Cheryl Wagner (2)

The author, a bit of an artsy hipster type, recounts her experiences attempting to rebuild her New Orleans house after the floods of Hurricane Katrina. Unsurprisingly, it's a pretty depressing story, full of loss, violence, and disillusionment, but also a love of the city and a drive to rebuild.

It's interesting to get a look at what life was like for affected people in New Orleans even after it stopped making the nightly news, and there are moments here that are genuinely touching. But I have to admit, I never found myself nearly as engrossed by this memoir as I had hoped to be. Part of that probably had to do with the writing style, which I found a little disjointed. But, to be honest, probably some of it is just that this wasn't the right book for me at the current moment. Any other time, I could maybe view Wagner's experiences with a certain kind of slightly detached sympathy, but in the constant cesspit of stress that is 2020, I think my brain just does not want to engage at all with the thought that my, or anyone's, home, livelihood, complacency, and life may only ever be one natural disaster away from destruction.… (más)