The Days of Awe.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

The Days of Awe HUGH NISSENSON. Sourcebooks Landmark, $18 (320p) ISBN 1-4022-0551-1

The national tragedy of 9/11 collides with the personal tragedy of a Manhattan book illustrator. Artie Rubin, 67, lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, Johanna; the first half of the book deals with the ordinary details of love, work and sex in later life. At the attack on the World Trade Center midbook, Nissenson broadens the scope to include friends, acquaintances and characters who get caught in the attacks, including a man who jumps from one of the towers while talking to his fiancee, as a former romantic rival, who missed …