Nine Lives, as the title implies, follows the lives of nine New Orleanians who lived through Hurricane Katrina. The Katrina episode, however, does not begin until the end of the book. Instead, Nine Lives attempts to explain the attraction and pull the city of New Orleans has on its residents and why the people of New Orleans are so adamant about remaining in the city after the flooding following the levee breaches in 2005.
The book’s title is also a pun on the phrase “Nine Lives.” The individuals highlighted in the book have suffered tragedy after tragedy, and yet still survive. Hurricane Katrina is another major setback, yet they persevere.
Dan Baum met with, and interviewed, the nine individuals extensively for days on end. He also interviewed others who, either knew the Nine lives spotlighted, or who could provide background information about their segment of society in New Orleans. The Nine highlighted in the book did not necessarily know each other, although some of their lives did intersect.
The nine lives of the book represent a good cross-section of the New Orleans residents. The individuals include residents of the Lower Ninth Ward, politicos, a self-made man who rose to become King of Rex, a transsexual, a police office, and are both black and white. Having lived through Katrina and its recovery attempt (which 5 years later is still ongoing), I understand the characters. I wonder, though, how this book translates to the “other America” ~ those who are not so intimately involved in the Katrina experience.
New Orleans reveled in its “bad boy” reputation as a corrupt and crime-ridden city. It was an open secret that the police department of the city was on the take, and that the schools were some of the worst in the country. New Orleans didn’t try to retain business, and when the oil bubble in the 1980s burst and many of the oil companies pulled up stakes, many of the old and monied residents, found themselves barely hanging on. They kept up appearances, however, to keep their social status. Music and Mardi Gras define New Olreans. New Orleans without Mardi Gras is unimaginable. Mardi Gras and music must go on despite any other tragedy.
The book begins with the teenaged Reginald Lewis in 1965 in the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy. That storm caused considerable damage to the Lower Ninth Ward, but the residents of that neighborhood rebuilt their community and remained. Over the next 40 years, that neighborhood slowly became more violent and isolated from other parts of the city. Lewis becomes a streetcar track repairman for years. It is tough, physical work, but he works himself up through the ranks as far as he can as a black man living in the city that fought integration. In the early 1990s, Lewis was instrumental in starting a second-line club of musicians to march in their neighborhood Mardi Gras parades. This lead to his collecting a wide assortment of elaborate Mardi Gras costumes, which became so vast, that he eventually established a Museum of Dance and Feathers.
Joyce Montana is the wife of the Tootie Montana. For years, Black men costumed themselves as Mardi Gras Indians during the Mardi Gras festivals. As Indians, they used to fight and brawl until Tootie Montana came along. Tootie was famous for sewing elaborate beaded and feathered suits. He would spend a year and much money in designing and creating costumes for the festivities. Tootie died two months before Katrina hit. His wife was left to struggle on her own.
Billy Grace is a self-made man who came from a humble background, but married into an old family who owned the famous “Rex House.” The year before Katrina, Grace was captain of the prestigious Rex krewe. When the storm hit, Grace was out of town on business, but his in-laws remained in their Garden District mansion. The house was on high ground, so survived the storm, only to be burned to the ground in the post-Katrina era.
As a young gynecologist, Frank Minyard was a wild man. Although he had married well, he was a womanizer. His wife overlooked this for the status of being a doctor’s wife. Minyard’s epiphany in the 1960s following a depressive crisis pushed him into establishing a methadone program in the city’s jails. His interaction with Black’s horrified his wife, who left him. This ultimately lead him to running for Parish Coroner, a job that he held for the next 40 years. It was Minyard’s office that was responsible for identifying bodies and signing death certificates for the victims of Katrina. He objected to using the word “drowning” or “natural causes” on the death certificates for people who had actually died from heat exhaustion, dehydration, stress, neglect and “political” causes.
Belinda Carr and Wilbert Rawlings are both residents of the Lower Ninth Ward. Both want better lives for themselves and their families. Both are caught in the circumstances of their surroundings. Belinda becomes a teenaged mother, but still dreams of going to college. Wilbert finds himself as a band leader at some of the roughest publics schools, attempting to change the lives of students who are forced to raise themselves amidst non-existent parents. Both have difficulty staying in relationships.
Tim Bruneau is a young idealistic police officer, who was severely injured while chasing a teenage perp. In the hours after Katrina, before the levees broke, he comes across the body of a young black woman. Unable to comprehend why the morgue hasn’t arrived, he tells his superior that he will transport the body to the morgue himself. He wraps the body and places it in back of his car, which he takes to the morgue at University Hospital. The doctor there informs him that he will not accept the body because it is the city’s “trash.” Bruneau drives around with the body in the backseat of his vehicle until he is told to “undo what he did”, and he is forced to drop off the body back to the street.
John/JoAnn Guidos is the transsexual who, after attempting to live as a man, finally realizes that he is really a woman in a man’s body. He also realizes that he can experience his dream only in New Orleans. He opens Kajun’s, a neighborhood bar shortly before Katrina. During the storm, it becomes a haven for those who chose to stay in the city.
Anthony Wells was the most troublesome character. His story is told in first person. He was in and out of jail and, in the post-Katrina evacuation was forcibly transported to Knoxville, Tennessee. He believes that the people of Tennessee “owe” him.
Katrina is still with the citizens of New Orleans. Baum describes why New Orleans is essential to the people living their and why they remain. It is well written and the reader becomes connected with the nine who chose to share their experience to the rest of the country.
Read: April 10, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment