All Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7)

Book Description

Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life-the shapeshifter Quinn-but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.

The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.

Customer Reviews:

Series does not get tired.......2007-10-16

I keep waiting for Charlaine Harris to get jaded, but Sookie and her world really develops nicely. While supernatural in content, Sookie remains blessedly human and keeps the reader grounded. Unlike other supernatural series, Sookie's powers does not evolve in leaps and bounds, and her resilience in the face of things outside mortal realm makes her a very engaging character. Not all heroines need a big gun or mind-blowing superpowers to be a strong character.

A New HBO Series????.......2007-10-15

Book#7 in the Southern Vampire series was worth waiting for! I checked out the author's website to learn more about her books and read that the series is going to be an HBO production! How AWESOME! Can't wait!!!!
Here's hoping for a book#8!!!

Series went on too long.......2007-10-08

Loved the first three books. Like the fourth. The last two have been terrible. It seems like she lost focus and should have ended the series after the fourth book. I'm probably in the minority- but I actually liked Bill and hoped they would get back together. It just seems like Sookie is depressed, tired and angry all the time. She also seems to keep going from loser to loser. I hope this is the end, if not I'm not sure I'll read more.

somebody's slipping..........2007-09-30

Sigh...it seems like all my favorite authors are slipping these days. I found her newest book to be slow and boring....the first one hundred pages is a baby shower (completely unrelated to the plot), a wedding that comes out of nowhere and seems to be going back to the same place, and contrived daliance in the bar with Bills new honey, some clothes shopping...it's all a day in the life and not well done, either. The meat of the plot, if you'll call it that, was lame and contrived and I sat through most of it saying "Don't you SEE! OMG, after 9/11 anyone in their right mind can see where the bombs are!" You don't have to be a frelling psychic! I won't say it was BAD, because even though boring, it was well written, but it sure wasn't good. If I'd actually paid money for this book, though, instead of hitting up the budget of my friendly neighborhood library I'd have been pretty ticked.

All Together Dead.......2007-09-28

Book 7 of the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris brings telepathic cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse to a vampire 'town meeting' that yields a tasty trial, romantic intrigue and radical-right anti-vamp attack. Oh, and Sookie is still surrounded by former or would-be lovers who want to make love, drink her blood, use her psychic gifts, or all of the above. Harris has crafted a character, a town, a world that her fans can't get enough of. Personally, I'd like to see her move a little faster on the 'Eric' front, but hey....choosing between a gladiator/ were-tiger and a thousand-year old Viking can't be easy! This isn't the best of the series, but it's a trueblood treat for those of us who love Sookie's Lopsided Louisiana otherworld.

The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
Vintage Robicheaux
Totally unbelievable
Haunting and heartbreaking
It is to weep

The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
James Lee Burke
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1416548483

Book Description

In the waning days of summer, 2005, a storm with greater impact than the bomb that struck Hiroshima peels the face off southern Louisiana.

This is the gruesome reality Iberia Parish Sheriff's Detective Dave Robicheaux discovers as he is deployed to New Orleans. As James Lee Burke's new novel, The Tin Roof Blowdown, begins, Hurricane Katrina has left the commercial district and residential neighborhoods awash with looters and predators of every stripe. The power grid of the city has been destroyed, New Orleans reduced to the level of a medieval society. There is no law, no order, no sanctuary for the infirm, the helpless, and the innocent. Bodies float in the streets and lie impaled on the branches of flooded trees. In the midst of an apocalyptical nightmare, Robicheaux must find two serial rapists, a morphine-addicted priest, and a vigilante who may be more dangerous than the criminals looting the city.

In a singular style that defies genre, James Lee Burke has created a hauntingly bleak picture of life in New Orleans after Katrina. Filled with complex characters and depictions of people at both their best and worst, The Tin Roof Blowdown is not only an action-packed crime thriller, but a poignant story of courage and sacrifice that critics are already calling Burke's best work.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-10-19

I love Mr Burke's writing. But in this story his interjections of his political statements are not only lies but they take away from the story.

Katrina was bad, but not the worst disaster in US history as he claims.

Nor were the body counts as high etc.

And I am not a Bush fan but blaming him for this disaster is bunk.....decades of Lousiana political corruption and the inability of LA citizens to vote in better officials is a much bigger part of the levees breaking.

The list goes on....

Do better Burke.

Vintage Robicheaux.......2007-10-17

I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading James Lee Burke's description of the colors and smells of -- rain, the bayou, the night air, everything.

His narrative holds together as always and has a great ending. It is made more poignant by the setting -- New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.

I do wish that Dave's wife and daughter were not always in danger in the Robicheaux series, but it happens here again. You can see it coming a mile away. The daughter is maturing nicely, as is his own, I hear.

Totally unbelievable.......2007-10-12

Oh, Mr. Burke. Why didn't you donate the profits from this book to the recovery efforts on New Orleans? I've heard of limo liberals but a cowboy liberal? What, Montana is your home now?
Our boy Dave is the most confused cop ever. He can persecute a man for both defending his wife and child and revenging the rape of his daughter but not when it's Dave's daughter? Now it's OK to shoot to kill?
Dave is unlike any police officer who has ever lived. In this novel he ignores all the lowlife crap he sees every day and goes by the book?
I am neither right wing or left wing and, in fact, deplore the polarization I see in today's politics which I suspect will eventually reduce our country to ruin, and which I read in Burke's book. So, Bush was responsible for Katrina? Not the centuries of corruption in New Orleans and Louisiana? And right wing Fox television is bad but not left wing CNN? It's making Dave into a bleeding heart liberal that offended me. And "Whitey" is the reason all those poor disadvantaged minority kids grew up into rapists and sadistic murderers?
Geez, Burke! I guess you see things different living on that million dollar ranch in Montana.
And the purple prose that runs through the book. Can you describe a bayou any more poetically?

