This book, which is unlike any other in our literature, was written during the three months following September 11, 2001. The editor wanted to catch the first, passionate reactions of many of our finest creative writers to a matrix of grievous events that would continue to intensify in the American memory as have few others. In September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond , more than 125 fiction writers, poets, and essayists are seized in ways that often surprise themselves; together they offer a revelation of our collective psyche during a perilous time.