eye and a poet’s pen. He has composed a historical ballad that is part quest, part memoir, part eulogy, and part survivor’s lament, conveying the events of that morning in harrowing, unforgettable detail.
to relate the tale as it happens,
not only its extremities and cruelty,
but also the goodness that flourishes too.
Seasoned journalist Tom Flynn shares his experiences on that “forever September morning” from his perspective as a journalist and neutral observer who stands apart from the event, but also as a participant, a survivor, and now a defining chronicler of the morning that changed our nation forever -- September 11, 2001.
What began with a bicycle ride to the World Trade Center to cover the first tower’s attack, continued as the tower fell and Flynn found himself both bearing witness to, and with a disquieting view, participating in, the very event his well-trained journalistic senses intended to record and report. From those whose deaths revealed the most private moments of their lives, to those who helped guide the way to safety like the medic Avi who called him Bikeman, Flynn writes of the fellowship he felt toward others who shared his experience.
In Bikeman, you will experience the battle against the blackness of a “boiling brimstone avalanche” of chaos, silence, life, death, heat, ash, and the rising and falling of the gray-colored unknown. “We did not live through it, we just did not die,” Flynn writes. What sets his story apart from other 9/11 accounts is his visceral interpretation of the event through a journalist’s eye and a poet’s pen. He has composed a historical ballad that is part quest, part memoir, part eulogy, and part survivor’s lament, conveying the events of that morning in harrowing, unforgettable detail.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 8, 2021
I will be buying 30 copies of this over summer for next year.
April 5, 2022
I had a sense of the author's ego in every poem, the way he seemed to be trying to be artful, poetic in depicting the various moments in hell that he witnessed. It was frankly too pretty for the subject matter and struck me as almost indecent.
September 11, 2023
September 11th has returned and this book once again has brought back memories of that fateful day. I find this book a great way to remember and I feel that that is what we all need to do...remember!
October 10, 2021
Somehow I had never heard of this book until this year when a good friend and bookstore owner posted that she read it every year on 9/11. I immediately bought it and have read it twice since then. I have a strange connection to those tragic events because I had moved to NYC just days before the tragedy and was very far from being a “New Yorker”. I was on my 4th or 5th day of teaching and was in a new teacher fog 90% of the time. What I remember most, and what this books captures, beyond the actual attack was the community that NeW York City, renowned for its cynicism and harshness, created. The city came together Ron the face of this tragedy, much the way it did in the earliest days of the pandemic. It is why I love NYC, she seems tough on the outside but she is all heart on the inside.
October 5, 2024
A beautifully written Epic Poem capturing one reporter's experience during those horrific events from September 11th. It turns out that the Epic Poem format is incredibly fitting for capturing what the author saw and experienced...
November 29, 2017
Great read!
Read my review here:
http://tanatime.com/2017/11/29/bikema...
Read my review here:
http://tanatime.com/2017/11/29/bikema...
September 12, 2020
The “forever September morning” told in heartrending verse
My Full Review
My Full Review
July 17, 2025
I teach this book to first years every September.
December 28, 2009
On Sept. 11, 2001 , Thomas Flynn worked for CBS News. When the second plane hit the World Trade Center, Flynn rode his bicycle to the site as a journalist, following his muse of curiosity. “If this coming event were a mythical beast/…my muse would not counsel caution/…but push me closer to the flame,” he writes in the third canto.
Flynn uses Dante’s Inferno as inspiration for style and form in translating the unspeakable experiences of that day into free verse that allow the reader to believe he knows what it was like in lower Manhattan on what Flynn calls “this forever September morning.” We can’t, unless we were there. And even if we were there, the interpretation of sights, sounds and smells is unique to each person experiencing them.
What Flynn does is take the reader inside his experience and memory of September 11th. He takes us along on his transformation from journalist to participant. It is a first-hand account like none other that should be shared with as many people as possible.
We walk next to Flynn and his bicycle as he watches the first tower collapse and during his panicked flight from the scene. We wait with him in a parking garage buried in the rubble and take every dust-laden step that carries him away the inferno. Some would likely call Flynn a survivor of the attack. He agrees, but uses a different definition.
Survival is not a rapturous
rebirth, not a glorious
cloud-bursting return to life.
Survival is the absence of death.
…
It’s a middle place…
But it does have an advantage
over death. I live to talk about it
to relate the tale as it happens,
not only its extremities and cruelty,
but also the goodness that flourishes too.
Although some may believe that poetry isn’t for everyone, that it eludes a common dominator that popular culture does not, that it is best kept for academia in its ivory towers or elitists secure in the supposition that their reading habits elevate them above the mythical common man, I don’t agree.
