Our Sleepless Nights: Surviving Katrina and Burying Miss Vera

Hurricane Katrina ranks among this country's worst disasters, but the social devastation that followed turned an already bad situation into a surreal urban nightmare. This is the story of how New Orleans resident John Lee weathered the physical storm only to be caught up in the ensuing anarchy. For nine days he remained in the heart of the city, bearing witness to the chaos. Eventually he undertook the task of burying Miss Vera Smith, whose body lay abandoned in the street for almost a week. Miss Vera's grave became a national symbol of both the abandonment the Katrina survivors experienced and the resilience and hope which helped them to persevere. Our Sleepless Nights: Surviving Katrina and Burying Miss Vera is an easy read, but one that might leave you with some uneasy questions such as, "Could this happen again?" and "Could this happen in my neighborhood?" This is a book which helps people understand just how fragile our civilization truly is.