Patricia Smith

Blood Dazzler

Notify me when the book’s added
To read this book, upload an EPUB or FB2 file to Bookmate. How do I upload a book?
“These short, fiery verses describe with sorrow and passion the Crescent City just before, during and immediately after Katrina.” —Publishers Weekly
In minute-by-minute detail, Patricia Smith tracks Hurricane Katrina as it transforms into a full-blown mistress of destruction. From August 23, 2005, the day Tropical Depression Twelve developed, through August 28 when it became a Category Five storm with its “scarlet glare fixed on the trembling crescent,” to the heartbreaking aftermath, these poems evoke the horror that unfolded in New Orleans as America watched it on television.
Assuming the voices of flailing politicians, the dying, their survivors, and the voice of the hurricane itself, Smith follows the woefully inadequate relief effort and stands witness to families held captive on rooftops and in the Superdome. She gives voice to the thirty-four nursing home residents who drowned in St. Bernard Parish and recalls the day after their deaths when George W. Bush accompanied country singer Mark Willis on guitar:
The cowboy grins through the terrible din,
And in the Ninth, a choking woman wails
Look like this country done left us for dead.
“Smith’s poems are captivating and their heartrending subject matter adds to their allure. She is observant and precise; she captures a moment in our history that many will never forget, but also a moment that just as many will never begin to know. Blood Dazzler makes available to its readers a chilling time in America and crystallizes the nation’s fears and weaknesses.” —Coldfront
This book is currently unavailable
45 printed pages
Original publication
2013
Publication year
2013
Have you already read it? How did you like it?
👍👎

Quotes

  • Menna Abu Zahrahas quoted3 years ago
    Coffee House Press is an independent nonprofit literary publisher.
  • Menna Abu Zahrahas quoted3 years ago
    Coffee House Press receives general operating support from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and from the National Endowment for the Arts, and major general operating support from the McKnight Foundation, and from Target.
  • Menna Abu Zahrahas quoted3 years ago
    All I ever wanted to be

    was a wet, gorgeous mistake,

    a reason to crave shelter.
fb2epub
Drag & drop your files (not more than 5 at once)