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1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina
Originally a self-published sensation by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, 1 Dead in Attic captures the heart and soul of New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
1 Dead in Attic is a collection of stories by Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose, recounting the first harrowing year and a half of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Celebrated as a local treasure and heaped with national praise, Rose provides a rollercoaster ride of observation, commentary, emotion, tragedy, and even humor—in a way that only he could find in a devastated wasteland.
They are stories of the dead and the living, stories of survivors and believers, stories of hope and despair. And stories about refrigerators.
1 Dead in Attic freeze-frames New Orleans, caught between an old era and a new, during its most desperate time, as it struggles out of the floodwaters and wills itself back to life.
1 Dead in Attic is a collection of stories by Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose, recounting the first harrowing year and a half of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Celebrated as a local treasure and heaped with national praise, Rose provides a rollercoaster ride of observation, commentary, emotion, tragedy, and even humor—in a way that only he could find in a devastated wasteland.
They are stories of the dead and the living, stories of survivors and believers, stories of hope and despair. And stories about refrigerators.
1 Dead in Attic freeze-frames New Orleans, caught between an old era and a new, during its most desperate time, as it struggles out of the floodwaters and wills itself back to life.
364 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2005
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May 5, 2008
In the United States, there exists only 3 cities whose inhabitants actually love the cities in which they inhabit. They are: San Francisco, New Orleans and New York. If you have not lived in any of these, you probably aren't aware of the palpable affection and pride we have for these fabled places. We know our neighbors. We know the history of buildings and events that have been handed down through oral history.
So, when Katrina hit New Orleans and eviscerated it and then flooded it, it not only damaged the physical infrastructure, buildings and history attached to them, it also did the same thing to the psyche of it's denizens. Chris Rose chronicled this collective pain and makes it painfully hard to read without feeling some level of empathy with every Katrina survivor. If you want a first hand look at what an epic, natural disaster does to a city, this is it. It's gritty and shocking. Should you choose to read it, prepare to gasp aloud at least a dozen times.
So, when Katrina hit New Orleans and eviscerated it and then flooded it, it not only damaged the physical infrastructure, buildings and history attached to them, it also did the same thing to the psyche of it's denizens. Chris Rose chronicled this collective pain and makes it painfully hard to read without feeling some level of empathy with every Katrina survivor. If you want a first hand look at what an epic, natural disaster does to a city, this is it. It's gritty and shocking. Should you choose to read it, prepare to gasp aloud at least a dozen times.
February 23, 2019
This sounds like a ridiculous criticism given the subject matter, but I found this book far too sentimental. Chris Rose was a beat reporter at the Times-Picayune when Hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans, and in the aftermath he started writing these short columns about how the city was recovering and how the community was coping; they're supposed to be snippets of personal commentary rather than journalism per se, which perhaps explains the register. Nevertheless, for me the saccharine emotionality of Rose's writing detracted from, rather than reinforced, the impact of what he was describing.
In an open letter to ‘America’, published in September of '05, he introduces the area in a way that gives you a good idea of his general tone:
There's really two options when writing about very serious and traumatic situations: either you become as dry as humanly possible (on several occasions I've sat in newsrooms next to people who were openly sobbing as they typed up their notes, but to read their report you'd think they were observing what happened from a distant satellite, not covered in blood and shit in the middle of what was happening – and the story became devastating through that distance); or, you go full gonzo and do a first-person subjective immersion à la Tom Wolfe or Hunter S Thompson.
Rose chooses not to attempt the former, and is not able to do the latter because, as he says, he himself suffered nothing more serious that a broken drainpipe on his house. So he's stuck in this awkward no-man's-land, inhabiting a kind of borrowed communal misery, buttressed with folky false modesty and clichés of determination, which is completely understandable and even admirable but which doesn't make for powerful journalism.
I feel really bad criticising this, since it's obvious that Rose was utterly traumatised by Katrina – ‘it beat the shit out of me,’ he says – and indeed, a lot of what is in here reads less like a chronicle of a ruined city, and more like a chronicle of someone succumbing to PTSD. (Rose in fact became addicted to antidepressants during this period and separated from his wife.) Still, I wish there had been a little more journalistic examination of the situation – the class and race issues which Katrina brought into such sharp relief are almost entirely absent here.
These columns do make for a revealing snapshot of what a city looks like after a big disaster (so much of what was in here reminded me of being in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake), with the lines of refrigerators on the streets, the fallen trees, the smell of masonry dust and decomposition, the hair-trigger emotions of everyone left. It's partly an audience problem. These pieces didn't connect well with me as an outsider, but when Rose wrote them, they were aimed at his fellow Louisianans, and for that audience who understood exactly what he was going through they probably worked really well.
In an open letter to ‘America’, published in September of '05, he introduces the area in a way that gives you a good idea of his general tone:
I suppose we should introduce ourselves: we're South Louisiana.
We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we were never much for waiting around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like that. …
We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it. …
When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.
But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for thirty-five years. That's gotta count for something. …
So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer us in this season of our despair.
That is our promise. That is our faith.
