Book Review: The Woman Who Wasn't There By Robin Gaby Fisher And Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr

I recently received a copy of the new book The Woman Who Wasn't There: The True Story Of An Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr to review.


September 11th, 2011: Most of us have a memory of where we were on this tragic day in American history. For me, it was my first day off in over a month, and I had headed over to my grandmother's to zone out, watch some Jerry Springer, and laugh at the idiots who were dumb enough to go on TV. Except... when I turned on the TV, it wasn't what I had expected, and I was shocked at what I saw that day - like all of us were.

Tania Head was standing in the 78th floor Sky Lobby of the World Trade Center when United Airlines Flight 175 flew directly into it. She was knocked out by the impact, in pain, and her right arm was almost completely ripped off her body. Somehow, she managed to make her way through the carnage to safety, and struggled with the haunting memories of what she had seen from that day forward. Even worse was the knowledge that her fiancee Dave was among the missing, and later received confirmation that he was among the dead. By 2003, her story traveled through the survivors community as a tale of courage and sorrow. She became the face of the tragedy, the ultimate survivor of a heartbreaking story, and the president of the World Trade Center Survivors Network in 2006.

You have goosebumps reading Tara's story, don't you? Are you asking yourself if you'd have the courage to make it down those 78 flights of stairs, hearing the screams, smelling the smoke, not knowing where you're going? I wonder if I would. If Tara could do it, I hope I could do it.

Except Tania never did it. Her entire story was a fabrication of lies. Dave existed, yes, but there was no proof that he actually knew who she was.

If this makes you want to throw up, you're not alone. The Woman Who Wasn't There was written with Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr, who Tania had approached to make a documentary about the survivors of 9/11. He filmed hours of interview footage with her. Eventually though, she was caught in her web of lies as her story began to crumble. Even worse? She wasn't even in the country on 9/11!

The Woman Who Wasn't There shows the holes in Tania's story, beginning with the background of everything she told about her relationship with Dave and the months leading up to 9/11, and finishing up with the aftermath of the deception. Like a train wreck you can't stop looking at, that is this book. You don't know whether to be horrified that a human being could do such a thing, or angry at being duped - all you can say it that it's a despicable thing of this woman to have done, and thank goodness she was outed.

The Woman Who Wasn't There: The True Story Of An Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr is a hardcover true crime/biography book published by Touchtone. It is 304 pages long. The suggested cover price is $26.00, but Amazon has it available for $17.16 as of this posting. It is also available as an e-book for the Kindle and other e-readers.

I received a copy of this book in order to read it and share my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own, and not that of the author(s) or publisher.