A wonderful account, beautifully narrated

I watched the film, and decided to listen to the book account. It is very detailed account of the background of the pilot and it's influence on the actions taken by him on the flight 1549

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A funny thing happens on the way . . .

You will like this if you saw the film. A mixture of personal and public reminiscence of the pilot who achieved the famous rescue of US Airways flight 1549 which landed on the Hudson River after having its engines destroyed by birds. I listened because I had enjoyed the film though Clint Eastwood who directed it felt obliged to put in some unnecessary conflict by suggesting that the subsequent investigation was much more adversarial than it was. Sully himself says nothing of this so if you liked it for the court scenes the book will be disappointing. If you are interested in the technical details of the landing, you will find much of it irrelevant. 
That said, it was an excellent listen for me, giving me enough to understand better what happened, combined with much insightful revelation of the captain as a human person with a life and a great deal of  interesting background which led him to be in that plane on the fateful day. The bare narrative is gripping, but also a bonus is that Sully himself is more insightful than I expected. One significant aspect of his life is only revealed towards the end which I won't spoil. It told me most about his motivation that day. His parents brought him up with values of public duty and service, and he himself comes over as a man who values competence and the hard work necessary to develop the skills which confer competence. He is a family man, just as keen to get home to the wife and kids as the passengers - people who have done fear of flying courses tell me that this is an emphasised aspect of flying. Don't imagine the pilot doesn't care about getting home, they say! Sully not only wants to get home but wants every single one of his passengers to do so.  And I liked the way he points out that the value of the aircraft was not his main concern!
He takes the opportunity, rightly, to defend and promote the airline business and to make important points about cost-cutting and their effect on safety. Once flying became the norm, this factor devalued it in the minds of passengers, who take much for granted and think little about what it takes to get us home. 
It is a little over-padded with biographical reminiscences but this did not deter me. The reader, Jeffrey Zaslow, I presume a professional reader, becomes rather sing-song and monotonous after a while, and Sully himself takes over towards the last chapters, and is in a way more listenable to for his genuineness. It was interesting how the different reading voices changed my view of Sully's character. Recommended.

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Really enjoyable

It was a great privilege to listen to Capt. Sully story. I have worked as ground handling staff at City of Derry Airport and safety is the number one thing that part of everyday day life in an airport. I since left aviation industry but I love it!

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Inspiring story.

Well told and well read. It is the honesty and humility along with the gripping narrative that keeps you engaged with the story.

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An absolute must !!

Being in the Aviation industry myself I found this book incredible, what Sully and his crew achieved in ditching the aircraft in the Hudson has to go down as one of life’s greatest stories, powerful moving and heroic, this man and his crew, the passengers, the rescue teams in NYC pulled together as one. I recommend this book to anyone, its an absolute must, read and delivered superbly, Please Sully write more books !!

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An epic experience

I found this fascinating as I have seen the film & I thought this book was going to b the story as told in the film - but the in depth background of this brilliant man's reasoning really opened my eyes to what career pilots have to take on their shoulders every time they fly. I recommended the book to my book club for June & we also have a DVD evening every 6 months which is tonight - needless to say we r watching "SULLY" which will b gr8 4 everyone to know what actually followed after the landing - which is not detailed in the book.

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truly amazing

awesome listening to this book.
I found it inspiring and informative.
a amazing story of love of a job and a amazing life story coming to a critical end and a amazing outcome that nobody could have predicted.

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