There's really two options when writing about very serious and traumatic situations: either you become as dry as humanly possible (on several occasions I've sat in newsrooms next to people who were openly sobbing as they typed up their notes, but to read their report you'd think they were observing what happened from a distant satellite, not covered in blood and shit in the middle of what was happening – and the story became devastating through that distance); or, you go full gonzo and do a first-person subjective immersion à la Tom Wolfe or Hunter S Thompson.
Rose chooses not to attempt the former, and is not able to do the latter because, as he says, he himself suffered nothing more serious that a broken drainpipe on his house. So he's stuck in this awkward no-man's-land, inhabiting a kind of borrowed communal misery, buttressed with folky false modesty and clichés of determination, which is completely understandable and even admirable but which doesn't make for powerful journalism.
I feel really bad criticising this, since it's obvious that Rose was utterly traumatised by Katrina – ‘it beat the shit out of me,’ he says – and indeed, a lot of what is in here reads less like a chronicle of a ruined city, and more like a chronicle of someone succumbing to PTSD. (Rose in fact became addicted to antidepressants during this period and separated from his wife.) Still, I wish there had been a little more journalistic examination of the situation – the class and race issues which Katrina brought into such sharp relief are almost entirely absent here.
These columns do make for a revealing snapshot of what a city looks like after a big disaster (so much of what was in here reminded me of being in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake), with the lines of refrigerators on the streets, the fallen trees, the smell of masonry dust and decomposition, the hair-trigger emotions of everyone left. It's partly an audience problem. These pieces didn't connect well with me as an outsider, but when Rose wrote them, they were aimed at his fellow Louisianans, and for that audience who understood exactly what he was going through they probably worked really well.
December 3, 2021
This book is an ode to New Orleans, told through the author’s emotional journey of trying to make sense of the devastation in a city he loves so passionately. It’s a collection of articles written by columnist Chris Rose for the local NOLA newspaper over the 16 months post-Katrina about his personal experiences with the recovery and rebuilding of the city.
One thing that kind of bothered me throughout the book was the title. I don’t think it was quite the right choice and it actually seemed a little clickbait-ish once I really got into the content of the book. The title, 1 Dead in Attic, comes from a phrase the author saw painted on a house while he was driving around the 8th Ward surveying the post-Katrina damage. While the flooding and evacuation are no doubt an important part of the Katrina story, that’s not the focus of this book (and if that’s what you’re wanting to read about, I highly recommend Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital).
This book is really about the author’s experience with post-Katrina recovery at his home in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, including the lack of city services, neighborhood battles about smelly appliances, insurance claims, neighbors returning for the first time or never to be seen again, the reopening of schools and local businesses, etc. I found it all really interesting and important. In the national consciousness, most of the Katrina news focus was understandably on the Lower 9th Ward, but this book really showcases what the experience might have been like for the less talked about others impacted by Katrina - not just in New Orleans but across Katrina’s full expanse from Texas to Alabama. To truly represent the book, I think some more appropriate titles would have been either Refrigerator City (the smelly appliances issue was covered a lot in the book and it’s something I had never really thought about), or Blue Tarp Town (which describes the imagery of a sea of blue tarps covering hurricane-damaged roofs waiting for repairs).
Since the author is a local journalist and these columns were written for a local newspaper, there are a lot of very local references that might be lost on an outsider. And the author gets really, really sentimental at times about his love for his city. I think he does an average job of conveying what makes NOLA such an amazing city to an outsider, but if you personally have ever felt a deep love for a hometown, you’ll appreciate his sentiment.
As the book is a collection of columns written over the course of more than a year, the style can feel a little choppy and there are some repeat stories. However, most of the columns are really enjoyable, and I liked how the author organized them into different themed sections in the book rather than just printing the columns chronologically. Some sections are better than others. I loved the heartfelt Purple Upside-Down Car section, but the Misadventures in the Chocolate City section was pretty bizarre and I thought it was a low point in the book. However, the book is a story of the author’s emotional journey through the aftermath of Katrina, so the columns in this odd section still felt relevant to me. I’m imagining the author wrote these columns on the days where the emotions of hopelessness, anger and overwhelm were boiling over.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought it was interesting. But in full disclosure, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in NOLA over the last several years since my parents moved to the area post-Katrina in 2007. I hands-down agree with the author’s assessment that NOLA is an amazingly unique and eclectic city, but I’m guessing my familiarity with and love for the city probably had a favorable impact on my personal enjoyment of the book. Due the author’s (occasionally extreme) sentimentality and hyper-local perspective, I have a feeling this book might not appeal to everyone. But if you’re interested in exploring the local Katrina recovery experience that didn’t get covered extensively in national news, or if you just really love NOLA, this book is worth a read.
One thing that kind of bothered me throughout the book was the title. I don’t think it was quite the right choice and it actually seemed a little clickbait-ish once I really got into the content of the book. The title, 1 Dead in Attic, comes from a phrase the author saw painted on a house while he was driving around the 8th Ward surveying the post-Katrina damage. While the flooding and evacuation are no doubt an important part of the Katrina story, that’s not the focus of this book (and if that’s what you’re wanting to read about, I highly recommend Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital).