At its best, and Flynn meets these challenges ably, poetry makes the intangible tangible. Metaphors and imagery translate the indescribable. When done well, poetry pulls you in, wrapping you in its arms of rhythm, letting meter carry you from one image to the next. It allows the words to take root in your mind and transform back into the indescribable that is now a part of you.
Take for example, the cantos dealing with Flynn’s observations between the planes’ strike and the towers’ collapse. We’ve all seen the news footage and heard the reports of people who jumped from the towers. Flynn saw them as more than a segment on the news.
That one, who finally gives up,
who leaps from the fiery window,
is at peace with her life
as she contemplates its entirety.
Her desk mate, now death mate,
recently reconciled with a long lost friend,
but still fights with her mother.
How will that mother live the rest of her life?
In the days and weeks to come, Flynn passes the pictures of the missing, all labeled “Have you seen ….” “Yes, I believe I have seen . . . ./I’ve seen him soaring/I’ve seen her dropping.”
Flynn devotes a significant part of the poem to his initial shelter in nearby parking garage as he flees the “boiling/brimstone avalanche cascading from the tower.” There is no light as the dust clouds force a small group further into the garage. Rubble from the tower piles up at the entrance. “It is/becoming clear my sanctuary/is to become my tomb,” he writes.
As the group explores the garage by touch alone, one manages to break a window and the others follow his voice into cool air. “I roll through from the hell I did not expect/to escape into a purgatory of lost souls,/I among them,” Flynn recounts, adding that his eyes have no need to adjust after leaving the dark garage. No sunlight pierces the dust. Streetlights that turn on too early for the hour are of no use.
…Here, out of the tomb,
it is still less than night and less than day.
I take in the morning air,
a dense and mourning air.
The descriptions of sights and sound stay with you after the poem ends. On Flynn’s tip uptown, still pushing his bicycle:
The walkways are a counterpane of ash,
each footfall muted in the soft, dry coverlet,
the commingled dust of sinner and saint
blanketing the ground,
lending it a leaden hue….
And later, after Flynn’s reached the river:
None of the usual clicking
of Wall Street wingtips do we hear,
none of the clacking of women’s heels
…
We walk on a blanket of death
in mortal silence.
Flynn uses Dante’s Inferno as inspiration for style and form in translating the unspeakable experiences of that day into free verse that allow the reader to believe he knows what it was like in lower Manhattan on what Flynn calls “this forever September morning.” We can’t, unless we were there. And even if we were there, the interpretation of sights, sounds and smells is unique to each person experiencing them.
What Flynn does is take the reader inside his experience and memory of September 11th. He takes us along on his transformation from journalist to participant. It is a first-hand account like none other that should be shared with as many people as possible.
We walk next to Flynn and his bicycle as he watches the first tower collapse and during his panicked flight from the scene. We wait with him in a parking garage buried in the rubble and take every dust-laden step that carries him away the inferno. Some would likely call Flynn a survivor of the attack. He agrees, but uses a different definition.
Survival is not a rapturous
rebirth, not a glorious
cloud-bursting return to life.
Survival is the absence of death.
…
It’s a middle place…
But it does have an advantage
over death. I live to talk about it
to relate the tale as it happens,
not only its extremities and cruelty,
but also the goodness that flourishes too.
Although some may believe that poetry isn’t for everyone, that it eludes a common dominator that popular culture does not, that it is best kept for academia in its ivory towers or elitists secure in the supposition that their reading habits elevate them above the mythical common man, I don’t agree.
At its best, and Flynn meets these challenges ably, poetry makes the intangible tangible. Metaphors and imagery translate the indescribable. When done well, poetry pulls you in, wrapping you in its arms of rhythm, letting meter carry you from one image to the next. It allows the words to take root in your mind and transform back into the indescribable that is now a part of you.
Take for example, the cantos dealing with Flynn’s observations between the planes’ strike and the towers’ collapse. We’ve all seen the news footage and heard the reports of people who jumped from the towers. Flynn saw them as more than a segment on the news.
That one, who finally gives up,
who leaps from the fiery window,
is at peace with her life
as she contemplates its entirety.
Her desk mate, now death mate,
recently reconciled with a long lost friend,
but still fights with her mother.
How will that mother live the rest of her life?
In the days and weeks to come, Flynn passes the pictures of the missing, all labeled “Have you seen ….” “Yes, I believe I have seen . . . ./I’ve seen him soaring/I’ve seen her dropping.”
Flynn devotes a significant part of the poem to his initial shelter in nearby parking garage as he flees the “boiling/brimstone avalanche cascading from the tower.” There is no light as the dust clouds force a small group further into the garage. Rubble from the tower piles up at the entrance. “It is/becoming clear my sanctuary/is to become my tomb,” he writes.
