essay: a short piece of writing on a particular subject
Tom Piazza is an essayist, author of novels and a TV writer. He lives in New Orleans and has alot of insight into the still unsettled lives of the people who live there. He also is "in-tune" with the music industry, particularly the blues musicians. These two topics are included in the essays of his new book Devil Sent the Rain.
One essay stands out for me. He tells of living in New Orleans after the hurricane and spending four years rebuilding his home. He comes home one day to find that he has been robbed. Of course, he would like to catch the peron who did it, but he says that they probably have a wretched life already. He then tells us that a worse fate for hundreds of families in the city is that in an effort to rebuild a bigger & better hospital , the city will "take" a hundred rebuilt homes and demolish them. A different kind of robbery.
I was very interested to read one essay about his meeting Norman Mailer and developing a friendship that lasted until Mailer died. Another good essay was about Bob Dylan's transition from folk songwriter/singer to rock'n'roller.
Many good essays in this book, worth the read.
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