This book is really about the author’s experience with post-Katrina recovery at his home in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, including the lack of city services, neighborhood battles about smelly appliances, insurance claims, neighbors returning for the first time or never to be seen again, the reopening of schools and local businesses, etc. I found it all really interesting and important. In the national consciousness, most of the Katrina news focus was understandably on the Lower 9th Ward, but this book really showcases what the experience might have been like for the less talked about others impacted by Katrina - not just in New Orleans but across Katrina’s full expanse from Texas to Alabama. To truly represent the book, I think some more appropriate titles would have been either Refrigerator City (the smelly appliances issue was covered a lot in the book and it’s something I had never really thought about), or Blue Tarp Town (which describes the imagery of a sea of blue tarps covering hurricane-damaged roofs waiting for repairs).
Since the author is a local journalist and these columns were written for a local newspaper, there are a lot of very local references that might be lost on an outsider. And the author gets really, really sentimental at times about his love for his city. I think he does an average job of conveying what makes NOLA such an amazing city to an outsider, but if you personally have ever felt a deep love for a hometown, you’ll appreciate his sentiment.
As the book is a collection of columns written over the course of more than a year, the style can feel a little choppy and there are some repeat stories. However, most of the columns are really enjoyable, and I liked how the author organized them into different themed sections in the book rather than just printing the columns chronologically. Some sections are better than others. I loved the heartfelt Purple Upside-Down Car section, but the Misadventures in the Chocolate City section was pretty bizarre and I thought it was a low point in the book. However, the book is a story of the author’s emotional journey through the aftermath of Katrina, so the columns in this odd section still felt relevant to me. I’m imagining the author wrote these columns on the days where the emotions of hopelessness, anger and overwhelm were boiling over.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought it was interesting. But in full disclosure, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in NOLA over the last several years since my parents moved to the area post-Katrina in 2007. I hands-down agree with the author’s assessment that NOLA is an amazingly unique and eclectic city, but I’m guessing my familiarity with and love for the city probably had a favorable impact on my personal enjoyment of the book. Due the author’s (occasionally extreme) sentimentality and hyper-local perspective, I have a feeling this book might not appeal to everyone. But if you’re interested in exploring the local Katrina recovery experience that didn’t get covered extensively in national news, or if you just really love NOLA, this book is worth a read.
May 21, 2008
I really wanted to like this book. Ultimately, though, a few things kept me from doing so.
1. Rhythm. It's essentially a 350-page book made up of 3-page columns, reprinted as they were initially published in the newspaper. What was probably wonderfully moving on a daily basis loses a lot of its power when surrounded by a hundred others just like it. Also, since each column works as a self-contained whole, the reader is constantly taken to some sort of emotional climax.
2. Pacing. See Rhythm above. Also, the columns aren't arranged chronologically; instead, they're chronological within thematic sections. In the first half, this isn't really a problem, but once Rose starts discussing his own problems, I found myself trying to remember when certain events took place.
3. Lack of cohesion. I can imagine Rose taking six months to knit these pieces into a whole; that theoretical whole would have been incredible, connecting all the separate pieces into a much bigger whole. But it didn't happen.
4. Two particularly bad essays: "Tutti-Frutti," which discusses Nagin's "chocolate city" comment using far too many bad candy puns, and the essay-poem "Refrigerator Town," which almost made me quit reading the book. Just because they were good ideas for a column doesn't mean they should have gone in the book.
I realize I'm being vastly negative, so I should point out that there are some really excellent essays in here, including "The Smell," a column that tries to capture the scent of a city filled with rotten food. And Rose's personal struggles actually result in some serious drama. And the columns from the immediate aftermath of the storm are a fascining glimpse at life in a city without rule.
One day there's going to be a great nonfiction book about Katrina. Rose might even write it. But this isn't it.
1. Rhythm. It's essentially a 350-page book made up of 3-page columns, reprinted as they were initially published in the newspaper. What was probably wonderfully moving on a daily basis loses a lot of its power when surrounded by a hundred others just like it. Also, since each column works as a self-contained whole, the reader is constantly taken to some sort of emotional climax.
2. Pacing. See Rhythm above. Also, the columns aren't arranged chronologically; instead, they're chronological within thematic sections. In the first half, this isn't really a problem, but once Rose starts discussing his own problems, I found myself trying to remember when certain events took place.
3. Lack of cohesion. I can imagine Rose taking six months to knit these pieces into a whole; that theoretical whole would have been incredible, connecting all the separate pieces into a much bigger whole. But it didn't happen.
4. Two particularly bad essays: "Tutti-Frutti," which discusses Nagin's "chocolate city" comment using far too many bad candy puns, and the essay-poem "Refrigerator Town," which almost made me quit reading the book. Just because they were good ideas for a column doesn't mean they should have gone in the book.
I realize I'm being vastly negative, so I should point out that there are some really excellent essays in here, including "The Smell," a column that tries to capture the scent of a city filled with rotten food. And Rose's personal struggles actually result in some serious drama. And the columns from the immediate aftermath of the storm are a fascining glimpse at life in a city without rule.
One day there's going to be a great nonfiction book about Katrina. Rose might even write it. But this isn't it.
August 17, 2008
"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" so the old song goes, and I can definitively answer, "Yes, I do." When Seth and I were breaking up it was after the first wave of Katrina horror stories, after the news had tired of this latest Bush tragedy, after I had exhausted my meager means of curtailing whatever Government-funded looting I could possibly curtail. But when Seth and I were breaking up it was the beginning of the longer recovery effort, and Homeland Security was hiring Jack-of-all-trades attorneys to come to NOLA for one- or two-year stints. All they required was a law degree and the commitment to DO. And I was committed.
