A scholarly landmark in the history of a major storm.
Wessman (You Can Fix the Fat from Childhood & Other Heart Disease Risks, Too, 2012) tells stories of people who helped save three Mississippi counties during Hurricane Katrina.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina proved to be the nation’s most destructive natural disaster. It progressed from a Category 1 hurricane when it first hit Florida to a Category 3 in Louisiana, and it made its third landfall in Mississippi. There, it flattened the counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson, creating what Wessman calls a “ransacked reality” for thousands of displaced citizens. The book offers the intertwining tales of Emergency Operations Center commander Benjamin “Joe” Spraggins, health officer Robert Travnicek, and deputy sheriff Rupert Lacy, among others, as they prepared for Katrina’s arrival and later strove to organize a successful cleanup. Although the story of these three Mississippi counties made less news than New Orleans’ did, it’s nevertheless extremely harrowing. Citizens in crowded shelters had no working sewage system, no electricity, and no reliable communication networks. Despite the storm’s quick retreat back to the Gulf of Mexico, it scattered cargo containers of food (including shrimp and chicken) everywhere, and the meat rotted alongside corpses and human waste. The author tells how Travnicek managed to avoid further catastrophes, including rioting and widespread disease, by making bold decisions that frequently sidestepped bureaucracy and put him at odds with his boss, Brian Amy, the state’s director of public health. Overall, Wessman marshals a colossal amount of data, combining it with interview material to present portraits of heroism and dedication in the face of horror. Readers learn, for example, that those who refused to evacuate were instructed to write their names, addresses, and phone numbers on their chests in permanent marker to make potential corpse identification easier. The book also explains storm science in clear language; for instance, when “the water’s on the eastern side of the [hurricane’s] eyewall,” it’s much worse for residents because “it’s getting pushed inland.” Ultimately, this chronicle is most noteworthy for bringing the dogged efforts of Spraggins and others to a wider audience. Students of the era and fans of nature writing shouldn’t miss this inspiring narrative.
Pub Date: July 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-936946-50-1
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Triton Press
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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