Diary From The Dome, Reflections on Fear and Privilege During Katrina
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ISBN13: 9780533158522Condition: NEWNotes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Diary from the Dome is a personal chronicle of two very different trips to New Orleans- 'America's Most Soulful City.' The first chronicle is the author's 1977 trip, recorded in his journals as 'a naïve twenty-one-year-old discovering himself.' The second trip finds the author caught in the vicious storm, Hurricane Katrina, and eventually becoming trapped as a tourist inside the New Orleans Superdome- with 20,000 other helpless people. This incisive and opinionated story presents Harris observations of human behavior at its best and at its worst and also serves as an eloquent tribute to 'the incredible citizens of New Orleans.'
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Remembering
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Comment:
Harris, Paul A. "Diary from the Dome: Reflections of Fear and Privilege During Katrina", Vantage Press, 2008.
Remembering
Amos Lassen
I have had a wonderful life filled with exciting adventures but if there is one thing that will stick in my mind above all else it is Hurricane Katrina. It has already been five years and I can't let it go. While Katrina was terrible for some people, it benefited others and I was one of the lucky ones. I ended up on Little Rock, found new friends and a new life and everything has been pretty good.
"The Diary from the Dome" is one man's view and experiences during Katrina which although unlike my own, are similar to those experiences that many of us share. I did not make it to the New Orleans Superdome. I was stuck on the fourth floor of my apartment building until the National Guard evacuated me a full week after the storm hit land. Harris gives us a personal look at two very different trips that he made to New Orleans. In 1977, Harris made his first trip during which he went to the Big Easy to find himself. The second trip was in 2005 and what he found this time was that he was trapped in the Superdome with 20,000 other people. He was able to observe human behavior in all of its forms and he tells us about what he found.
The book is quite obviously very personal and because of this it is very easy to read. Written in the format of a journal, it is quite easy to follow. It is also very, very moving and filled with emotion. The time he spent in the Dome was horrible because the conditions were so bad. Rumors were everywhere while food and water weren't. The book is an exposure of the author himself and for me it was very difficult to read, for two reasons--one because I went through Katrina and two, because the people involved were citizens of the city that I once called home.
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Summary:
Compassionate and elucidating.
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Comment:
I have since read your book and found it astonishing. Your experiences, as seen through eyes terrorized by this violent storm and perilous human condition, are shared with the reader with still a compassionate heart. Knowing integrity, compassion and faith flourish, albiet exist, in these darkest of places gives me great peace. And hope and faith and of course love. Thank you for your generous contributions to helping us rebuild one of America's greatest cultures.
Namaste'
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Summary:
A New Perspective on a Well-Known Event
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Comment:
On August 26, 2005, Paul Harris flew into New Orleans for a 10-day vacation in a city he loved. Two days later he tried to leave only to find Amtrak, the bus station and the airport closed. With no way to escape the coming wrath of Hurricane Katrina he headed to the Super Dome along with a ragtag group of residents and tourists unable to get out of the city.
What follows is an account of several days in hell; literally through the high temperatures, unsanitary conditions, and restriction on food and water, and psychologically through rumors of chaos, murder and class warfare within the Dome. Mr. Harris's reflections on both his own reactions to the situation and his later research into the media accounts of what happened, so strikingly different from what he saw and experienced, are a lesson to all of us on perspectives and biases.
Was humanity perfect through the Katrina disaster? No. Is it possible it wasn't nearly as reactive and sordid as the media made it out to be? Most likely. I strongly recommend this book for anyone more interested in first hand accounts of the "big stories" over the media's spoon-feeding of stories designed to agitate instead of educate.
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Summary:
LOVED this memoir!
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Comment:
What I loved most was that this author totally exposed himself and went to places that would make most of us feel uncomfortable. It made me look at myself and how I would react in similar conditions. He admitted his highs and lows and personally this book did wonders for my own self-exploration. Highly recommended.
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Summary:
This book improved my life!
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Comment:
The experience that Mr. Harris went through was clearly life-altering for him. Fortunately, as a reader I was able to feel the experience--mainly do to his informal and personal writing style--the trauma for myself; thus gaining a similar perspective as did Mr. Harris from his ordeal. For this, I thank him. His "20 suggestions" about life at the end of the book ring true and are achievable for anyone.
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