Moonlight on the Bayou

New Orleans, in the national consciousness, used to be like the images of this Louis Armstrong song. "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans...Miss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pines where mockin' birds used to sing...The moonlight on the bayou..."
That was pre-Hurricane Katrina. Suddenly the television was broadcasting a national tragedy as people too poor or too stubborn to leave were caught up in a devastating flood and the ineffectual response of federal agencies. What resulted was not only flood waters but after a few days those flood waters became "incredibly foul, a vile brew of gasoline, sludge, snakes and canal rats, stinking of sewage and decaying bodies." To those of us who live in the Midwest this is just another tragedy to be forgotten, but to people who live in the city it became the defining moment of life remembered, before Katrina and after Katrina. We have at the library a book put out by Time Magazine called Hurricane Katrina, The Storm That Changed America.
Documented with searing photos, the book covers why the levees failed, a day by day timeline of how the government agencies failed the residents, and more.
The storm has also spawned a rich mix of novels set in New Orleans, either during the storm or the after effects on the consciousness of the residents.
Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead features Claire, a tattooed
 and quirky New York detective. Set 18 months after the hurricane, a still devastated city is in chaos as Claire tries to find a person gone missing in the storm. "Mentored and deeply inspired by a famous French detective, the I Ching, and profoundly illuminating dreams, a complex Claire leads us into her own nightmares as well. Claire is a moody, hip, and meticulous investigator."
Another fine mystery novel is Joy Castro's Hell Or High Water, featuring

Nola Cespedes, a reporter assigned a story about the city's sex offenders who, after Katrina, went missing. Nola grew up poor in the projects of New Orleans and is keenly aware of the divide between rich and poor. As women go missing and she tracks sex offenders, a conflict is hinted at that has a dynamic and suprising ending.
HBO also produced a wonderful series about New Orleans called Treme.(available for interlibrary loan) A fictionalized account of life in New Orleans after Katrina, it features great acting and music interspersed with drama.
So have a beignet (a sweet fritter) and some chicory coffee, settle down and read about New Orleans, y'all! ML