Katrinaville Chronicles: Images and Observations from a New Orleans Photographer
By David G. Spielman (Louisiana State University Press, $34.95)
People around the world mourn the horrific damage Hurricane Katrina wreaked on New Orleans in 2005. But what did the media omit? In this book, a photographer uses incredible images and candidly written words to reveal the everyday struggles of survivors in a city turned upside down.
David G. Spielman remained behind in New Orleans to care for St. Clare's Monastery after the Sisters evacuated to another monastery in Texas. With the help of a generator, his camera, and his laptop, Spielman e-mailed friends a log of his drastically changed life in the Big Easy. A compilation of these e-mails forms the core of the book, making it an easy read.
From the time Katrina hit until 120 days afterward, Spielman depicts a reality only a New Orleans citizen could. Whether he's writing of his diet of peanut butter sandwiches or his frustration with local politicians, he touches the true human side of an event that affected so many. --Suzanne Powell Mills