As the group explores the garage by touch alone, one manages to break a window and the others follow his voice into cool air. “I roll through from the hell I did not expect/to escape into a purgatory of lost souls,/I among them,” Flynn recounts, adding that his eyes have no need to adjust after leaving the dark garage. No sunlight pierces the dust. Streetlights that turn on too early for the hour are of no use.
…Here, out of the tomb,
it is still less than night and less than day.
I take in the morning air,
a dense and mourning air.
The descriptions of sights and sound stay with you after the poem ends. On Flynn’s tip uptown, still pushing his bicycle:
The walkways are a counterpane of ash,
each footfall muted in the soft, dry coverlet,
the commingled dust of sinner and saint
blanketing the ground,
lending it a leaden hue….
And later, after Flynn’s reached the river:
None of the usual clicking
of Wall Street wingtips do we hear,
none of the clacking of women’s heels
…
We walk on a blanket of death
in mortal silence.
July 8, 2008
On September 11, 2001, journalist Thomas Flynn jumped onto his bicycle and rode to Ground Zero to cover the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. He would soon find himself caught up in the events of that “forever September morning”, his life – like that of countless others – changed forever.
Flynn’s words paint a vivid picture of the low flying jet, an ominous and incongruous sight as it skimmed the tree tops above him and roared towards its target. His words are equally eidetic as he describes his arrival at Ground Zero, where he sees people jumping from the burning buildings, tumbling like rag dolls to the ground below. The reader, like Thomas, is there for the most intimate moment in the life of a stranger:
“I am witness to this and embarrassed.
I am an intruder on the most private moment
of her life: her death.”
Flynn also records the surreal visage of the towers engulfed in flames:
“The flaming tower mocks a colossal lighthouse
built to protect unsuspecting passengers
No, this is not the lady of the harbor
who carries a torch of dreams
It is a barbarian beacon, with no intention
to warn those who see her beams.”
Throughout the poem, the reader bears witness to Flynn’s struggle to survive, and later, his struggle to come to grips with being a survivor:
“We did not live through it,
we just did not die.”
Bikeman is billed as an epic poem in the style of Dante’s Inferno. This may sound intimidating to someone who is not a regular poetry reader. However, Flynn’s style is very approachable and easy to read. It will be enjoyed by both serious poetry students and those who may be unfamiliar (or perhaps a bit uncomfortable) with the genre.
At just over seventy pages, Bikeman is a quick read, but a lasting experience. Flynn’s words and the images that they evoke will stay with the reader long after the last page has been turned. Within the first few minutes of my reading, I found that I was so engrossed in the experience that I was holding my breath.
Visceral and hauntingly beautiful, Flynn’s poetry is an intense and unique insight into one of the darkest days in American history. Bikeman has found a place of honor on my bookshelf, and it is a book that I cannot recommend highly enough.
Flynn’s words paint a vivid picture of the low flying jet, an ominous and incongruous sight as it skimmed the tree tops above him and roared towards its target. His words are equally eidetic as he describes his arrival at Ground Zero, where he sees people jumping from the burning buildings, tumbling like rag dolls to the ground below. The reader, like Thomas, is there for the most intimate moment in the life of a stranger:
“I am witness to this and embarrassed.
I am an intruder on the most private moment
of her life: her death.”
Flynn also records the surreal visage of the towers engulfed in flames:
“The flaming tower mocks a colossal lighthouse
built to protect unsuspecting passengers
No, this is not the lady of the harbor
who carries a torch of dreams
It is a barbarian beacon, with no intention
to warn those who see her beams.”
Throughout the poem, the reader bears witness to Flynn’s struggle to survive, and later, his struggle to come to grips with being a survivor:
“We did not live through it,
we just did not die.”
Bikeman is billed as an epic poem in the style of Dante’s Inferno. This may sound intimidating to someone who is not a regular poetry reader. However, Flynn’s style is very approachable and easy to read. It will be enjoyed by both serious poetry students and those who may be unfamiliar (or perhaps a bit uncomfortable) with the genre.
At just over seventy pages, Bikeman is a quick read, but a lasting experience. Flynn’s words and the images that they evoke will stay with the reader long after the last page has been turned. Within the first few minutes of my reading, I found that I was so engrossed in the experience that I was holding my breath.
Visceral and hauntingly beautiful, Flynn’s poetry is an intense and unique insight into one of the darkest days in American history. Bikeman has found a place of honor on my bookshelf, and it is a book that I cannot recommend highly enough.
September 16, 2014
Kenny Lu
Sept. 11, 2014
English 8 Period F
-Bikeman by Thomas F. Flynn
-Thomas Flynn, a journalist and firsthand witness of the attack on the World Trade Center
-In a series of poems, Thomas Flynn describes his experience on that “forever September morning”. What started out as a bike ride to cover the attack continued as one tower fell and Thomas found himself caught in the middle of the death and destruction. With only his bike to keep himself in reality, Thomas has to keep moving forward through the wake of the tragedy in order to deliver his story of the things he saw on that day. As he continues to watch, what was before a large, singular mass has turned into many individuals, dead and alive, each with their own regrets and decisions.
