Comments on: Tin Roof Blow Down

By: Heather (errantdreams)

Heather (errantdreams) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:03:32 +0000

Interesting. I tend to avoid novels dealing with major tragedies since I don’t want to end up with the ones that just seek to grimly capitalize on the suffering of others, but I do like to hear about the ones that help us to understand and learn about the tragedy—which it sounds like this one does. Another one for the wish list; thank you for writing such a good review.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:31:10 +0000

Dr J: Just another example of Toole’s genius. I had forgotten about that aspect of Officer Mancuso’s suffering.

By: Dr J

Dr J — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:53:29 +0000

Almost totally off-subject, but here goes:
Sen. Craig’s current legal difficulties have put me in mind of my other favorite New Orleans novel, A Confederacy of Dunces.
After I got a good chuckle out of Craig’s rank hypocrisy [see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Vs5570pKw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftalkingpointsmemo%2Ecom%2F I started feeling really sorry for the poor airport cop who had been assigned to this (ahem) beat. I started thinking I’d had this feeling before. And then I remembered where I’d heard the story previously: this is almost exactly what happened to Officer Mancuso in ACOD. Officer Mancuso screwed up so many times that NOPD told him to come up with a disguise and assigned him to the bus station men’s room, where he was to arrest “suspicious characters” and where he first encountered Ignatius.
As my main man Burma Jones would say, “Whoa!”

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:45:00 +0000

RaeRae: I was indeed in Miami for Hurricane Andrew. I was evacuated from what turned out to be near perfect safety of Miami Beach. I decided to ride the storm out with Mark S in Kendall, which was just north of ground zero. Three days of 8 people living in an apartment with no electricity, a tub of fresh water, and only a partial roof. If you’re going to go through something like that, have Mark with you was the take home message.

Beth: I had a similar experience. I’ve read Burke off and on. You can jump right back into this one without missing a beat.

By: Beth (The Toronto One)

Beth (The Toronto One) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:22:56 +0000

I used to read James Lee Burke years ago. Don’t know why I stopped. (I always loved the description of his home on the river.)

This seems like an excellent book with which to resume my Burke reading.

By: Rae Rae

Rae Rae — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:15:24 +0000

Interesting assessment of the author. I love regional writers. I have Stormy Weather on my stack and think Carl Hiaasen is uniquely qualified to speak about Hurricane Andrew that breezed through the Miami area. (Hey, weren’t you there for that one?)