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A review by oclairej
Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum
3.0
Nine lives is the true story of New Orleans, specifically 9 very unique residents from all different social and economic status. It begins with the devestating Hurricane Betsy and comes to modern day (~2007) with the characters.
Although the book is choppy and hard to follow at times due to the organization and cutting in and out of each of the 9 people's lives, the story becomes more and more interesting as the book winds on. The first hand accounts of Hurricane Katrina are both riveting and appauling.
The book does a great job of capturing the cultural and the things that make New Orleans so unique (the Kings of Carnival and Mardi Gras details, the attitude of people, the race relations etc.). I would give it four stars if it weren't for the organization problem (I found myself flipping back during the first 75 pages tryhing to remember the characters and what was happening to them. However, the story does eventually pull you in and you do feel connected to each character.
I'm going to NOLA on vaction soon and it was a great book to really introduce me to the people of NOLA.
Although the book is choppy and hard to follow at times due to the organization and cutting in and out of each of the 9 people's lives, the story becomes more and more interesting as the book winds on. The first hand accounts of Hurricane Katrina are both riveting and appauling.
The book does a great job of capturing the cultural and the things that make New Orleans so unique (the Kings of Carnival and Mardi Gras details, the attitude of people, the race relations etc.). I would give it four stars if it weren't for the organization problem (I found myself flipping back during the first 75 pages tryhing to remember the characters and what was happening to them. However, the story does eventually pull you in and you do feel connected to each character.
I'm going to NOLA on vaction soon and it was a great book to really introduce me to the people of NOLA.