So it was that when I said, "I think we should break up," I said so knowing that I was meant to go back to the city I never meant to leave in the first place.
And Seth ignored me.
Days later I repeated, "I think we should break up," and again he pretended that I never said a word. And so it is eighteen months later, and so I miss New Orleans, and so I wish I could have done as much as I could have done.
So it was that when I said, "I think we should break up," I said so knowing that I was meant to go back to the city I never meant to leave in the first place.
And Seth ignored me.
Days later I repeated, "I think we should break up," and again he pretended that I never said a word. And so it is eighteen months later, and so I miss New Orleans, and so I wish I could have done as much as I could have done.
August 4, 2019
I’m not sure how it’s possible for a book about New Orleans post Katrina to feel shallow to me, but somehow it did. Not because he doesn’t talk about heavy things... he does. But there is no momentum in this book (even within an individual column, the pacing is funky), very little introspection (it’s supplanted by snarky self deprecation) and outside of one column about mental health—finally, nearly at the end of the book—just really surface level in its treatment of some serious topics. The author’s voice is grating to me which doesn’t help. He comes off as a Defensive, Self-Important White Male. He tells and doesn’t show. He’s passive aggressive. He uses short dramatic sentences too often. He makes snarky comments that aren’t funny—I didn’t laugh or chuckle even once—to alleviate tension in a way that just comes off as awkward. He hammers home metaphors instead of letting the reader make the connection, because he doesn’t trust his own writing. I could go on. I grew to dislike the guy tremendously, and am relieved to have finished the book.
October 20, 2011
But don't even try to read this without a box of Kleenex. In all honesty, I probably needed a few boxes. Waterworks 4.0.
August 13, 2017
A collection of articles Chris arose wrote for the Times Picayune after the devastation of hurricane Katrina.
Some sad, some happy, with a tinge of sadness. An amazing collection that highlights the resiliency of the people of New Orleans. Careful to also include his own struggles in the mix, Rose is honest and straightforward with how the rebuilding is going.
A powerful read, if you are interested in Katrina and it's aftermath.
Some sad, some happy, with a tinge of sadness. An amazing collection that highlights the resiliency of the people of New Orleans. Careful to also include his own struggles in the mix, Rose is honest and straightforward with how the rebuilding is going.
A powerful read, if you are interested in Katrina and it's aftermath.
October 7, 2015
The title is taken from writing on a flood destroyed house, indicating yet another victim of the Hurricane Katrina New Orleans tragedy .
This book, written by an award-winning Times Picayune columnist, contains one-chapter short stories that are simply incredible.
Rather than outline what led to Katrina, Rose focuses on the aftermath of the hurricane. His heart rendering account of a year and a half after is so well written that at times I laughed and others I cried. His pithy, heart breaking and poignant tales of the people who are the soul of New Orleans will haunt me for a long time. I laughed at the tale of refrigerator wars; I cried for a city trying to re-claim itself.
After reading this I feel as though I've walked the streets of New Orleans, gleaned some knowledge of what makes the city tick -- the good (those stubborn hold outs who want to rebuild and renew), the bad (the local politicians, the Army Core of Engineers and the ineffective mayor) and the ugly (very nasty culture that loots, robs, rapes and waits for handouts and blames all others.)
This book, written by an award-winning Times Picayune columnist, contains one-chapter short stories that are simply incredible.
Rather than outline what led to Katrina, Rose focuses on the aftermath of the hurricane. His heart rendering account of a year and a half after is so well written that at times I laughed and others I cried. His pithy, heart breaking and poignant tales of the people who are the soul of New Orleans will haunt me for a long time. I laughed at the tale of refrigerator wars; I cried for a city trying to re-claim itself.
After reading this I feel as though I've walked the streets of New Orleans, gleaned some knowledge of what makes the city tick -- the good (those stubborn hold outs who want to rebuild and renew), the bad (the local politicians, the Army Core of Engineers and the ineffective mayor) and the ugly (very nasty culture that loots, robs, rapes and waits for handouts and blames all others.)
November 3, 2010
Halfway into the book. Not what I'd thought it'd be so, yeah. No thanks. I'd rather read something written by people who lived in the poorer areas who didn't have the means to grill steaks and drink cold beers. From people who stayed, not because they thought they'd ride this storm out, but who had no means of leaving. I guess that is to say, I wanted Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke -esque voice. Katrina showed, once again for those who think everything is honky dory, how very non-progessive America is when it comes to race (especially race) and class disparities, and Rose (and his seemingly well-off friends, grilling their purloined steaks and drinking cold beers in the aftermath) couldn't give me that. Once again, no thank you.
June 3, 2009
Seriously, I can't believe the Times-Pic publishes someone who regularly uses the word "gangbanger." I don't think this collection of Chris Rose's columns reflects very much or any critical thought about race, class, and the responsibility of the government in the post-Katrina recovery efforts--how can you leave those issues out?!? On the other hand, I do appreciate this book as a personal account of how Katrina profoundly affected the psychological health of people living in New Orleans.
