Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 - (Page 69)

have to say, Michael, when I read these books it’s less about the sports than it is about these underlying themes. Lewis: Absolutely true. Sartisky: Let me ask you one final question and then we’ll leave it open to the audience. Are you contemplating at all writing — I read the article you wrote in coming to New Orleans immediately following the storm — are you contemplating writing a book length work about New Orleans following Katrina? Lewis: Yes. The Times Magazine has said that I can have some covers to write about New Orleans so I’m going to write some long stories about the reconstruction, I don’t know how many, and try to figure out if there is a way to do a book and what the book would be. But I’m at an early stage. There’s a chance I won’t do it, but I know I’ll do some articles. It is an incredibly interesting story, what’s going on here, and Sartisky: And we might be the next new thing. Lewis: There’s more than one great book to write about this, no great book has been written yet. There have been some crappy books that have come out. Sartisky: Which would those be? Lewis: Well. People rushed out with stuff because you could sell it. I’ve only met him once and he impugned my ancestors, but nevertheless he’s very good, John Barry who wrote Rising Tide. Sartisky: That was before Katrina. Lewis: That was my greatgrandfather who dynamited the levee down. He was one of the villains. There is another book to write but it’s going to be very tricky to pull off. And it is really getting into a question that you sort of raised but we didn’t address. What is it about this place that makes it different? Why is it so singularly devoid of, let’s say, business leadership? Why is it so charming? Why does an America that worships success find this place so appealing when it is so clearly a failed place? It’s something about the culture of the place and so how you get at that, I’m not quite sure. If I figure out how to do it, that’s the book I’d like to write. LCV Peggy Wilson is a former New Orleans City Councilperson and a board member of the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival. Michael Sartisky, Ph.D., is the president of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and Editor-In-Chief of Louisiana Cultural Vistas. Winter 2007-08/LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES 69 http://www.stirlingprop.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Katrina: Days of Terror, Months of Anguish Paintings by Rolland Golden The Historic New Orleans Collection The Great Ouachita River Flood of 1932 Jazz Notes Louisiana Architecture Louisiana: Where Land Meets Water Louisiana State Museum Through A Lens Sharply: An Interview with Michael Lewis MR-GO: A “miracle” mired in controversy Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans: An Autopsy Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

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