It’s
a tough life for the residents of Jeanette, Louisiana, who make their living by
shrimping in The Barataria. When the BP oil spill drifts into south Louisiana
wetlands, the residents find breaking even a challenge.
The
oil spill sets the stage for Tom Cooper’s “The Marauders,” but what drives the
novel are the colorful characters, working class people not only trying to keep
their heads above water but dreaming of a chance to rise above.
There’s Gus Lindquist, a one-armed shrimper who pops pills
from a Pez dispenser, desperately searching the cheniers for Jean Lafitte’s
lost treasure while drug dealers Reginald and Vincent Toup harass him to stay
clear of their massive marijuana crop. There’s two petty criminals who end up
in Jeanette cleaning oil off wildlife who discover the Toups’ stash and young
Wes, one of the few young people who wants to continue shrimping but who can’t
forgive his father for this mother’s death in Katrina.
In
the middle of this unusual cast is Brady Grimes, a Barataria native who
reluctantly returns home to play middleman between residents and the oil
company.
The
various stories connect toward the book’s conclusion, wrapping up an
entertaining ride that intersects with aplomb and tops up with heartfelt introspection
by the one character who remains the future of this dying town. It’s an
excellent story from start to finish, but don’t take my word for it. Stephen
King calls “The Marauders” “one hell of a novel” and I couldn’t agree more.
As
brilliant as Cooper’s storytelling is his authenticity to detail, from Cajun
expressions and mannerisms to distinctive south Louisiana flaura and fauna,
commands accolades. Cooper lives and teaches in New Orleans but he hails from
Florida so extra kudos for capturing a unique landscape and culture so well.
Cooper will
read from his book at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, at Garden District Book Shop in New
Orleans. Bill Loehfelm, author of “Doing the Devil's Work,” will
interview Cooper following the reading. Cooper will also join Loehfelm and
Morgan Molthrop at Reading Between the Wines salon-type event at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 4. at the Pearl Wine Co. inside of the American Can Company of New
Orleans.
Home remedies
The
Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana will host Dr.
Eddie L. Boyd, author of “African American Home Remedies: A Practical Guide
with Usage and Application Data,” at noon Wednesday in the State Library’s
Seminar Center. Boyd will discuss home remedies and herbs used by African
Americans to help celebrate Black History Month. The program is free and open
to the public and attendees are invited to bring brown bag lunches. Boyd
graduated from Cameron Street High School in Canton, Miss., in 1956, then attended
the University of California’s School of Pharmacy and earned a doctorate in
pharmacy in 1970. Boyd accepted a position as an assistant professor at the
University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy and remained on that faculty for
30 years before retiring in 2003. For
more information, visit
www.state.lib.la.us
LSU Press
LSU
Press has published “Hurricane Katrina in Transatlantic Perspective,” a
collection of examinations by American and European scholars edited by Romain
Huret, a professor of American history at the School for Advanced Studies in
Social Sciences in Paris, and Randy Sparks, a professor of history at Tulane
and author of “The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-Century Atlantic
Odyssey” and “Where the Negroes Are Masters: An African Port in the Era of the
Slave Trade.”
“The
Louisiana Field Guide: Understanding Life in the Pelican State” tackles the
unique fabric of Louisiana with contributor essays on the environment,
geography, history, politics, religion, culture, food and so much more. The
book is edited by Ryan Orgera, who received his doctorate in geography from LSU
and serves as the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the office of
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and Wayne Parent, Russell B. Long professor of political
science at LSU and the author of “Inside the Carnival: Unmasking Louisiana
Politics.”
Times-Picayune
political columnist and author Robert Mann explains why the public’s approval
rating of Congress has reached an all-time low and offers remedies to the
situation in “Working Congress: A Guide for Senators, Representatives, and
Citizens.” Contributors include Mickey Edwards, Ross K. Baker, Frances E. Lee,
Brian L. Fife, Susan Herbst, and Mark Kennedy. Mann is the author of “Daisy
Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ,” “Barry Goldwater and the Ad That Changed
American Politics,” “When Freedom Would Triumph: The Civil Rights Struggle in
Congress, 1954–1968” and many other books.
The
poultry processing industry in El Dorado, Ark., was an economic powerhouse in
the latter half of the 20th century, the largest employer in the interconnected
region of South Arkansas and North Louisiana. “We Just Keep Running the Line:
Black Southern Women and the Poultry Processing Industry” by LaGuana Gray is
the story of the rise of the industry in El Dorado and the labor force — composed
primarily of black women — upon which it came to rely. Gray is a historian who
specializes in the study of African American women’s lives and labors. She is
assistant history professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Geographer
Craig E. Colten addresses how the South can navigate the risks of having too
much water and not enough in “Southern Waters: The Limits to Abundance.” Colten
is the Carl O. Sauer professor of geography and anthropology at LSU and the
author of “Perilous Place, Powerful Storms: Hurricane Protection in Coastal
Louisiana” and co-author of “Historical Geographies for the 21st Century.”
Book events
Anya
Kamenetz will discuss and sign “The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed
with Standardized Testing — But You Don’t Have to Be” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at
Octavia Books in New Orleans. Also at Octavia this week, author and illustrator
Joy Bateman signs “The Art of Dining in New Orleans 2,” a restaurant guide
with signature recipes, at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Jami
Attenberg will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Columns Hotel in New Orleans as
part of a 1718 Society event. The 1718 Society is a literary organization
comprised of Tulane, Loyola and UNO students who hold free monthly
readings the first Tuesday of each month at The Columns Hotel. Maple Street
Book shop will be on-site to sell Attenberg’s novels, “The Middlesteins,” “The
Melting Season,” “The Kept Man” and the story collection “Instant
Love.” Her most recent work, “Saint Mazie,” is forthcoming from Grand Central
Publishing in June.
Nina
Solomon (“The Love Book”), Julie Smith (“New Orleans Noir”) and Barbara J.
Taylor (“Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night”) will sign copes of their books
from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.
The
Student Career Concepts and Enrichment Program Inc.\Just Write Cultural Arts
Group will sponsor the African American Authors Round Table from 10 a.m. to 8
p.m. Saturday at the Acadiana Mall’s Center Court Area. Visitors who stop by and
visit with the southwest Louisiana authors will receive free items and the
principal or librarian from the school with the most signatures will receive a
gift. The Student Career Concepts and Enrichment Program is a mentoring and job
shadowing program. For information, contact Sherry T. Broussard at 261-1940,
scce@lusfiber.net or visit
lacsprograms.org.
Ann
Dobie will discuss her latest book, “Remembering Lafayette: 1930–1955,” from 2
p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Alexandre Mouton House/Lafayette Museum
in downtown Lafayette.
Cheré Coen is the author
of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette,
Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author
of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write
her at cherecoen@gmail.com.
In
2013, award-winning poet Jason Mott posed a similar scenario in his novel, “The
Returned,” but this time it’s many people who have died throughout the world
(although the book is focused on one small town), and the subsequent reaction
by the government. We reviewed the book and you can read it here.
