There are several books out now, and a couple of documentary films, about New Orleans; I will be reading Dave Eggers' Zeitoun soon; it might be a good way into this history and a nice follow up to Skloot because it's about a single family and what happened to them.
Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.
I think others here were interested in Zeitoun, too. Not sure if I'll have time with all my other commitments but will see if I can find a copy just in case. It is a good time to look back at that horrendous event.
ReplyDeleteNice interview with Spike Lee here:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/spike-lee-returns-to-new-orleans-for-if-god-is-willing-and-da-creek-dont-rise/
I read Zeitoun a few months back and found it very interesting. Eggers pretty much sticks with the family, following the harrowing situation that ensued with Zeitoun lost in the Lousiana penal system following the hurricane. One of the threads in Treme seemed to parallel this situation, but I imagine many persons were lost in the shuffle that ensued. Look back in the archives, carol, for comments.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't brought myself to read Brinkley's The Great Deluge.
I received it for Christmas last year and read it soon after. Zeitoun and his family went through hell!
ReplyDeleteHere you go Carol,
ReplyDeletehttp://am-perspectives.blogspot.com/2009/12/zeitoun.html#comments
Thanks, Gintaras. Zeitoun is going to be the "One City, One Book" in SF this Fall. (The choice always seems to be some Bay area author; we have a lot of them, although perhaps not in the first rank, except perhaps in genre fiction.)
ReplyDeleteMarti, it seems that many books are about people going through hell of one sort or another; could it be that it is more interesting than heaven?
Rachel Maddow did a great show from New Orleans on Friday that you can watch here -- at least until Monday p.m.:
ReplyDeleterachel.msnbc.com
I guess it depends on where you want to go with New Orleans, but The Year Before the Flood is getting rave reviews. Ned Sublette is a musicologist and loves cultural history. He also wrote a previous overall history of the city entitled The World That Made New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteCampenella's Bienville's Dilemma also sounds very interesting,
http://blog.nola.com/susanlarson/2008/11/richard_campanella_chronicles.html
"Zeitoun" keeps the suspense/tension level up and zips right along--trying not to grind my teeth too loudly when reading on the train to/from work.
ReplyDeleteGintaras" Hope you'll post when/if you get a chance to see "When the Levees Broke." Am putting "Treme" DVD on my C'mas list (but not planning on going back to HBO for the Scorsese 1920's Atlantic City venture with Steve Buscemi, though a co-worker says they paid particular attention to the period music in it.)