Haunting and heartbreaking.......2007-10-10

Although the reviews would have you believe this book is about the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, don't kid yourself into thinking that this story starts and stops with the physical destruction caused by those storms. In the evocative language that is the hallmark of Burke's writing, he saturates the reader in a wide range of emotion from a cast of charismatic villains, victims, saints and sinners. The sheer scope of issues he covers is staggering: Besides the destruction of the storms and the willing complicity of our government in the ensuing loss of life, he acknowledges in heartrending clarity the degree of courage and humanity possessed by those who worked through their own losses and exhaustion to help those who needed it most. Beyond the immediate impact of the storms, Burke explores the results of parental cruelty and bigotry; he closely examines the angry protectiveness of parents whose children have been violated or threatened; he looks at the lifelong dependent and independent relationship of the child to the parent. He shows us that even the most degenerate person can be capable of great humanity, and yet irredeemable evil does still walk among us. Burke also touches on man's relationship to God in the midst of woes worthy of Job. (Does the missing priest for whom Detective Robicheaux searches represent nothing less than our own missing faith?). Just reading this book on the surface, it is outstanding crime fiction. But reading below the surface, Burke gives us so much more. This is the best book I've read in -- I don't know how long. It is a masterpiece of art, sociology, psychology, and political commentary. And, oh, yeah, it's a superlative piece of crime fiction. It demands to be read more than once in order to grasp the complexities that, frankly, are jam-packed into the story. Hovering like a sorrowful angel above the characters is Burke's passionate eulogy for NOLA and a culture we may never again witness. I wish I could give this book a crown of stars, not just amazon's five piddly ones.

It is to weep.......2007-10-09

A long time James Lee Burke fan, I read this book while waiting for a colonoscopy. Not only did it make me forget where I was, it made me weep three times.

A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club)

Average customer rating:

Reaches in and finds the soul
Good story for a young teenager
Death with Dignity
Sensitive Treatment of Heroism and Faith
powerful and heartwrenching......

A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club)
Ernest J. Gaines
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375702709
Release Date: 1997-09-28

Amazon.com

Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1997: In a small Cajun community in 1940s Louisiana, a young black man is about to go to the electric chair for murder. A white shopkeeper had died during a robbery gone bad; though the young man on trial had not been armed and had not pulled the trigger, in that time and place, there could be no doubt of the verdict or the penalty.

"I was not there, yet I was there. No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be..." So begins Grant Wiggins, the narrator of Ernest J. Gaines's powerful exploration of race, injustice, and resistance, A Lesson Before Dying. If young Jefferson, the accused, is confined by the law to an iron-barred cell, Grant Wiggins is no less a prisoner of social convention. University educated, Grant has returned to the tiny plantation town of his youth, where the only job available to him is teaching in the small plantation church school. More than 75 years after the close of the Civil War, antebellum attitudes still prevail: African Americans go to the kitchen door when visiting whites and the two races are rigidly separated by custom and by law. Grant, trapped in a career he doesn't enjoy, eaten up by resentment at his station in life, and angered by the injustice he sees all around him, dreams of taking his girlfriend Vivian and leaving Louisiana forever. But when Jefferson is convicted and sentenced to die, his grandmother, Miss Emma, begs Grant for one last favor: to teach her grandson to die like a man.

As Grant struggles to impart a sense of pride to Jefferson before he must face his death, he learns an important lesson as well: heroism is not always expressed through action--sometimes the simple act of resisting the inevitable is enough. Populated by strong, unforgettable characters, Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying offers a lesson for a lifetime.

Book Description

From the author of A Gathering of Old Men and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman comes a deep and compassionate novel. A young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.

Download Description

In this novel, a young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.

Customer Reviews:

Reaches in and finds the soul.......2007-10-14

How can one thank an author for painting a picture so wonderfully that you enter into their world? Thanks to Mr. Gaines for creating Jefferson, an angel in his own right, who saves so many souls. This book was so painful to read, yet it cleansed the spirit! This book and the book Understanding: Train of Thought are the two best books I've read this year.

Good story for a young teenager.......2007-10-04

This book is concerning a child that happen to be of African- American ethnicity who had run ins with the law all the time and almost lost his life a couple of times. Well that is what my son told me. He seemed to have kept the bookmark in this book for a long time to read other books written by black writers. I assume that it was okay though because he would still pick it up every now and then.

Death with Dignity.......2007-09-21

A Lesson Before Dying is the best known Ernest J. Gaines novel, even having been blessed as an "Oprah's Book Club" choice in September 1997. Today it is read in many middle and high school English classes for the lessons that it has to teach all of us about human dignity and grace. Not all of Oprah Winfrey's book choices over the years have been the wisest, but she got this one right.

The novel is set in a section of 1940s Louisiana that Gaines knows and works so well in his writing. Jefferson, a young black man who by sheer chance found himself at the scene of a store robbery that went terribly wrong is convicted of murder and sullenly awaits his date with the state's electric chair. There is substantial evidence of his guilt since the money from the cash register is found in his pockets and he has helped himself to a bottle of whiskey from behind the counter. And he is the only man still standing since the white storekeeper and the two black men who gave Jefferson a ride to the store have all been shot to death.

It is when Jefferson's defense attorney, trying to save him from the death penalty, describes him as something more like a hog than like a man that Grant Wiggins finds himself drawn into the drama surrounding the pending execution. Wiggins is the first black man who has left the plantation for an education and he is unhappy and resentful that the only work for him is teaching the children of those who still work the fields of the cane farm as generations of their families did before them. In a way, he considers himself to be as much a slave of the system as all those who are still tied to the land for their survival. But his aunt, with whom he still lives, and Jefferson's godmother pressure him into becoming involved. They want him to convince the condemned man that he is a man, not a hog, and that he needs to approach his pending execution with all the dignity and courage that only the best of us ever really possess.

Wiggens takes on this responsibility simply because he doesn't dare to deny his aunt's request and, when he believes that he is failing them all, he continues the struggle only because he cannot bear to disappoint her. It is only when Jefferson begins to slowly respond to what Wiggins is telling him, and asking of him, that Wiggins realizes that he is being taught a lesson every bit as important as the one that he himself is trying to teach. A Lesson Before Dying is an inspirational book, one that will be used in classrooms for many years to come, and it very much deserves the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction that it received in 1993.

Sensitive Treatment of Heroism and Faith.......2007-08-29

Gaines writes with force and sensitivity about heroism and faith. The burden of expectations on black men in 1949 Louisiana, the impossiblity of meeting those expectations, the self-loathing that comes as a result, and the possiblity nonetheless of redemption are skillfully and compellingly developed.

The setting is a young black man's dubious conviction of murder, which the white defense lawyer rebuts with the observation that the defendant was no more capable of premeditation than a hog. The protagonist is a young black teacher who reluctantly works with the defendant to touch his soul and to help him face death with great courage.