-As the South Tower collapses, Thomas is trapped in a tomb disguised as a sanctuary and suddenly finds the time to contemplate the immediate reality of his situation and the specifics of what he just saw. As he roams free, he earns himself the title of bikeman, and shuffles out of the remains as the other tower falls and more die.
-I liked this book the most out of the summer reading. I especially enjoyed the moment where Mr. Flynn takes the time to focus on the different people he sees in the towers and emphasize with them. He defines the differences in those trapped, the Wall Street thief, the banker from India, the man in the wheelchair. All of them with so many stories, yet all those stories end the same way: a short prayer, a long fall, and then impact. Then he moves on to describe his fear of becoming like one of them. Trapped inside a parking garage after the first tower collapse, hope rapidly leaves him as he struggles to find his way home, all the while keeping a hold of his bike. I feel that the poems did a better job of describing the horror and of illustrating the sheer meaning behind everything than a normal book would have.
Sept. 11, 2014
English 8 Period F
-Bikeman by Thomas F. Flynn
-Thomas Flynn, a journalist and firsthand witness of the attack on the World Trade Center
-In a series of poems, Thomas Flynn describes his experience on that “forever September morning”. What started out as a bike ride to cover the attack continued as one tower fell and Thomas found himself caught in the middle of the death and destruction. With only his bike to keep himself in reality, Thomas has to keep moving forward through the wake of the tragedy in order to deliver his story of the things he saw on that day. As he continues to watch, what was before a large, singular mass has turned into many individuals, dead and alive, each with their own regrets and decisions.
-As the South Tower collapses, Thomas is trapped in a tomb disguised as a sanctuary and suddenly finds the time to contemplate the immediate reality of his situation and the specifics of what he just saw. As he roams free, he earns himself the title of bikeman, and shuffles out of the remains as the other tower falls and more die.
-I liked this book the most out of the summer reading. I especially enjoyed the moment where Mr. Flynn takes the time to focus on the different people he sees in the towers and emphasize with them. He defines the differences in those trapped, the Wall Street thief, the banker from India, the man in the wheelchair. All of them with so many stories, yet all those stories end the same way: a short prayer, a long fall, and then impact. Then he moves on to describe his fear of becoming like one of them. Trapped inside a parking garage after the first tower collapse, hope rapidly leaves him as he struggles to find his way home, all the while keeping a hold of his bike. I feel that the poems did a better job of describing the horror and of illustrating the sheer meaning behind everything than a normal book would have.
Read
September 15, 2014Bikeman, by Thomas F. Flynn
The main character of the book is “Bikeman” himself. Bikeman is also the narrator of the story. He gets this name from a minor character, Avi, who is stuck in the parking garage with Bikeman. He tries to help find a way out and refers to the narrator as bikeman because he wouldn’t abandon his bike when running from the tower
The book starts with Bikeman introducing the book. he says “like Ishmael a survivor of the sea of doom, I return to tell this tale.” already setting up the book to be about a horrible event. He then explains how he was just going about his normal business on a normal morning when a plane flew oddly low. He didn’t realize it was a clue of what was to happen. when the second tower was hit he knew something was going on so instinctively he decided to go see what was going on at the world trade center. He gets on his bike and goes straight towards the towers. When he finally gets there he sees the towers are engulfed in flames. He sees people jumping to their death from the top floors. As he runs away, an ambulance man says, “I suggest you leave that behind.” but bike man refuses because he believes that it will take him home. when he takes shelter in a parking garage, he is trapped under the rubble of the towers. he believes that he will die in there as he is suffocating.
The conflict of the book is that the world trade center has been hit by two planes. Bikeman goes to a parking garage for safety but is trapped under the rubble of the towers. The resolution is that a window is found that provides fresh air, and an exit. bikeman then follows the river home.
I liked the book “Bikeman” because of its unique format. It is an epic poem. Each poem has a different theme
The main character of the book is “Bikeman” himself. Bikeman is also the narrator of the story. He gets this name from a minor character, Avi, who is stuck in the parking garage with Bikeman. He tries to help find a way out and refers to the narrator as bikeman because he wouldn’t abandon his bike when running from the tower
The book starts with Bikeman introducing the book. he says “like Ishmael a survivor of the sea of doom, I return to tell this tale.” already setting up the book to be about a horrible event. He then explains how he was just going about his normal business on a normal morning when a plane flew oddly low. He didn’t realize it was a clue of what was to happen. when the second tower was hit he knew something was going on so instinctively he decided to go see what was going on at the world trade center. He gets on his bike and goes straight towards the towers. When he finally gets there he sees the towers are engulfed in flames. He sees people jumping to their death from the top floors. As he runs away, an ambulance man says, “I suggest you leave that behind.” but bike man refuses because he believes that it will take him home. when he takes shelter in a parking garage, he is trapped under the rubble of the towers. he believes that he will die in there as he is suffocating.
