[Oxford American] A City Erupts

The New Orleans/Gulf Coast issue of the Oxford American is out now
featuring my piece about the involuntary evolution of Baton Rouge
after Katrina.

I still don't have power after Gustav and am posting from my phone, so
sorry, no excerpts but it's on page 60 of a magazine that deserves
purchasing even witgout my presence in it. The two pieces about Lil
Wayne by Ada Liana Biduic and David Ramsey are really powerful,
really, even if you hate Lil Wayne and see rap as cancer. And the
full story of Dr. Ben Marble, the "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney" guy,
is truth on the precipice of wild fiction.

I read half of the issue by flashlight trying catch the slightest
breeze while we all half slept on mattresses in the dining room, the
room with the best circulation, and I'm hoping Baton Rouge can keep up
the slow momentum, stay on the right side of the tipping point if I
may get Malcolm Gladwell about it, and not fall into a trap of self
pity and OG Louisiana "well, fuck it then" because CNN left because
there were no starving grandmas on rooftops in New Orleans this time.

I'm proud of my article first because its good and I am a vain writer
who likes seeing his name in his favorite magazine, but also because
I'm proud of my town and my state and even a little proud of our
former exorcist/GOP token governor for keeping our collective shit
together and doing our jobs during THIS hurricane, neither of which
being a Louisiana strong suit.

So go buy the issue. The Oxford American has traditionally had a
Louisiana-esque attitude toward a publishing calendar and this is the
third quarterly to come out on time, so go reward a bunch of us
backwards ass Southerners for keeping it together for most of a year.
Believe me, it doesn't come naturally to us.

http://oxfordamericanmag.com/