Given the daily horrors and humiliations suffered during the segregation era, it's not entirely convincing to me that this one "hog" remark would be so devastating to the defendant and the community. Of course, it's a great symbol for all of the nastiness of racism -- which points to a serious problem with the book. The obvious symbolism and didactic nature of the book do lessen its force.

Another problem is the protagonist, Grant Wiggins. He's whiny and betrays a real mean streak in how he treats his pupils. His dialogue with his girl friend is very unconvincing, and for the life of me I don't understand what she sees in him. Of course, self-doubt is a critical theme of the book, and the weaknesses of its main protagonist is in some ways a real strength of the book. But there is a balance here, and the reader will sometimes find the protagonist irritating.

On the whole, this is an absorbing and worthwhile book.

powerful and heartwrenching.............2007-08-14

This book takes me back to my college days (which weren't that long ago!). I took a course in Comparative Ethnic Literature that, quite possibly, changed my life. Among the books that we were required to read was A LESSON BEFORE DYING, beautifully written by Ernest Gaines. Jefferson, a slow-witted young man, is wrongfully accused of murder, at the scene of a stick up. This conviction is race-based. [Jefferson is a young African-American man in the South.] The young man is treated more lowly than a pig in the trough. Without an education or a prayer, Jefferson needs to be brought some dignity during the final days before his inevitable execution. Grant Wiggins, a very successful product of their small Southern town, has returned, and is the pride and joy of their community. Wiggins possesses an education and is also a schoolteacher. He is approached to bring the young man a connection to something other than his doomed fate. Their connection actually transforms Grant, in the process, and their exchange is anything but one-ended.

This book is written in such a way that you really feel as though this is a skillfully orchestrated play. I could see the imagery he described and I could also hear the Southern drawls and feel the scorching Southern heat burn my skin. It isn't often that a book transfixes me four years later as though I had just read it yesterday. That is what A LESSON BEFORE DYING succeeds in doing and I really reccomend that you read it--not because Oprah picked it, but, because it truly is a great example of terrific modern day fiction.

Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

A Virtuoso Performance!
A really good read
Solid Novel, but With Flaws
I love James Lee Burke
skip this one

Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
James Lee Burke
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743277724

Book Description

Detective Dave Robicheaux is facing the most painful and dangerous case of his career. A troubled young woman breezes into his hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. She happens to be the daughter of Robicheaux's onetime best friend -- a friend he witnessed gunned down in a bank robbery, a tragedy that forever changed Robicheaux's life.

In Pegasus Descending, James Lee Burke again explores psyches as much as evidence, and tries to make sense of human behavior as well as of his characters' crimes. Richly atmospheric, frightening in its sudden violence, and replete with the sort of puzzles only the best crime fiction creates, Burke's latest novel is an unforgettable roller coaster of passion, surprise, and regret.

The twists begin when Trish Klein -- the only offspring of Robicheaux's Vietnam-era buddy -- starts passing marked hundred-dollar bills in local casinos. Is she a good kid gone bad? A victim's child seeking revenge? A promiscuous beauty seducing everyone good within her grasp? And how does her behavior relate to the apparent suicide of another "good" girl, an ace student named Yvonne Darbonne, who apparently participated in a college frat orgy before her death?

Can Robicheaux make his peace with the demons that have haunted him since his friend's murder so many years ago? Can he figure out how a local mobster fits into all the schemes and deaths? Can Robicheaux's life be whole again when it has been shattered by so much tragedy?

Once again, Burke proves why he is the virtual poet laureate of southern Louisiana, and why his novels, especially those featuring Dave Robicheaux, stand as brilliant literature and entertainment for our time.

Customer Reviews:

A Virtuoso Performance!.......2007-10-13

Few if any writers of popular crime fiction today are as adept with the English language as James Lee Burke. Whether he's describing personal dysfunction, the sounds and smells of Cajun country, the philosophy of violence or the irrestible characters who move through his Dave Robicheaux stories, Burke is the master. But he not only knows how to string words together: he also spins a tale that holds your interest tightly until he finally turns you loose at the very end, when the person you don't think did it, turns out to be the one who did. Of course, Burke writes the same novel over and over: Dave and Clete and the wonderfully conceived character of Sheriff Helen Soileau, confronting the evil rich people and crooked officials around New Iberia, Louisiana. This novel is no exception. However, this familiar Burke plot is one that we his fans have come to know and feel comfortable with. In this book, Dave and Clete are getting up in age and are starting to mellow -- just a little. In other words, they're starting to grow up. But lest you think this spells tedium for the reader, think again. Burke manages to keep the fuses lit and there is enough righteous and often violent retribution to keep his fans satisfied. All in all, I think this may be Burke's best Robicheaux novel. Unlike many successful novelists with a long chain of successes behind them, Burke just seems to be getting better and better. Which is very good news for his fans.

A really good read.......2007-10-08

I discovered James Lee Burke in the summer of 2007, and Pegsus Descending was the second of his books I read. The first was Crusader's Cross. Burke isn't for everyone, and the fictional detective Dave Robicheaux is a complex person, with many, many issues and faults, yet the writing is so compelling and descriptive that I was easily swept up into the Louisiana world of Burke and his characters. I'm not literary critic, but I know what I like, and I like these stories. Once begun, you'll find it hard to not want more of Dave Robicheaux and his world of whores, murderers, pimps, corrupt cops, evil politicians, beautiful women, ugly men, ex-nuns, alcoholic nightmares and yes, honor, integrity, and redemption.

Solid Novel, but With Flaws.......2007-10-03

I've read every James Lee Burke book twice and love most of them, although some are definitely better than others. If you've never read this series, you simply MUST start at the beginning, with Neon Rain. If you try to jump into the series somewhere in the middle, you'll have no idea what's going on. As far as Pegasus Descending goes, the writing is just as top-notch as Burke's other novels; poetic, haunting, brilliant and as lyrical as a complex piece of music. That being said, though, Burke tried to do too much plot-wise in this one. There are at least four major plots going on all at once, which only tie together loosely at the end. What seems like the main plot is barely addressed at all, with the other sub-plots taking control after the first few chapters. It seemed like Burke had ideas for 2 or 3 different books and tried to cram them all together in one novel. That being said, though, Pegasus Descending is worth a read and is still far better than most new mysteries.

