The snow that began falling on Thanksgiving Eve added an extra magic to the spectacular, new sixty-six-storey high-rise known as the Glass House. It dominated the skyline: the latest triumph of modern architecture and engineering. But unnoticed, deep within it, a tiny spark flared and grew into a raging inferno that changed the lives of the hundreds who lived or worked in the building - as well as the architect who designed it, the contractors who built it, the newsman who first warned of its dangers and the firemen compelled to risk their lives because of one man's greed and misjudgement. This and a similar book, The Tower by Richard Martin Stern, were being turned into competing film adaptations when Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox decided to pool their resources and combine the stories into one epic film The Towering Inferno which became the box office No 1 of 1974. The Glass Inferno features many of the characters of the movie including the characters played by Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson and ones very similar to those portrayed by Paul Newman, William Holden and Robert Wagner. Several plot elements were also featured in the film, however, there are enough twists, turns and differences to make the book described as 'a ride on an out of control roller coaster.'