November 6, 2022
I see finishing this book as a personal triumph, not because it’s not a wise, wonderful, and well written work, but because I lost my home, car, and job as a result of hurricane Katrina. Needless to say, for one who was never properly treated for PTSD after this happened, 1 Dead in Attic was a hard pill to swallow, but I’m glad I did. In these pages, Chris Rose is brutally honest, witty, eloquent, and humorous. And that spoon full of laughter helped the medicine go down. I left New Orleans and moved to St. Louis after “the Thing,” as Rose refers to it, and a small part of me feels guilty about that decision. However, a bigger part of me is fully aware that I would never be able to go through it again. Chris Rose spells it all out, all of the complexities of New Orleans, a city that, to most reasonable people, makes no sense. Nevertheless, New Orleanians are a proud, stubborn, and community-oriented people, and that pulled us through. One thing I can say about 1 Dead in Attic is that it pulls no punches, but Rose’s love for the city of New Orleans and it’s people shines through on every page, but without cliches, without overly romanticizing or idealizing them. What a gift this book was. I think it even had a healing effect on me. I wish I had read it sooner, but I feared it would throw me right back into my downward spiral of PTSD like Spike Lee’s amazing documentary did. I truly had to psyche myself up to read it. I wish this were required reading for all Americans so that they could understand what happened to New Orleans in August 2005. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn the truth.
July 7, 2024
This book was a masterpiece. I was absolutely enamored from start to finish. Katrina broke New Orleans and southern Louisiana/Mississippi— and this book chronicles how it didn’t just break the cities but broke the people. However- the inhabitants had no choice but to fight back and live again. I’ve experienced post hurricane New Orleans and I think it’s one of the coolest places in the world- proof in my mind of how they rose from the ashes.
October 29, 2024
This acclaimed work of nonfiction by a New Orleans journalist is a collection of stories spanning from the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 through the following year. Full of heartbreak, devastation, humor, wit, and the facts of history, it’s an educational, entertaining, and heart-wrenching read.
January 27, 2026
if you ever want to read a book on Katrina choose this one
March 22, 2015
1 Dead in Attic is the third book I've read about Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans.
Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, a memoirist who didn't experience Katrina but wrote this work from interviews, tells the story of the experiences of New Orleans painting contractor Abdulrahman Zeitoun, who stayed in New Orleans during the storm only to be arrested and imprisoned in a wire cage for weeks.
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sheri Fink, a medical investigative journalist, chronicles the crisis which took place at New Orleans' Memorial Hospital during and after the storm. Patients, staff and families who remained at the hospital faced the crisis without leadership, a disaster plan, or electrical power, which culminated in some patients being euthanized by the doctors while others were being evacuated.
1 Dead in Attic is the story of the storm and its aftermath as portrayed in the newspaper columns of Chris Rose, a columnist with the New Orleans Times Picayune. A long-time New Orleans resident, Rose's columns from September 1, 2005 through December 31, 2006, tell his first-hand accounts of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
Each of these books captures the horror that the citizens of New Orleans experienced as they stood helpless against the storm, attempted to survive in the aftermath, and dealt with a lack of meaningful leadership or disaster assistance in the days and months that followed.
Of the three, only Rose's book is a first-hand account. It is the most personal, and also gives the broadest view of the reach of the disaster. Living in the city, surviving and suffering along with his fellow New Orleanians, he touches upon more personal stories and the neighborhood, civic and cultural issues that followed the storm. The city's pain was his pain, and in the end it nearly drove him to madness, along with much of the rest of the population. Through his columns, he describes his struggles, a year after the disaster, with PTSD and depression. Many of his readers realized his condition before he did, and tried to tell him so. When he finally got help, and antidepressants, his columns then helped many others who had survived the storm only to suffer in the aftermath, to seek help.
While Zeitoun was a fascinating story of how badly the disaster was handled by the government, and 5 Days at Memorial focused on the chaotic aftermath of the storm at the hospital, 1 Dead in Attic provides an up-close, week-to-week view of the many sides of New Orleans life following the storm. Each is important and eye-opening. I recommend you read all of them.
Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, a memoirist who didn't experience Katrina but wrote this work from interviews, tells the story of the experiences of New Orleans painting contractor Abdulrahman Zeitoun, who stayed in New Orleans during the storm only to be arrested and imprisoned in a wire cage for weeks.
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sheri Fink, a medical investigative journalist, chronicles the crisis which took place at New Orleans' Memorial Hospital during and after the storm. Patients, staff and families who remained at the hospital faced the crisis without leadership, a disaster plan, or electrical power, which culminated in some patients being euthanized by the doctors while others were being evacuated.
1 Dead in Attic is the story of the storm and its aftermath as portrayed in the newspaper columns of Chris Rose, a columnist with the New Orleans Times Picayune. A long-time New Orleans resident, Rose's columns from September 1, 2005 through December 31, 2006, tell his first-hand accounts of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
Each of these books captures the horror that the citizens of New Orleans experienced as they stood helpless against the storm, attempted to survive in the aftermath, and dealt with a lack of meaningful leadership or disaster assistance in the days and months that followed.