I love James Lee Burke.......2007-10-01

A few years ago, I picked up "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead" at my public library. I have loved James Lee Burke since then. I went back and read all his earlier novels and anxiously await the arrival of each new novel. I was 3rd in line to get "Tin Roof Blowdown" from the library and my husband said "GO BUY IT!"

Pegasus Descending was excellent, as usual.

James Lee Burke rules!

skip this one.......2007-09-26

I read this just to be "caught up" before reading Tin Roof Blowdown. Just skip this book. I think every cliche from every previous book is in here. There are so many different plots going on you can never keep track and half of them never get resolved. WHAT is the deal with all the criminals having grown up with Dave AND having crippled/diseased wives? Why does Clete ALWAYS end up with a girlfriend that is one of the bad guys?
Why does the river always smell like fish spawning? Why do all the male characters smell like testosterone?

Average customer rating:

Little Character Development
She did it again..........
My book club approved
'This is not a story to go down easy,'
Inspiring

Red River
Lalita Tademy
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0446578983

Amazon.com

In 1873 in the small southern town of Colfax, Louisiana, history tells us there was a riot. The Tademy family knows different. "1873. Wasn't no riot like they say. It was a massacre..." The blacks are newly free, just beginning life under Reconstruction, with all its promises of equity, the right to vote, to own property and, most importantly, to decide their own future as individuals. Federal Government troops are supposed to arrive to protect the rights of the colored people--but they are not yet on the scene.

In one wretched day, white supremacists destroy all the optimism and bright promise by taking Colfax back in an ugly and violent manner. The tragedy begins with the two sides: the white Democrats of Montgomery and the colored and white Republicans of Colfax in the courthouse, finally meeting face to face to discuss their differences. Then, a group of white thugs kills a colored man who was not involved in the courthouse struggle. He was home minding his business and the ugliness came and found him.

The confrontation that follows results in the death of more than 100 black men, killed by white supremacists bent on denying them their voting rights and keeping in office those who uphold the status quo prior to the Civil War. The massacre is only the beginning of Tademy's story. Using reliable sources wherever they may be found, she tells the hard and proud story of Sam Tademy, Israel Smith and their families as they fight their way back from the massacre. They get a foothold in Colfax, finally starting a school, owning land and businesses and becoming full-fledged citizens, as they were meant to be.

Tademy tells part of our history that we would like to forget; she also tells the story of her family, which is a story worth remembering. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

When Cane River was published in 2001, Lalita Tademy established herself as the chronicler of her own family's life, since their arrival here as slaves in the 1800s.Mixing family history, fiction, and fact made the story rich and unforgettable enough that Cane River became an Oprah's Book Club-. Now, with Red River, Tademy has done it again.Writing is a second career for Tademy, who is a former vice-president of Sun Microsystems.She left the corporate world to immerse herself in her family's history--and the history of the south.In 1873 in the small southern town of Colfax, Louisiana, history tells us there was a riot.The Tademy family knows different."1873. Wasn't no riot like they say. It was a massacre..."The blacks are newly free, just beginning life under Reconstruction, with all its promises of equity, the right to vote, to own property and, most importantly, to decide their own future as individuals. Federal Government troops are supposed to arrive to protect the rights of the colored people--but they are not yet on the scene. In one wretched day, white supremacists destroy all the optimism and bright promise by taking Colfax back in an ugly and violent manner.The tragedy begins with the two sides: the white Democrats of Montgomery and the colored and white Republicans of Colfax in the courthouse, finally meeting face to face to discuss their differences.Then, a group of white thugs kills a colored man who was not involved in the courthouse struggle.He was home minding his business and the ugliness came and found him.The confrontation that follows results in the death of more than 100 black men, killed by white supremacists bent on denying them their voting rights and keeping in office those who uphold the status quo prior to the Civil War.The massacre is only the beginning of Tademy's story.Using reliable sources wherever they may be found, she tells the hard and proud story of Sam Tademy, Israel Smith and their families as they fight their way back from the massacre.They get a foothold in Colfax, finally starting a school, owning land and businesses and becoming full-fledged citizens, as they were meant to be.Tademy tells part of our history that we would like to forget; she also tells the story of her family, which is a story worth remembering.--Valerie Ryan

Customer Reviews:

Little Character Development.......2007-06-13

I think I am the first to give this a low review. While I admire author for tackling such a huge story, there was little to no character development. This story follows 3 generations and just as you really start to get into one generation, you skip to the next. The unfortunate thing is that 2 characters of the story survive for at least 3 generations yet they were barely mentioned after the first third of the book. I would have rather the book be written in the first person of these two characters. I wanted to like this book, but I just could not.

She did it again.................2007-06-06

I found this book a little slower than Cane River at first, but after finishing it, I think I enjoyed it as much as the first one. It's a little difficult to keep track of all the names of the characters, but the pictures help you get to know them.

My book club approved.......2007-06-05

This was a selection for my multiracial multigender highly educated book club and we all enjoyed the book. And we all finished the book. It allowed us to discuss a variety of topics including race, race relations, slavery, family connections, history, the inaccurracies of history as it is reported in the US, gender roles, and a variety of other things. It is a great read for a book club.

'This is not a story to go down easy,'.......2007-05-25

It is a story of inequality, of racially motivated violence and inequity. At the same time, it is a story of resilience, of faith, of courage, and of hope for a better future.

Ms Tademy shows us history through the eyes of her family members. The events of Easter Sunday April 13 1873 in Colfax Louisiana, identified by some as 'the bloodiest single act of carnage in all of Reconstruction' saw 153 people lose their lives.

The first part of the novel leads us up to these events. The second part deals with life beyond and of the continuing struggle to establish a 'coloured school', and the battles of people to reconcile the idealism of equality with the reality of survival. For some this is reinforced by the strong belief in the power of the 'written word to help you flesh out those things you know and those you don't'.

I do not know much about this period of American history, and I will be attempting to redress this. This is a story worth reading and I recommend it highly. I suspect that this will be one of my outstanding reads for 2007.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Inspiring.......2007-05-08

This is hard for me, as it is coming from a 'white' perspective.However, my grandchildren are half black, but do not get much contact with that side of their family, and I wanted them to at least be aware of their history. Their mother has claimed from their conception that people's attitudes have changed and her children will be fine. No, they won't! In this country of the 'free', there will always be stigmatisom, whether you have a drop of Negro,Asian or whatever, blood,you will be treated differently! My grandson is 14, and has been through this '[...]' already. It breaks my heart! This book shows that it does not matter if you are as white as white can be, if anyone knows that you have one drop of Negro blood, then you are Negro.I did not invent this attitude, but I will fight for my granbabies until I die. Thankyou, so very much for writing this book!!!

