Samuel Delany's Dhalgren--which I talked briefly about in the previous entry--is about an American catastrophe and its social aftermath. It reminded me a lot of what happened in New Orleans. At one point I wanted to write about that, even though my efforts towards understanding could have been better enlisted through giving money, re-building, charity, etc.
But isn't that the rub with art? You could be doing something more helpful.
Someone wrote about it before me anyway, a very brief blurb: Dhalgren In New Orleans.
I'm always wondering about the cross-overs between literature and politics, art and social justice. It is a difficult interrogation.
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