The conflict of the book is that the world trade center has been hit by two planes. Bikeman goes to a parking garage for safety but is trapped under the rubble of the towers. The resolution is that a window is found that provides fresh air, and an exit. bikeman then follows the river home.
I liked the book “Bikeman” because of its unique format. It is an epic poem. Each poem has a different theme
Read
October 28, 2014-The epic Bikeman was written by Thomas F. Flynn in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York City but composed and published years later.
-The central character of this story is:
Thomas F. Flynn ( Bike Man)
However, these poems were not written and published to focus on one man’s story, but rather to chronicle an entire community, city, country’s timeless tale of strength and honor.
Bikeman is a collection of poems recording the experience, emotion, and sheer destruction that Thomas F. Flynn witnessed on September 11, 2001.
-This collection of well written and detailed poems is an account of Flynn’s thoughts on that day, as his curiosity gets the best of him and he rides his bike down to the World Trade Towers, placing him in a series of death defying situations, yet enabling him to create such a unique chronicle of the crisis that shook America.
-I probably would not have chosen to read this book had it not been for my meeting Mr. Flynn, when he came to my school to discuss Bikeman in the context of the unit on 911 we were studying at that time. His description of the events that took place that day and how the experience had changed his life forever inspired me to read his book. I have never read or heard of a book that is so powerful and yet is so simply written. The stories of the people he met that day are haunting and heart wrenching. This book will inspire readers for many generations.
By Patrick Bates
-The central character of this story is:
Thomas F. Flynn ( Bike Man)
However, these poems were not written and published to focus on one man’s story, but rather to chronicle an entire community, city, country’s timeless tale of strength and honor.
Bikeman is a collection of poems recording the experience, emotion, and sheer destruction that Thomas F. Flynn witnessed on September 11, 2001.
-This collection of well written and detailed poems is an account of Flynn’s thoughts on that day, as his curiosity gets the best of him and he rides his bike down to the World Trade Towers, placing him in a series of death defying situations, yet enabling him to create such a unique chronicle of the crisis that shook America.
-I probably would not have chosen to read this book had it not been for my meeting Mr. Flynn, when he came to my school to discuss Bikeman in the context of the unit on 911 we were studying at that time. His description of the events that took place that day and how the experience had changed his life forever inspired me to read his book. I have never read or heard of a book that is so powerful and yet is so simply written. The stories of the people he met that day are haunting and heart wrenching. This book will inspire readers for many generations.
By Patrick Bates
Read
September 14, 2014Thomas F Flynn wrote the book bike man.
The main characters in the book is bike man.
Bike Man is a book about one mans experience with 9/11.
Bike Man is journalist who was eager to know why a plane was flying so low. Bike man never leaves his bike. He got that nickname from a new friend that he met on that very day of 9/11 while running all over the place.
Bike man leaves his house to go uptown to see what is going on and has an amazing and terrifying journey through the events of 9/11. He go's all over the place running from the falling towers and much more. You never know what is going to happen.
The conflict was that he was in New York right in front of the twin towers when they fell. He had to run as fast as he could and made a friend along the way they got out but there was a second conflict which is the biggest. They got stuck In a parking garage. They felt the walls till they found an opening.
I liked the book because it was very interesting and it had action that never stopped. You never knew what was going to happen next. Bike man is a book that I would recommend to any one I knew. Bike man is a 5 star book from my perspective.
The main characters in the book is bike man.
Bike Man is a book about one mans experience with 9/11.
Bike Man is journalist who was eager to know why a plane was flying so low. Bike man never leaves his bike. He got that nickname from a new friend that he met on that very day of 9/11 while running all over the place.
Bike man leaves his house to go uptown to see what is going on and has an amazing and terrifying journey through the events of 9/11. He go's all over the place running from the falling towers and much more. You never know what is going to happen.
The conflict was that he was in New York right in front of the twin towers when they fell. He had to run as fast as he could and made a friend along the way they got out but there was a second conflict which is the biggest. They got stuck In a parking garage. They felt the walls till they found an opening.
I liked the book because it was very interesting and it had action that never stopped. You never knew what was going to happen next. Bike man is a book that I would recommend to any one I knew. Bike man is a 5 star book from my perspective.