Of the three, only Rose's book is a first-hand account. It is the most personal, and also gives the broadest view of the reach of the disaster. Living in the city, surviving and suffering along with his fellow New Orleanians, he touches upon more personal stories and the neighborhood, civic and cultural issues that followed the storm. The city's pain was his pain, and in the end it nearly drove him to madness, along with much of the rest of the population. Through his columns, he describes his struggles, a year after the disaster, with PTSD and depression. Many of his readers realized his condition before he did, and tried to tell him so. When he finally got help, and antidepressants, his columns then helped many others who had survived the storm only to suffer in the aftermath, to seek help.
While Zeitoun was a fascinating story of how badly the disaster was handled by the government, and 5 Days at Memorial focused on the chaotic aftermath of the storm at the hospital, 1 Dead in Attic provides an up-close, week-to-week view of the many sides of New Orleans life following the storm. Each is important and eye-opening. I recommend you read all of them.
October 9, 2011
5 stars for New Orleaneans; 4 for those who have visited and love the city, and probably a 3 star rating for strangers to the Crescent City. The stories, legends, epic failings, and media hype completely fail to capture the spirit that is New Orleans, the physical and spiritual damage that Katrina and its aftermath (environmental and bureaucratic) did to one of the most vibrant cultural enclaves in America. The 'real' New Orleans is the people, the spirit, an approach to life and to people. It's a rhythm beyond the music, it's a smell beyond the food. The greater and more lasting damage was done by the bruising, battering and in many cases the destruction of that spirit, one soul at a time.
Chris Rose's book captures the emotional damage, mirrored in the context of the physical aftermath, told through his own eyes. As an observer of others he chronicles the human damage - the despair and the bright spots of courage and fortitude. Looking into the mirror, Rose also gives us poignant insight into the slow crumbling of his own emotional psyche, living in the aftermath of what can fairly be considered a domestic war zone.
For some, it will be an "interesting read of essays". For others, the chance to get a different view on a city all have heard of, but few truly know. For many, it's a tear-stained story of pain to the city we call home.
Chris Rose's book captures the emotional damage, mirrored in the context of the physical aftermath, told through his own eyes. As an observer of others he chronicles the human damage - the despair and the bright spots of courage and fortitude. Looking into the mirror, Rose also gives us poignant insight into the slow crumbling of his own emotional psyche, living in the aftermath of what can fairly be considered a domestic war zone.
For some, it will be an "interesting read of essays". For others, the chance to get a different view on a city all have heard of, but few truly know. For many, it's a tear-stained story of pain to the city we call home.
May 23, 2011
Entertained by it but not a huge fan.
I will say that this may be due to the fact that I read it over 5 years after Katrina (and have been living here the entire time), and any feeling of "rebuilding" New Orleans is long gone... the city is back to normal as far as I'm concerned.
Not a huge fan of anything inspirational. Call me a pessimist (I am not); I hated Slumdog Millionare. Although the book deals with many depressing issues, it is backed with Rose's hope for New Orleans to return, but explained through cliche phrases. The stories often build up, then culminate with something like "This is our city. We will return."
And if it isn't inspirational, it is often just a bummer of a story. I'm certainly interested in personal accounts during and after the storm, but a book like Zeitoun is much more intriguing.
I do have a few more stories to read, and it does seem to be picking up, such as the story about the Maple Leaf, and how it is always nice to know that something is going on when you're lying in bed. The option is there if you want it- I like that idea. If the last couple of stories are similar, then that could change my outlook on the book. Until then, 3 stars.
I will say that this may be due to the fact that I read it over 5 years after Katrina (and have been living here the entire time), and any feeling of "rebuilding" New Orleans is long gone... the city is back to normal as far as I'm concerned.
Not a huge fan of anything inspirational. Call me a pessimist (I am not); I hated Slumdog Millionare. Although the book deals with many depressing issues, it is backed with Rose's hope for New Orleans to return, but explained through cliche phrases. The stories often build up, then culminate with something like "This is our city. We will return."
And if it isn't inspirational, it is often just a bummer of a story. I'm certainly interested in personal accounts during and after the storm, but a book like Zeitoun is much more intriguing.
I do have a few more stories to read, and it does seem to be picking up, such as the story about the Maple Leaf, and how it is always nice to know that something is going on when you're lying in bed. The option is there if you want it- I like that idea. If the last couple of stories are similar, then that could change my outlook on the book. Until then, 3 stars.
January 12, 2015
This was an emotionally difficult read for me. I almost appreciated that fragmented nature of the assemblage of several years' worth of Rose's columns, instead of a unifying narrative. That same sort of disruptive rhythm, that yanked me back from immersion at the end of each three- or five-page essay echoed the stop-and-start process of healing so many went through after Katrina.
On a very personal level, it provoked a return to my own reflections on home - what makes a place feel that way; what happens when the physical location is gone, leaving it to live in memory alone; and, why some places, after years, never achieve that designation in my life.
Like the way a sommelier pairs a glass of wine with a chef's signature dish, I would recommend reading this title alongside Dave Egger's Zeitoun.
On a very personal level, it provoked a return to my own reflections on home - what makes a place feel that way; what happens when the physical location is gone, leaving it to live in memory alone; and, why some places, after years, never achieve that designation in my life.
Like the way a sommelier pairs a glass of wine with a chef's signature dish, I would recommend reading this title alongside Dave Egger's Zeitoun.