Average customer rating:

Katrina as Art
Photography as a "process of revelation"

Robert Polidori: After the Flood
Robert Polidori
Manufacturer: Steidl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3865212778
Release Date: 2006-11-15

Book Description

In late September 2005, Robert Polidori traveled to New Orleans to record the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and by the city's broken levees. He found the streets deserted, and, without electricity, eerily dark. The next day he began to photograph, house by house: "All the places I went in, the doors were just open. They had been opened by what I collectively call Ithe army,' of maybe 20 National Guards from New Hampshire, 15 policemen from Minneapolis, 20 firefighters from New York... On maybe half of them or a third of them that I went in, I think that the occupants had been there prior. And some of them did leave certain funeral-like mementos before they left. Maybe right after the waters receded they had the chance to just--to go back to their place and just see, and realize there's nothing worth saving." Amidst all this, Polidori has found something worth saving, has created mementos for those who could not return, documenting the paradoxically beautiful wreckage. In classical terms, he has found ruins. The abandoned houses he recorded were still waterlogged as he entered and as he learned (by trial and error, a process that including finding a dead body) the language of signs and codes in which rescue workers had spray-painted each house's siding. He sees the resulting photographs as the work of a psychological witness, mapping the lives of the absent and deceased through what remains of their belongings and their homes.

Customer Reviews:

Katrina as Art.......2007-03-13

Silt has rendered a wonderous, pale beauty to the interior carnage of New Orlean's homes. Polidoris's project, a subsequentc 'invasion' of these domains, places on public record their devastation. It's a case of supreme technical skill, enshrining an ephemeral disaster. The denizens have hastily evacuated, leaving Polidori to rut in the trough of the city's ruin. Here, in one haunting page after another, the tidal muds that have rudely piled cars beneath houses in tragically asymmetrical congress, are made warm and close. It's relentless. You can almost handle the poignant detritus. We're led first through the haunting streets of uprooted poles, trees and weathereboards, of twisted metal. Then the rooms, the hearts and minds of individual suffering. Not snap-happy journalistic sensationalism, but hypnotically constructed images whose frozen testimonies have more permanence than the rented edifices they record. Polidori knows where to stand amidst the wreckage: his camera an unerring eye delving near and distantly with disturbing clarity. It is the very silence that entrances with singular eloquence and gravity. The wind and tide have subsided, but the havock endures in sulphurous washes and surreal configuration which 1000 installation artists would greet as a great funereal statement that transcends collective imagination. In a word, awesome, the currency of the Sublime. Polidori has wrested art from tragedy. Any of its 200 plus large format pages can be poured over for aesthetic reward, the more to dwell on vagabond Nature. Brilliant!

Photography as a "process of revelation".......2007-02-08

"After the Flood", the latest book by French Canadian Photographer, Robert Polidori, about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is also his largest and most powerful. It is as if his books on Havana and Chernobyl were mere foretastes to this exceptional and moving work, and certainly anyone who has seen these two books came away with a feeling of the power and storytelling that Polidori's images can convey. Polidori has the gift of the detailed eye that can simultaneously give the viewer images of beauty and revulsion in objects and textures. These alone tell the stories. There are no images of people necessary. It is as if he is capturing the tracks and shadows that humanity has left behind. He was able to show this in the urban decay of Havana and of the horrors of the rapid evacuation and subsequent reclamation of nature in Chernobyl. In "After the Flood", he presents us with an almost encyclopedic presentation of the aftermath of the hurricane, flooding, wind, water and mud damage showing the fragility of our cities and the power of nature.

The book contains at least 400 images, which have been carefully arranged. The first images show parts of the city still under water and the receding water. The next group shows the destruction caused by water inside the houses. Furniture has been picked up by the flood and re-arranged and we see the effects of water on different materials and soon notice the tell-tale brown lines on the walls, sometimes over six feet high, showing the high water mark. Succeeding groups of images show the effects of mud, water and wind on buildings and cars that have been tossed around at random like toys. Sometimes cars rest against houses in bizarre angles and sometimes the houses are laying on top of the cars. Several pages show smaller images of streets where every house was damaged and abandoned. The last set of images shows the clean up. Mounds of refuse in front of houses, temporary trailers, houses being cleaned and repaired. The effect is very powerful as we see how the lives of hundreds of thousands were affected and how many must have lost everything.

The book can only give a taste of the incredible detail the images contain. In a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art they could be seen as the original prints, each at about 40" by 54". They were taken with a large camera and according to Polidori with no lighting, as there was no electricity available at the time the shots were taken and lighting would have been to cumbersome in cramped and sometimes dangerous conditions. Only time exposures could show the incredible detail, which Polidori refers to as the "process of revelation". He call his work "a constant learning process", and anyone who looks at this book will not only learn, but will also ask questions as to how a disaster of this magnitude was possible, and to our place on this earth and our future here.

Review by Walter O. Koenig

Commander's Kitchen : Take Home the True Taste of New Orleans With More Than 150 Recipes from Commander's Palace Restaurant

Average customer rating:

Brings fond memories to mind
Great compliment to a great restaurant!
Eating great...New Orleans style!
Learn about Creole and Cajun cuisine...
Creole Class Act

Commander's Kitchen : Take Home the True Taste of New Orleans With More Than 150 Recipes from Commander's Palace Restaurant
Ti Adelaide Martin , and Jamie Shannon
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0767902904
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Amazon.com

Commander's Palace is an American restaurant treasure. For many years, patrons of the beloved New Orleans institution have been urging the Brennan family, its proprietors, to publish the restaurant's recipes. Commander's Kitchen, written by co-owner Ella Brennan's daughter, Ti Adelaide Martin, and Chef Jamie Shannon, realizes that wish, presenting more than 150 accessible recipes for the restaurant's acclaimed Creole dishes. These reflect a mix of French, Spanish, African, Arcadian, and Native American cooking traditions. The book also provides a glimpse of the history, lore, and daily backstage to-and-fro that have made the century-old restaurant a required dining destination.

