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lilredkmd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
somanybookstoread's review against another edition
4.0
The audience for this book is the people of New Orleans. I liked that about it. The author didn't write to make outsiders understand this very special place. He wrote this for New Orleans. Readers who aren't from New Orleans or don't know it intimately will sometimes struggle with his geographical or cultural references. I've decided that I'm glad I was made to feel like an outsider who couldn't quite understand what he was talking about. Because I am. Despite having been close to the forefront of Hurricane Sandy, I will never be able to understand what it means to be from New Orleans and have experienced Katrina.
Chris Rose's 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina is a collection of his columns from the Times-Picayune written in the roughly one year period post-Katrina. These columns, which made him a finalist for the Pulitzer, serve as a series of vignettes that, when taken together, give profound insight into the psyche of a place obliterated by a Category 5 hurricane. New Orleans is dear to me. I love the spirit and culture and history of this place. All that shone through in Rose's work. As a writer myself, I admire his prose, which is tight, witty, provocative (if at times a bit self-serving).
To anyone interested in New Orleans and Katrina, this is one to add to your to-read shelf!
Chris Rose's 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina is a collection of his columns from the Times-Picayune written in the roughly one year period post-Katrina. These columns, which made him a finalist for the Pulitzer, serve as a series of vignettes that, when taken together, give profound insight into the psyche of a place obliterated by a Category 5 hurricane. New Orleans is dear to me. I love the spirit and culture and history of this place. All that shone through in Rose's work. As a writer myself, I admire his prose, which is tight, witty, provocative (if at times a bit self-serving).
To anyone interested in New Orleans and Katrina, this is one to add to your to-read shelf!
gjones19's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting read because Katrina was a significant moment in my childhood. His writing is fantastic, and the short reflections are fun to read. It was a bit long and Rose sometimes played into class stereotypes, but overall I enjoyed it!
samalvarez823's review against another edition
4.0
Being from Louisiana, stories about Katrina will always have a piece of my heart. The tales of survival and death, are just interesting to me. You see, it wasn’t Katrina that hurt our bowl shaped city, it was caused by man made failures. Ie: Army Corps of Engineers.. Those levees failed the city of New Orleans that is already below sea level, those levees caused people to have to break through their attics to get to their roofs to survive.
We can also blame people for not evacuating when told to do so BUT, how many people do you know that would stay? After all, it had been years since a storm had touched Nola and what about those who didn’t have the funds to get out of dodge? So many factors contributed to the immeasurable amount of deaths from Katrina. This book is a compilation of Chris’ articles in the Times Picayune during the year after the storm. They’re chilling, their interesting, mind boggling at times and then at others, just remind me of all of those times we’ve endured storms and the time after. The time after when you’re without power, cooking all the food in your freezer on a charcoal grill before it goes bad.. Sitting around with nothing to do because, well yeah no power and its hot as hades in Louisiana especially with our humidity index..
I honestly enjoyed Chris’ view on the subject; his honesty, his frustration and his realness… Heres the thing, just because you don’t have immediate members of your family die in a horrific storm or lose your house, doesn’t mean you can’t end up with depression or ptsd over an event. Depression and anxiety can come at the craziest times. This story was good and I definitely recommend it. 4 stars for this hidden gem!
We can also blame people for not evacuating when told to do so BUT, how many people do you know that would stay? After all, it had been years since a storm had touched Nola and what about those who didn’t have the funds to get out of dodge? So many factors contributed to the immeasurable amount of deaths from Katrina. This book is a compilation of Chris’ articles in the Times Picayune during the year after the storm. They’re chilling, their interesting, mind boggling at times and then at others, just remind me of all of those times we’ve endured storms and the time after. The time after when you’re without power, cooking all the food in your freezer on a charcoal grill before it goes bad.. Sitting around with nothing to do because, well yeah no power and its hot as hades in Louisiana especially with our humidity index..
I honestly enjoyed Chris’ view on the subject; his honesty, his frustration and his realness… Heres the thing, just because you don’t have immediate members of your family die in a horrific storm or lose your house, doesn’t mean you can’t end up with depression or ptsd over an event. Depression and anxiety can come at the craziest times. This story was good and I definitely recommend it. 4 stars for this hidden gem!
maggieperrien's review against another edition
5.0
As sad it was to read, it was certainly worse to go through. I loved this book, because I think Chris Rose managed to write about one of the worst events in history in a way that only a true New Orleanian can appreciate.
toesinthesand's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of newspaper columns by the author in the year after Katrina. It's not a blow by blow of the storm or the days and weeks after, there are better books for that but you do get the sense of his deep love for his city. And if you have ever loved a place you've lived or visited. Not just liked it but felt it in your blood, you may appreciate this more. There are a lot of local references I didn't get but his comedic timing is great. He does suffer from mental health issues as a result of Katrina, like I'm sure so many did, but at least he admits he was lucky to not have lost anything or anyone. I think that was what bothered me in a way, he wasn't even in New Orleans during the storm but he can't stop obsessing over it upon his return. Imagine what people who spent days trapped in an attic must have felt.
brooke_review's review against another edition
3.0
I do get that this book was a compilation of Chris Rose's columns, but it could have been shorter with less rambling. Sometimes Rose would go on & on about things of no consequence except to himself. Yes, this is "his" story, but for all of us who do not have a column in the newspaper, it's our story too. Yes, it was very good in many parts, but it also starts to wear thin after a while.