April 13, 2016
This book is only 364 pages, which I usually read in a day or two at most. This book took me three months. Rose is a journalist and this is a compilation of columns he wrote post-Katrina. It's raw. So raw that I had to be very careful how much I read, because it was too heavy sometimes. But it's IMPORTANT. If you've been to New Orleans, even now, 10 years later, it's not over completely. There are still neighborhoods that are dead and will not recover.
But the spirit, what makes New Orleans, didn't die and it's here, in this recounting of disaster, that I see again how much New Orleans means to those who love her. The moments of finding her soul again, despite the destruction.
If you love NOLA, this is important to read. It's part of her now.
But the spirit, what makes New Orleans, didn't die and it's here, in this recounting of disaster, that I see again how much New Orleans means to those who love her. The moments of finding her soul again, despite the destruction.
If you love NOLA, this is important to read. It's part of her now.
February 25, 2019
This is a really excellent collection of articles written by Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose that range from Katrina hitting New Orleans through the end of 2006. Although it only becomes obvious near the end of the book, it also chronicles the author's descent into depression and (partial) recovery. I especially enjoyed this book since I had read about half of these articles when the came out in the T-P. I definately gives a different perspecive when you read them all together.
July 27, 2025
Chris Rose was flying back to New Orleans after taking a short, but much-needed, break from his job as a Times-Picayune writer in 2005. He tried to imagine what his fellow travelers were thinking as they were returning home for the first time since Katrina had landed a month earlier.
“For some, it will be a foul-smelling but mildly comic discovery that they forgot to empty their Diaper Genie before they left. For a friend of mine who accompanied his mother to their home off Paris Avenue in St. Bernard Parish over the weekend, it was the discovery of two tenants in the rental side of her shotgun double, two tenants who had been dead for 33 days.”
Rose’s book, “1 dead in the attic,” was published in 2006 and is a compilation of columns he wrote in the storm's aftermath.
I got what he was describing, as I could remember the stench, the heat, the countless refrigerators at the curb, having faced a later cat 5 storm, Michael in 2018.
But ours, while devastating to so many people, just cannot compare with Katrina's: Michael took 74 souls, Katrina, more than 1,800.
And their manner of death, just terrifying: We remember the pictures of the holes on rooftops of flooded houses in Nola where those caught inside somehow successfully hacked their way out of rising waters to safety. Or they didn't.
Rose also met and interviewed the many rescuers who came from all over the country to help, including a California National Guard unit.
“Every damn one of them tells you they're happy to be here (despite what you've heard, it still beats the hell out of Fallujah), and every time I try to thank them, on behalf of all of us, I just lose it. I absolutely melt down,” he writes. “There is nothing quite as ignominious as weeping in front of a soldier.”
Rose ended his book on an upbeat note, as Nola didn't skip Mardi Gras 2006 and he was hopeful the city would rebuild.
This is a sad reminder of that awful storm that kept on devastating long after Rose's book came out.
Rose couldn't get over his own depression, anxiety and addictions in his aftermath of the Katrina. He almost drank himself to death, his marriage ended and he disappeared.
Until he was discovered by his old newspaper a few years ago, living in a campsite in Swallow Falls State Park.
He seems to have found peace.
“For some, it will be a foul-smelling but mildly comic discovery that they forgot to empty their Diaper Genie before they left. For a friend of mine who accompanied his mother to their home off Paris Avenue in St. Bernard Parish over the weekend, it was the discovery of two tenants in the rental side of her shotgun double, two tenants who had been dead for 33 days.”
Rose’s book, “1 dead in the attic,” was published in 2006 and is a compilation of columns he wrote in the storm's aftermath.
I got what he was describing, as I could remember the stench, the heat, the countless refrigerators at the curb, having faced a later cat 5 storm, Michael in 2018.
But ours, while devastating to so many people, just cannot compare with Katrina's: Michael took 74 souls, Katrina, more than 1,800.
And their manner of death, just terrifying: We remember the pictures of the holes on rooftops of flooded houses in Nola where those caught inside somehow successfully hacked their way out of rising waters to safety. Or they didn't.
Rose also met and interviewed the many rescuers who came from all over the country to help, including a California National Guard unit.
“Every damn one of them tells you they're happy to be here (despite what you've heard, it still beats the hell out of Fallujah), and every time I try to thank them, on behalf of all of us, I just lose it. I absolutely melt down,” he writes. “There is nothing quite as ignominious as weeping in front of a soldier.”
Rose ended his book on an upbeat note, as Nola didn't skip Mardi Gras 2006 and he was hopeful the city would rebuild.
This is a sad reminder of that awful storm that kept on devastating long after Rose's book came out.
Rose couldn't get over his own depression, anxiety and addictions in his aftermath of the Katrina. He almost drank himself to death, his marriage ended and he disappeared.
Until he was discovered by his old newspaper a few years ago, living in a campsite in Swallow Falls State Park.
He seems to have found peace.