"We like to push things to the edge," says Shannon of Commander's vibrant cooking, and in chapters that treat drinks through desserts, the book proves his point. Dishes like Shrimp Tasso with Five-Pepper Jelly, Pan-Crusted Sirloin Steak with Cayenne Butter, and Braised Lamb Shank with Merlot Mushroom Sauce are typical of the heady offerings, fare both earthy and sophisticated. Also presented are recipes for many of Commander's famed brunch dishes, the classic creamed-spinach- and artichoke-garnished Eggs Sardou among them; "The Chef's Table," a chapter of "show-off" dishes served at the restaurant's renowned in-the-kitchen table; and a selection of sweets, including Chocolate Molten Soufflé and the Creole sine qua non dessert, Bread Pudding Soufflé. Illustrated with color photos and containing technique tips throughout (readers learn, for example, the difference between sautéing and panéing), the book is an exuberant portrait of a remarkable American restaurant and its unique cuisine. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

Commander's Palace is one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved restaurants in the country. It was named the outstanding restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation, and is always rated the most popular restaurant in New Orleans by Zagat. It consistently receives awards from magazines such as Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, and Southern Living. A trip to New Orleans just isn't complete without a meal at Commander's Palace.

Now home cooks can bring its unmatched style, hospitality, and great food to their own tables. Reflecting the restaurant's fascinating culinary intersection--a New Orleans landmark combining native ingredients and techniques with exciting and evolving contemporary flavors--Commander's Kitchen takes readers behind the doors of a truly exciting culinary experience.

Featuring 150 recipes from the restaurant's extensive offerings and other Brennan family recipes, Commander's Kitchen describes step-by-step the secrets to Shrimp and Tasso Henican with Five-Pepper Jelly, Eggs Louis Armstrong, Pan-Seared Crusted Sirloin Steak with Cayenne Butter, Braised Lamb Shanks with Merlot Mushroom Sauce, and, the queen of Creole desserts, Bread Pudding Souffle. Of course, four varieties of gumbo are also included, along with dozens of information-packed sidebars, personal anecdotes, tips for throwing a New Orleans--style bash, and juicy tidbits of Commander's Palace lore. Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs that beautifully capture the lively Commander's Palace spirit, Commander's Kitchen lets the good times, and the exceptional dining, roll.

Customer Reviews:

Brings fond memories to mind.......2004-05-23

If you want to remember your meals at Commander's and perhaps try one or two of the dishes on a slow weekend, you will want this on your shelf. At the same time, it will be the occasional book, not one to reach for time and again.

Great compliment to a great restaurant!.......2004-03-27

This is an excellent compliment to one of the best restaurants. Ilove to cook & eat!! Most restaurant cookbooks have cookbokks which its hard to duplicate their meals. Usually they have recipes so complicated ( require kitchen appliances the average person doesn't have or ingredients impossible to find. Nothing is further than the truth with this book. It has easy to follow recipes, which can be cooked with basic cookware. The dishes come out fantastic. If you love creole food, but can't get to New Orleans regularly-- BUY THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.

Eating great...New Orleans style!.......2003-09-08

When my wife and I recently visited the Commander's Palace restaurant and sat at the Chef's Table (located in the kitchen where you are pampered by the staff), current Executive Chef Tory McPhail wrote "Eating great...New Orleans style!" on a menu he signed as a memento of our visit. Not only was he right about the food we had at Commander's Palace that evening, but he also provides a short and to the point description for this cookbook.

This book is a must for those that "live to eat" (as opposed to those that "eat to live") and truly enjoy the New Orleans and Creole food styles. The recipes we've tried so far have turned out wonderfully (the recipe for the Chocolate Molten Souflee alone is almost worth the price of the book) and, thus far, have been easy to follow. The narratives provided by the authors about both the food and the restaurant itself are a great addition to the great recipes.

I would recommend this book, and the restaurant, to anyone.

Learn about Creole and Cajun cuisine..........2002-03-22

Having spent 4 years of my life in Texas I was introduced to the wonders of Creole and Cajun cuisine. Generally, Creole developed in the city of New Orleans using local produce but influenced by the multicultural nature of the city. Cajun (or Acadian) cooking is food from the country.

I am partial to the simplicity of one-pot cooking offered by Cajun cooking. These are wonderful hearty and spicy meals (gumbo, red beans & rice, etoufee, jambalya) that I often cook to serve large groups of people. In fact, Chef Jamie includes many of these recipes in the "crew" section of the cookbook since he used them for staff meals.

Creole Class Act.......2001-12-28

As a longtime fan of Commander's Palace (and creole and cajun cuisine in general), I found the book as much fun to read as the dishes were to prepare. The beautifully presented recipes and well written preparation tips were made all the better by the inclusion of tidbits of New Orleans and Brennan family history. This book is a must have for both veteran and novice cooks interested in preparing great Louisiana style food.

Book Description

"This is a novel in the guise of the tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960's. In this woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure, a woman equipped to stand beside William Faulkner's Dilsey in The Sound And The Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has 'endured,' has seen almost everything and foretold the rest. Gaines' novel brings to mind other great works The Odyssey for the way his heroine's travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn for the clarity of her voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story in it all." -- Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

"Stunning. I know of no black novel about the South that excludes quite the same refreshing mix of wit and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female character in Southern fiction since Lena of Faulkner's Light In August than Miss Jane Pittman." -- Josh Greenfeld, Life

Customer Reviews:

Moving.......2007-05-12

This is the story of an incredible, 110 year old black woman, as told to a writer on tape. Jane, born Ticey, was born a slave on a Louisiana plantation and lived through slavery, with all of its cruelties, the Civil War, WW2 and the beginning of the civil rights movement. It's a fascinating glimpse into the lives of people born as slaves with no rights whatsoever, and follows them as they progressed through the following 100 years, learning to assert themselves, gain an education and aiming for better lives for themselves and their children. Some of the language was a little incomprehensible to me as a non American and I couldn't make out the meaning of a lot of phrases that local readers would understand immediately. I'll now try to find the movie on DVD to go with the book.

