Love 'em or hate 'em, there was no discounting the Twin Towers as the modern symbol of New York. Growing up in the outer borough of the Big Apple, you could see them from almost any rooftop in the metropolitan area and they lorded over southern Manhattan like sentries standing duty.

I could never imagine that I would outlive these gargantuan ingeminate structures. As solid as they seemed, sadly, they were no match for what destructive minds could conjure.

Any post-September 11 visitor to New York would likely have been as turned off by the cynical souvenir-mongering as moved by the stark site where the World Trade Center once stood.

One tasteful keepsake of these short-lived Manhattan landmarks is "The World Trade Center Remembered," a large paperback book of photographs by the husband-and-wife team of Sonja Bullaty and Angelo Lomeo, with text by Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for The New Yorker, published by Abbeville Press and available at all local bookshops for $19.95.

In this volume, which has the oversized but slim dimensions that echo the proportions of the towers themselves, the photographers examine the Twin Towers in every light, from every angle in every season. The result is that readers get a feel for just how ubiquitous these landmarks were in the city that never sleeps.

Thankfully lacking in photos of September 11, the book has one sole shot of the city's almost retro-looking skyline after the terrible event.

Golderberger's essay explores not only the history of the structures but also their significance, their symbolism to New Yorkers, to Americans and to people the world over; a significance that made them the perfect targets for those looking to strike at the heart of America.