September 12, 2014
Bikeman an epic poem by Thomas Flynn is a great book about 9/11 and about the events that followed. It's about this ordinary New Yorker named Thomas Flynn who is biking to work and out of nowhere he sees the planes hit the World Trade Center. It is such an ecellent story and it's also very sad. Thomas Flynn is so good at describing and relating the events to other objects in his poems. His titles are creative and each tell a different part about 9/11.You know this is the real deal when he gets trapped in a parking garage and has to get out. He is trying to process throughout the book what is happening and if his friends are ok. It's so crazy just to think waking up one morning and biking to work and then out of nowhere the World Trade Center is attacked and destroyed right in front of your eyes. It's also very sad cause he knows some of his friends were probably killed in the attack. This is by far one of the best books I've read because it just shows how much fear and pain went through his mind and his personal account on what happend that day.
September 18, 2014
-Bikeman by. Thomas Flynn
-The main character in this epic poem is Tohmas Flynn from a first person perspective.
-The epic poem Bikeman is the first person experience of a journalist during 9/11. Tohmas Flynn ( the journalist) is sitting on his deck on the morning of 9/11, when he here's a roar right over his house in Greenwich village in New York. He immediately knows that it is a plain, and that it is not just a coincidence that the plain is flying right over the middle of NYC and speeding up instead of slowing down and trying to turn. He immediately grabs his bike and heads over to ground zero to check out what is going on and to interview people at the crash sight.
- The conflict of this epic Poem is the plains crashing into the twin towers, and the resolution is New York comes together stronger than before at a time of great anguish.
- I liked this poem because it had great metaphorical statements in it and it really painted a picture in my head how it felt to be in NYC during 9/11 and what it looked like in NYC during 9/11.
By. Matthew Crispi
-The main character in this epic poem is Tohmas Flynn from a first person perspective.
-The epic poem Bikeman is the first person experience of a journalist during 9/11. Tohmas Flynn ( the journalist) is sitting on his deck on the morning of 9/11, when he here's a roar right over his house in Greenwich village in New York. He immediately knows that it is a plain, and that it is not just a coincidence that the plain is flying right over the middle of NYC and speeding up instead of slowing down and trying to turn. He immediately grabs his bike and heads over to ground zero to check out what is going on and to interview people at the crash sight.
- The conflict of this epic Poem is the plains crashing into the twin towers, and the resolution is New York comes together stronger than before at a time of great anguish.
- I liked this poem because it had great metaphorical statements in it and it really painted a picture in my head how it felt to be in NYC during 9/11 and what it looked like in NYC during 9/11.
By. Matthew Crispi
September 16, 2014
-Bikeman written by Thomas F. Flynn
- He is the main character of his own novel.
-It was just another day for him, until the north tower of the World Trade Center was struck.He began to ride down to the World Trade Center on his bike, in order to witness the north tower fully engulfed in flames. Soon after, he had realized that this attack was not an accident, noticing that the south tower was also hit. The attack turned into one of the most horrific events in our nations history.
- He had to face so many problems including, debris,dust ,smoke but he is alive which means that he got through it and is okay.
-This book was personally one of my favorite books. I say that because I have never read a book based on the events of 9/11 that has a viewpoint from a reporter that was determined enough to fulfill his job and list incredible pieces of information, while around an atrocious attack.
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September 14, 2014Bikeman, by Thomas. F. Flynn
Main character: Bikeman
Bikeman is an epic poem that Thomas Flynn writes from his own personal experiences from 9/11. In the beginning he is riding his bike towards the twin towers on a bright sunny day. When the plane hits its chaos in New York City, he describes what he went through, and the fear that he felt about this catastrophic event.
On Thomas’s way through New York City he encounters many tragedies, and by his amazing descriptive language, you feel like you are there experiencing it with him. He uses such great poetry when he describes the people jumping out the windows of the building.. He says “That one who finally gives up, who leaps from the fiery window…her desk mate, now death mate.” At some parts I might have even shed a tear.
Overall, this book was a pleasure for me to read. I would definitely recommend it to others, especially people who don’t know much about 9/11.
Main character: Bikeman
Bikeman is an epic poem that Thomas Flynn writes from his own personal experiences from 9/11. In the beginning he is riding his bike towards the twin towers on a bright sunny day. When the plane hits its chaos in New York City, he describes what he went through, and the fear that he felt about this catastrophic event.
On Thomas’s way through New York City he encounters many tragedies, and by his amazing descriptive language, you feel like you are there experiencing it with him. He uses such great poetry when he describes the people jumping out the windows of the building.. He says “That one who finally gives up, who leaps from the fiery window…her desk mate, now death mate.” At some parts I might have even shed a tear.
Overall, this book was a pleasure for me to read. I would definitely recommend it to others, especially people who don’t know much about 9/11.
September 16, 2014
Mark Gertsen
English C
September 13, 2014
Summer Book Review
This summer I had to read a book called Bikeman, which was written by Thomas Flynn.