Miss Jane Pittman.......2007-02-21

I read the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as an independent reading project for my English class this year, and I loved it. Although it was a little dry at times, it was a very thought-provoking book with a plot that made you want to keep reading. Although it is fictional, the author has a way of writing that will make you believe this story is a true autobiography. While reading, I could actually imagine being there with Jane, working by her side in the fields as a slave. It was almost as if I could feel the exact emotions she was feeling and all the pain that she was going through. Along with being entertaining, I also found this book to be educational. I learned so many things about the Civil War and slavery that I never knew before, but it was actually fun to read about. That's more than any text book can offer. My only warning for anybody who is planning on reading this book is that it's terribly sad in some parts. Some passages include a lot gory details, which I think are necessary to show what the characters are really going through, but others may find them to be a little excessive. In spite of that, I still ejoyed reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. My next step will be renting the movie. If that is anywhere near as good as the book, I'm in for a treat.

Great if you like this sort of thing.......2007-01-06

This was a really interesting book, but it was a slow read and it wasn't very exciting to me. It was also very depressing. I did learn a lot from this book. For all you history and/or Civil War/Civil Rights fanatics, this is the book you need to read. For all you fantasy/adventure fans, you might want to read something else.

Ahhh, such a classic.......2006-01-14

I have been a fan of the movie forever. It inspired me and moved me ever since i have been a little girl! it's soo funny that i have had this book forever and i finally finished it. miss jane has such an inspirational story. thsi is a classic that no one should miss! for the longest time, i thoght miss jane was a real woman who lived and walked this earth for real. but i realized as i got older that her story is the story of my ancestors and i feel even more inspired! a great read, don't miss it!

Very Interesting but also very dry........2006-01-12

I sorta enjoyed the novel it was not really one of my favoorites but I was fascinated with the civil war era. The main thing I didnt like about this book was that it focused to much on the part of the united states where she lived Lousiana. But its definatly worth reading.

Average customer rating:

An Incredibly Revealing Narrative
Awesome book!
A three hundred year nightmare.
Hope Born Out of Despair
What a story!

Twelve Years a Slave
Solomon Northup
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486411435

Book Description

Kidnapped into slavery in 1841, Northup spent 12 years in captivity. This autobiographical memoir represents an exceptionally detailed and accurate description of slave life and plantation society. "A moving, vital testament to one of slavery's 'many thousand gone' who retained his humanity in the bowels of degradation..." — Saturday Review. 7 illustrations. Index.

Customer Reviews:

An Incredibly Revealing Narrative.......2007-03-26

This book presents its readers with a first-hand account of not only the cruelties of United States slavery itself, but more importantly it touches upon the ways in which other areas of social life were negatively influenced by the institution. Solomon Northup was a black man who was born a free black man in New York in 1808. In 1841, Northup was kidnapped in Boston and take to the south to be sold as a slave. He spent the next 12 years as a slave, and this book was written after he was rescued in 1853.

Many people have associated this book with "Uncle Tom's Cabin" ever since the former was published. While the story line is not exactly the same, there are a lot of similarities. Most notably, both books have evil Northerners and benevolent Southerners, a feature that I think is too often overlooked. This adds credibility to Northup's account, insofar as he does not simply condemn all Southerners. Other themes, such as the break-up of slave families, the harsh treatment of slaves (especially female slaves who had the misfortune of handsomeness), and camaraderie between slaves also reflect those written about in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

In the past the credibility of Northup's work had been in question, especially since a newspaper worker helped him write his account. However, in light of the vast number of particular details the Northup provides and the extent to which those details match up with other records, historians generally view this work as an authentic and truthful account of a free man sold into slavery. This is an incredible read, and the fact that it is a real account makes it even more fascinating. This book should be required reading for high school or college American history classes that cover the Civil War era.

Awesome book!.......2007-01-25

A compelling and wrenchingly honest first-hand account of slavery, many
times breaking my heart and making me think of the children of Africa
today. A new book, "The Last Witness From a Dirt Road" which takes
place in 1946, was given to me after commenting about Solomon Northup's
narrative, and it could almost be a sequel to Twelve Years a Slave,
written a 100 years later by the son of an overseer on a plantation
along the banks of Bayou Bouef in the same location in Louisiana. Old
social and economic orders seemed little changed from 1841 to 1946,
tragic, heart rendering but both books are riveting and honest, are
timely and universal.

A three hundred year nightmare........2007-01-24

Until I read Solomon Northup's riveting first hand account of his life as a slave, I had only imagined the degredation and cruelty with absolute and total submission by those who had no choices, no chances for liberty. Early in my own life in the 1930s, as a young boy and son of a sugar plantation overseer along the banks of Bayou Bouef in Louisiana, the exact same location as Solomon's narrative, I recognized the lingering stains of an enslaved society, in my friends...the field hands who lived in the Quarters. As a white kid, I had chances and choices, however choices based on the social and economic order that existed in my life and where I lived, which in reality, cast their net over my life, too. I've written my own narrative...my book "The Last Witness From a Dirt Road" which after reading Twelve Years a Slave, I see that my narrative could almost stand as a sequel to Solomon's book, but written a hundred and fifty years later. My heart is still broken for all the souls whose lives were so badly tormented and taken by a vile system devised and placed on humankind. The lesson: We must be diligent and precise in our approach to anyone whose ideology in religion and politics, teaches or wishes, to take away or diminish the freedom of man. I'm grateful for the courage and power of Solomon Northup.

Hope Born Out of Despair.......2007-01-21

Solomon Northup's slave narrative follows in the line of scores of other enlightening first-hand accounts of African American enslavement. What makes Northrup's account so unique is the fact that he was free when kidnapped and enslaved.

His harrowing description of his kidnapping in Washington, D. C., and of his fellow kidnappees, will melt the hardest heart. Yet, his interactions with other abducted African Americans also portrays the beauty and power of shared sorrow.

Another fascinating distinction found in "Twelve Years a Slave" is Northrup's almost uncanny ability to fairly depict his slave owners. In some cases, he ruthlessly exposes the one-dimensional ruthlessness of cruel masters. Yet, in one case, with his owner Pastor Ford (yes, Pastor), he calls Ford one of the most godly, caring, Christians he has ever known. He describes the biblical preaching and personal ministry that Ford provided to him. It is difficult for us today to see how the hypocrisy of a slave-owning Pastor could occur. But for Northrup, an intelligent, educated, articulate man, who could be blistering in his verbal attack on slavers, Ford was not a one-dimensional man. He was flawed, yet could still display admirable attributes.

"Twelve Years a Slave" is perhaps the most important first-hand account of enslavement ever written. The end of the story, which I will not ruin, must be read. Of course, with riveting writing like this, only the rare reader would dare stop before the end of the journey.

