“It is his infectious desire to understand the context-both the immediate context and the historical-of all that is rotten in his adopted city that propels this book. “
“Sothern's personal portrait of a city with a troubled past, an uncertain future and a sometimes joyous, always complicated present. What Sothern does in this book is something quite extraordinary: Not only does he parse the city's pre and post-Katrina social problems with a lawyer's sense of orderly construction, he helps readers to fall in love with New Orleans all over again. . . . "Down in New Orleans" is where we all are, isn't it? Reading this book, you know that you're in the presence of a true New Orleanian, fierce in his passion for his adopted home. Sothern gives voice to so much in this fine book -- our celebration, our mourning, our hard work, our endurance, and, in the midst of so much despair, our ability to find mad joy in the city streets. Sothern seems to be saying, "Bring it on." He's been here for five years, he says in his introduction, and "No one asks me anymore when I am coming home to New York." It's courage for us all.”
Focuses on New Orleans stories that have been largely overlooked by the mainstream press. Everyone saw the chaos at the Superdome, but Sothern talks to people who were there, and refutes count by count the many crimes reported to have occurred inside it. He eloquently and angrily shows how devastatingly easy it can be for those in power to cast aside the rule of law our society relies on. In outrage he recalls how the prisoners in New Orleans’ jail—most of whom had yet to be tried, let alone convicted—had to break open their cell doors to swim to safety. He follows the story of residents suddenly arrested as suspected terrorists and held for weeks with no family contact. Sothern’s own story of escape and return adds a personal facet to a Katrina book that looks not to the destruction wrought by the storm, but to that caused by the suspension of rights by those in charge of a great American city now truly in ruins.”
Sothern's book is a smack to the head, forcing readers to confront not only what isn't happening in New Orleans, but also what's wrong in our backyards.
"Billy Sothern's Down in New Orleans illustrates, in very human and heartbreaking ways, how the horrors that emerged during and following Hurricane Katrina existed long before the storm. These beautifully composed stories not only reveal the dignity—and amazing grit and grace—of the hurricane's survivors; they also illuminate larger truths about the urgent issues of our day. Sothern magnifies the urgency of creating a government that really serves the common good—and a society that protects its poor and vulnerable."—Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor & Publisher, The Nation
"Billy Sothern is the only writer in the world who can simultaneously convince you that the forsaking of New Orleans is so much worse than you thought it was, and also that you should move there immediately. The smartest, most in-love-with-the-world book yet written about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina."—Rachel Maddow, host of "Air America Radio"
"As much as Down in New Orleans is a damning account of everything that went wrong after Katrina struck, it's also a deeply soulful and eloquent tribute—part paean and part eulogy—to a place [Sothern] loves almost despite himself. It's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the past, present and future of this indispensable city."—Dave Eggers