The main character in this book is Flynn himself, as he writes about his experience with 9/11.
Bikeman is about a CBS journalist who encounters the tragic event of 9/11. Flynn vividly describes all that he saw and came across in great detail during the event. Trying to escape the crumbling towers, he finds sanctuary in a parking garage. Suddenly he realizes he is tapped and needs to escape in order to stay alive.
I liked this book because Flynn helped me understand what it was like for someone who experienced 9/11, and this is important to me because I have always wanted to see 9/11 and its impact on someone else, and Bikeman helped me do that. However, I would have preffered if the book was written as a story because I would have been able to follow along and understand the book better.
English C
September 13, 2014
Summer Book Review
This summer I had to read a book called Bikeman, which was written by Thomas Flynn.
The main character in this book is Flynn himself, as he writes about his experience with 9/11.
Bikeman is about a CBS journalist who encounters the tragic event of 9/11. Flynn vividly describes all that he saw and came across in great detail during the event. Trying to escape the crumbling towers, he finds sanctuary in a parking garage. Suddenly he realizes he is tapped and needs to escape in order to stay alive.
I liked this book because Flynn helped me understand what it was like for someone who experienced 9/11, and this is important to me because I have always wanted to see 9/11 and its impact on someone else, and Bikeman helped me do that. However, I would have preffered if the book was written as a story because I would have been able to follow along and understand the book better.
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September 15, 2014Curtis Camp
English 8
9/14/14
-Bike Man by Tom Flyn
- Tom is an ordinary cyclist that experiences a tragedy
- Tom is an ordinary cyclist that happens to ride his bicycle towards the twin towers on the horrific date 9/11. Through the story/poem Tom witnesses the tragedy of 9/11 on his bike riding threw the dust of the twin towers.
- The conflict of this story are the twin towers falling and thousands of lives falling with them. The resolution to this horror is the escape of new york and returning to a safe place.
-I think Bike Man is a great book that tells the story of 9/11 very well through poetry, but I also think it is a very depressing book as well. Also poetry and horror are both not regular reads for me and also there was little excitement sense I already knew the ending since I found out it was about 911. But still, it was a good book for what it was meant to talk about. if i were to rate it i would give it three stars.
English 8
9/14/14
-Bike Man by Tom Flyn
- Tom is an ordinary cyclist that experiences a tragedy
- Tom is an ordinary cyclist that happens to ride his bicycle towards the twin towers on the horrific date 9/11. Through the story/poem Tom witnesses the tragedy of 9/11 on his bike riding threw the dust of the twin towers.
- The conflict of this story are the twin towers falling and thousands of lives falling with them. The resolution to this horror is the escape of new york and returning to a safe place.
-I think Bike Man is a great book that tells the story of 9/11 very well through poetry, but I also think it is a very depressing book as well. Also poetry and horror are both not regular reads for me and also there was little excitement sense I already knew the ending since I found out it was about 911. But still, it was a good book for what it was meant to talk about. if i were to rate it i would give it three stars.
September 16, 2014
.The book Bikeman was written by Thomas F. Flynn
. The main character is The bikeman/ Thomas Flynn
. Thomas Flynn, a journalist who works in New York, rides his bike towards the World Trade Center after the second plane hits. He faces many challenges as he tries to escape. Thomas Flynn see's and describes the horrors he faced. He is angry and confused at the events unfolding before him.
. As the towers start to tumble to the ground Thomas Flynn tries to remain alive as the debris is launched " like mortars," as he puts it. "Bikeman" tries desperately with just a handful of people to escape with his life... And his bike. Thomas Flynn is forced to block out all of the terrible sights and think clearly to survive.
.I like Bikeman because it was interesting to read a first hand experience of the World Trade Center attack expressed in this way. Thomas Flynn explains his feelings and memories in the form of poetry.
September 18, 2014
Bikeman by Thomas Flynn
In the book, the main character is Thomas Flynn from a first person perspective. Writing about his experience from 9/11. The book is an epic poem. That all explain the story from his point of view. When the first plane hit the South Tower, Thomas rode his bike to the scene and got a camera to interview people. He knew that the first plane was on purpose because the plane was not attempting to turn away and was going directly toward the towers. As the tragedy was happening Thomas was watching, not running away from the disaster. Even though he is a reporter and he has been to many bad places he says that this one was the hardest. But I think it would be easier to understand if it was more of a story. I didn't enjoy this book very much. That's why I gave this book three stars.