November 17, 2025
"In many ways, I feel as if I have become the New Orleans poster boy for posttraumatic stress, chronicling my descent into madness for everyone to read." If that tells you anything about the author, who also said, "it’s crazy to think that only folks who were at the Dome or the Convention Center have a lock on the misery that befell the Gulf Coast in early September 2005. Everyone’s got a story in this town, in this region, and not one I’ve heard is a day at the park." Again, I'd like to point out that Chris Rose surely does have posttraumatic stress from his time journaling the aftermath of Katrina, as anyone would. However, to stylize himself the New Orleans poster boy for posttraumatic stress while also saying the people who actively rode out the storm (not in a "crack motel" in Vicksburg like Chris Rose and his family, who then stayed with family in Maryland for the rest of the year) get no recognition for their suffering, is egregious. Also, Chris Rose seems to get personally offended if you bring racial inequality up about New Orleans in general or Katrina specifically. Which doesn't surprise me about someone who rode his little red bike to the 9th Ward and described half the people he met there as "gang bangers". Mr. Rose spends so much of his time making sure his readers know he belongs in New Orleans, to New Orleans, IS NEW ORLEANS, and the losses and destruction that gets a pass to be mourned are his personal losses. His neighbor (his muse, his saving grace, the woman he talked to a couple of times and then would disappear from for years at a time) dies from complications due to a broken hip caused by being assaulted and robbed. This of course is such a low blow to Mr. Rose specifically, a personal attack on him (and by extension, New Orleans) by OTHERS who don't belong in HIS city because HIS city does not have poverty or crime.
Anyway, if you want to read a well-off white man tell you about his feelings and how they are the deepest felt feelings anyone ever had, this is probably a pretty good book for you.
Anyway, if you want to read a well-off white man tell you about his feelings and how they are the deepest felt feelings anyone ever had, this is probably a pretty good book for you.
November 26, 2022
One journalists account of After Katrina. He lived it, he recovered from it (kinda), and he learned from it. He went through all the emotions including depression and PTSD. He had great accounts of the aftermath, and his journalism to book efforts are profound. Worth the read. I feel for what the author went through, as my house too flooded in 2016. We lost many material things, pictures, and sanity, but we rebuilt, and recovered (for the most part.) We also had outside help with many aspects of redoing our house weather it was the demolition, cleaning, rebuilding, or financial support. My son was 4 when it happened and we were on our way home from daycare and it had started down pouring. He says in his little 4 year old voice, “We’re not gonna flood again, are we mom?” And my heart just broke into a million pieces for him as I comforted and explained that we wouldn’t and that we’d be ok. One of the moments I’ll never forget.
January 5, 2025
A remarkable day-by-day account of survival, despair, and rebuilding in the wake of one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit our shores. 1 Dead in Attic reminded me of some journals I’ve read from the front lines of war with the utter destruction it describes, the horrible and needless loss of life it memorializes, and the gallows humor with which Rose captures much of this awfulness. And because the book is a collection of newspaper columns starting the day after Katrina made landfall and ending on New Year’s Eve the following year, it also captures— in ways a straightforward history of the event might not have— what it felt like for someone who loves New Orleans and its people to live through the storm and its aftermath in real time.
May 26, 2022
A collection of newspaper columns by the author in the year after Katrina. It's not a blow by blow of the storm or the days and weeks after, there are better books for that but you do get the sense of his deep love for his city. And if you have ever loved a place you've lived or visited. Not just liked it but felt it in your blood, you may appreciate this more. There are a lot of local references I didn't get but his comedic timing is great. He does suffer from mental health issues as a result of Katrina, like I'm sure so many did, but at least he admits he was lucky to not have lost anything or anyone. I think that was what bothered me in a way, he wasn't even in New Orleans during the storm but he can't stop obsessing over it upon his return. Imagine what people who spent days trapped in an attic must have felt.
August 19, 2025
This is a five star read for me because I have been captivated by the events leading up to and after Katrina since it happened. New Orleans is also my favorite US city, but if neither of these things are true for you, it may not be of interest. It is a deeply personal account of what life was like in New Orleans post Katrina. There are references about specific places and things that may make it difficult for readers unfamiliar with the city. However, if you're like me and you love a good rabbit hole, this may be right for you.
May 23, 2024
I loved this book. Someone gave it to us before we moved to NOLA, so that my husband, who was going to be pastoring a local church, would know what the folks had been through during and after Katrina. Every conversation we had with the folks began with “before Katrina”, “during Katrina”, or “after Katrina.” One Dead in Attic helped us so much. Thank you, Chris Rose. We appreciated all the sad, happy, and honest stories.
October 2, 2025
4.5/5 stars
This book was very heavy. Being a NOLA resident who recently underwent a NOLA-related catastrophe of my own, my feelings about this city are complicated right now so this book was therapeutic in many ways.
An excellent portrayal of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that gave me all of the feels, even now, 20 years later. A great read.
This book was very heavy. Being a NOLA resident who recently underwent a NOLA-related catastrophe of my own, my feelings about this city are complicated right now so this book was therapeutic in many ways.
An excellent portrayal of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that gave me all of the feels, even now, 20 years later. A great read.
January 19, 2026
Tough book that is a collection of Rose's articles in the Times Picayune for around 16 months or so post Katrina. It paints a picture of the city and the very slow recovery but also Rose's own PTSD from the experience. Toward the end he has an article about finally getting help, both therapeutic and medicinal, which was likely helpful for many at the time.
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