I really enjoyed the first 350 pages of 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina by Chris Rose. The remaining twenty pages? Not as much. Rose goes into a detailed discussion of his depression that was caused by Katrina and how he was able to move beyond it. His depression was certainly understandable, and I'm glad he was able to cope with it, but his best writing, by far, occurred before then. So I'll concentrate on those 350 pages and a few things I really liked.
1) First, the title. Shortly after Rose returned to New Orleans, he passed by a house and on its front porch saw a sign with those words on it. Although he never belabors the point, those words—to me at least—demonstrate an underlining cause of the terror that Katrina produced. Let's look at the words. 1 Dead …. "1?" Whoever was there wasn't only a "1." He/she was a person. A mother. A father. A child. Any of whom would have had more family. Certainly friends. And now he becomes "1"? No! …in Attic. Attic? Was anyone else there? Children that "1" might have handed to someone on a boat? Or was he the resident in the local "bad" house, the one that parents told their children to "hurry past" on their way home from school? Regardless of that, did "1" suffer in that attic? How long did "1" live with the knowledge that there would be neither a boat nor a helicopter for him? "1" indeed! That title will haunt me for some time.
2) Rose does irony well. Apparently part of the Christman celebration is "Drunken Santas," a group of men who, dressed as Santa, serenade throughout the city. They did perform in 2005, but there were problems. One member had lost his Santa suit to Katrina. "He was forced to participate in his street clothes. When will the horror stop? How much more can we take?" (page 125) I think Jonathan Swift would have liked that paragraph.
3) Rose summarizes some arguments for and against having Marti Gras in 2006 and ends with "If we don't have Mardi Gras, the terrorists win." (page 128) Okay, terrorists didn't cause Katrina, but Rose is talking about not living in fear. I went to NYC for Thanksgiving in 2001. Macys held its parade. Balloons floated above the street; high school bands marched and played their hearts out. It may have been a shorter parade than in years past, but it happened. And no one scared the state of New York into voting for George W. Bush in 2004. Roosevelt would have applauded New Orleans for holding Mardi Gras in 2006.
4) Rose jokes about a secret plan to turn the chocolate city into vanilla. The first big step will be to bring in NASCAR. "Nothing gets white folks excited like really fast cars making a left turn for three hundred miles." (page147) Like I said in the last review, I'm easily seduced by humor. But isn't that a great description of NASCAR?
5) Rose's love for New Orleans shows up frequently. "I ride by the newly opened Cajun Fast Food To Go, operated by Asians and patronized by African Americans, and isn't that a New Orleans story?" (page 209) I sure hope it is.
All in all, I'm glad I read 1 Dead in Attic, and I wish New Orleans well.