In the book, the main character is Thomas Flynn from a first person perspective. Writing about his experience from 9/11. The book is an epic poem. That all explain the story from his point of view. When the first plane hit the South Tower, Thomas rode his bike to the scene and got a camera to interview people. He knew that the first plane was on purpose because the plane was not attempting to turn away and was going directly toward the towers. As the tragedy was happening Thomas was watching, not running away from the disaster. Even though he is a reporter and he has been to many bad places he says that this one was the hardest. But I think it would be easier to understand if it was more of a story. I didn't enjoy this book very much. That's why I gave this book three stars.
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September 23, 2014Pamela Jaramillo
English D
9-17-18
Over the summer, I read the book entitled “Bikeman” by Thomas F. Flynn. Bikeman, is different from other books because it’s a poem book. In the book there is only one main character, Thomas F. Flynn. The author explains the tragic events of 911 through his lens. When doing so he uses key details. On one monday morning Flynn went on a bike ride towards the World Trade Center. He clearly didn’t know what he was going to encounter. It was his ride into “hell and back”. We experience everything with him from watching the towers fall, to hiding out. This book is both powerful and heartbreaking. One of the many reasons why I enjoyed it was because of it’s descriptive details. When I was reading it I was living it with him. It was somehow like traveling back in time and being there. It frightened me, but in the end, it was a great experience.
English D
9-17-18
Over the summer, I read the book entitled “Bikeman” by Thomas F. Flynn. Bikeman, is different from other books because it’s a poem book. In the book there is only one main character, Thomas F. Flynn. The author explains the tragic events of 911 through his lens. When doing so he uses key details. On one monday morning Flynn went on a bike ride towards the World Trade Center. He clearly didn’t know what he was going to encounter. It was his ride into “hell and back”. We experience everything with him from watching the towers fall, to hiding out. This book is both powerful and heartbreaking. One of the many reasons why I enjoyed it was because of it’s descriptive details. When I was reading it I was living it with him. It was somehow like traveling back in time and being there. It frightened me, but in the end, it was a great experience.
February 28, 2013
Bikeman is an amazing "narrative poem" about being in Lower Manhattan on the day of 9/11. Thomas Flynn is able to capture the nuances and emotions of the day without being sensationalistic, shrill, or self-aggrandizing. He is instead able to take an “anyman” point of view and depict what it was like to be in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty of that morning without resorting to hyperbole or trivializing it with a political slant.
There are allusions to Dante's Inferno and while it may not be in the same scope as Odyssey or Iliad, as foreword suggests, it is indeed in same league as a poem by Whitman, Frost, or Angelou in capturing and distilling the essence of the day.
There are allusions to Dante's Inferno and while it may not be in the same scope as Odyssey or Iliad, as foreword suggests, it is indeed in same league as a poem by Whitman, Frost, or Angelou in capturing and distilling the essence of the day.
April 17, 2012
9/15/08 - Not generally being a reader of poetry, I'm not sure that I can give this book a good objective review. It's a quick read -- you can easily read it in one brief sitting, which is probably the way you should read something such as this. I think perhaps I was hoping for something more, although I'm not sure I can put into words what exactly that was. It's a nice, somewhat superficial view of what an observer on the fringes witnessed & experienced on the day we infamously call "9/11", but I found myself disappointed, wanting more details of this sad day in history.
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September 26, 2008Bikeman, by Tg=homas F. Flynn is an epic poem written by a journalist living in Lower Manhattan. On 9/11/2001 he heard the first plane as it passed over his building on the way to the WTC. He got on his bike and traveled to the area. This 75-ish page evocative poem tells of what he saw and felt. Most especially, he gave dignity to the people who died in front of his eyes, sailing through the air.
December 22, 2009
This little book tells a tale that really packs a punch. The heart-rending details that Flynn shares do such a good job of removing the 9-11 story from its iconic images. And of reminding those of us who weren't there that there were horrifying sights, sounds, and smells that the television couldn't possibly convey. There were times that I wanted a little more detail than the poetic form allowed for.
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October 2, 2014On the morning of September 11th, 2001, after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, journalist Thomas F. Flynn
"Hastily, and with a purpose,
[loaded] the journalist's tools:
pen, note pad, phone, into a bag"
and got on a bicycle and rode to the Twin Towers. There, rather than simply reporting on a story, he became part of it. This moving book of poetry, inspired by both Flynn's experience and Dante's Inferno, is the result.
Recommended by Brita
December 31, 2016
In his introduction to this book, Flynn compares surviving the fall of the Twin Towers and journeying through the aftermath of that tragedy, to the plight of Dante in the Inferno. That might be an apt analogy, but as a poet, Flynn is no Dante. Often times overblown--so that he melodramatizes a drama that needs neither exaggeration nor sentimentalization--these poems are a chronicle of a journalist, not a poet.
December 1, 2008
Outstanding! I was scared that an "epic poem" would be beyond me, but Mr. Flynn's depiction of the events of 9/11 are told so well in that style! It will be a Christmas present for several family members!
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