Reviwer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

What a story!.......2003-09-03

This story of a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery is amazing. I know nothing of how it was written and sometimes questioned whether it was genuine or not because sometimes the writing was so eloquent, but after reading it I realized the author had some help from the editor, David Wilson. I hope Solomon Northrup is looking down from somewhere and knows what a treasure his book has become.

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Average customer rating:

A deeply flawed book
An Excellent Read and Reminder . . .
Great Detailed & Compassionate Book
A grim picture of America at it's worst
Magnus Opus account of Hurricane Katrina

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Douglas Brinkley
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061124230
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Amazon.com

Bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley, a professor at Tulane University, lived through the destruction of Hurricane Katrina with his fellow New Orleans residents, and now in The Great Deluge he has written one of the first complete accounts of that harrowing week, which sorts out the bewildering events of the storm and its aftermath, telling the stories of unsung heroes and incompetent officials alike. Get a sample of his story--and clarify your own memories--by looking through the detailed timeline he has put together of the preparation, the hurricane, and the response to one of the worst disasters in American history.

Book Description

In the span of five violent hours on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed major Gulf Coast cities and flattened 150 miles of coastline. Yet those wind-torn hours represented only the first stage of the relentless triple tragedy that Katrina brought to the entire Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama.

First came the hurricane, one of the three strongest ever to make landfall in the United States -- 150-mile-per-hour winds, with gusts measuring more than 180 miles per hour ripping buildings to pieces.

Second, the storm-surge flooding, which submerged a half million homes, creating the largest domestic refugee crisis since the Civil War. Eighty percent of New Orleans was under water, as debris and sewage coursed through the streets, and whole towns in south-eastern Louisiana ceased to exist.

And third, the human tragedy of government mis-management, which proved as cruel as the natural disaster itself. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, implemented an evacuation plan that favored the rich and healthy. Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana, dithered in the most important aspect of her job: providing leadership in a time of fear and confusion. Michael C. Brown, the FEMA director, seemed more concerned with his sartorial splendor than the specter of death and horror that was taking New Orleans into its grip.

In The Great Deluge, bestselling author Douglas Brinkley, a New Orleans resident and professor of history at Tulane University, rips the story of Katrina apart and relates what the Category 3 hurricane was like from every point of view. The book finds the true heroes -- such as Coast Guard officer Jimmy Duckworth and hurricane jock Tony Zumbado.

Throughout the book, Brinkley lets the Katrina survivors tell their own stories, masterly allowing them to record the nightmare that was Katrina. The Great Deluge investigates the failure of government at every level and breaks important new stories. Packed with interviews and original research, it traces the character flaws, inexperience, and ulterior motives that allowed the Katrina disaster to devastate the Gulf Coast.

Customer Reviews:

A deeply flawed book.......2007-10-07

The first large recap of the disaster, published six months after the storm by the well known Tulane historian. A deeply flawed book, due to factual errors and the author's blatant political pronouncements. Brinkley's science is wrong, and he misrepresents what happened at locations other than the Superdome and Convention Center, such as Tulane Hospital and the Aquarium of the Americas. Brinkley supported Lt. Governor Landrieu against Mayor Nagin in the New Orleans mayoral race in the spring of 2006, and it colors his writing. Brinkley has nothing good to say about President Bush, FEMA, or Mayor Nagin, yet he paints Governor Blanco (who cooperated with the book) in the most flattering light possible. Worse, he gives the news media a pass over their horrendous coverage.

Still, the book is worth reading (with a huge grain of salt) because of the extensive timeline offered and the stories of the people affected. His recounting of the heroic efforts of the US Coast Guard and the LA Wildlife & Fisheries personnel is worth the price of the book. Read it until a better one comes out.

An Excellent Read and Reminder . . ........2007-10-02

Highly recommended! I don't read many contemporary history/current events books because they are just too depressing (as in yeah, the other side is in charge and screwing everything up - I know that already!), these books are rarely `fair and balanced' these days, and I do read two newspapers and use other sources to keep up to date.

This book definitely meets the fair and balanced standard, and Brinkley has written a fascinating page-turner to boot. Pretty much everybody but the Coast Guard is a target for `biggest idiot in charge', with Mayor Nagin and also the NOPD taking perhaps the biggest hits (although Bush, Chertoff, Brown and Blanco all take well-deserved broadsides too - oh, and the Red Cross too). NO gets most of the coverage because of the floods, but Miss. and Alabama get a decent amount of print.

A fascinating read, and a great reminder to those of us who live in disaster-prone areas of what kind of help to expect when the big one hits your area. I have a few things to add to my disaster recovery stash . . .

Great Detailed & Compassionate Book.......2007-09-28

I lived thtough Katrina and this is the first book that has told the story in the most detailed & compassionate way.

A grim picture of America at it's worst.......2007-09-22

Deluge is the real deal. A true and unbiased view of the New Orleans situation. It paints government from local police to FEMA in Washington as vastly incapable of the jobs citizens believe someone will do. Since you need to pass a test to drive a motorcycle or sell insurance, shouldn't there be a test to show ability in serving as mayor, governor, president, or the head of a "relief" agency? If Katrina was the test - they all failed.

Magnus Opus account of Hurricane Katrina.......2007-09-03

This is a well written account of the dwellings in New Orleans, Hurricane's and with a few tragic personal stories before during and after the accounts of Hurricane Katrina. The author is a native of O'rleans as you will read about Tragic loss and heroism in the State of Louisiana and Miss.

Did you know that the Mayor of New Orleans was an actor? Did you know that he was holed up in the 27th floor of the Hyatt Regency before the storm while he didn't issue a "MADADORY evacuation" until 18 hours before the storm hit because he needed to consult his attorneys in fear of being sued by the restaurant and bar industry?

Did you also know that New Orleans had, when Mayor Nagin took over,a crime rate over 10 times the national average coming in at 2nd in the Nation. The poor people in the state were simply brushed under the rug and an embarrasment to this flashy Mayor.

Once you finish The Great Deluge, you will come away with an awesome understanding of not only a facsinating account of what happened before and after Hurricane Katrina but an in-depth and detailed account of how the city of New Orleans was/is run and the Leaders (crooks) who run it.

You will feel alot smarter than that you did before reading it. Buy the Hardcover...worth every penny

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