Richard Ford "Post-Katrina New Orleans"

In "A City Beyond the Reach of Empathy," Richard Ford delves into a number of his thoughts concerning post-Katrina New Orleans. The experience of watching New Orleans evokes nostalgia, as he recalls a fight between his parents at Antoine's restaurant, a trip on the Algiers Ferry with his mother, and being mugged by a young man on Coliseum Street. Ford worries about the safety of the individuals he encountered in these situations- even the young man who pulled a silver pistol on he and his wife- in the wake of disaster. Perhaps Ford realizes the gravity of the situations best when he remarks: "Our inept attempts at words run only to lists, costs, to assessing blame." At times, it feels as if he considers New Orleans dead, reminiscing on traditions like the city's inimitable joy surrounding Mardi Gras. The overriding theme of the articles is uncertainty, and Ford wonders how the city will rise after Hurricane Katrina. "Today is a beginning," he points out rather optimistically, although to this day he condemns the lack of governmental support given to individuals hoping to return to their homes and begin anew.

His short fiction piece "Leaving for Kenosha" centres around the story of a thirteen-year old girl saying goodbye to her classmate, who just a week into the school year is moving to Wisconsin. More importantly, the story is set in New Orleans, two years after Katrina, where everyone is still impacted by the disaster. It reads quite similarly to acclaimed sportswriter S.L. Price's brief commentary (in a 1997 article on athlete Randy Moss) on how the town of Huntington, West Virginia was still coping after the 1970 plane crash that killed seventy-five players and coaches of the Marshall University football team. Everyone hurts long after impact. The scene of impoverished individuals scouring a Wal-Mart as Walter Hobbes guiltily searches for an appropriate greeting card is powerfully written, as is the description of he and Louise's eye-opening trip into the "demolished neighborhood" where Ginny resides. Two years later, and people continue to struggle. "Letter writers had predicted that everything would soon be restored and become even better. So far that hadn't happened." Ford's story offers a compelling perspective on the wreckage that was New Orleans years after the disaster.