Called A Play

I'll read anything Michael Lewis writes: NEW ORLEANS — When the storm finally passes and the wind ceases to blow, the only evidence of property damage for many blocks around us is in our front yard. A part of my sister’s white picket fence has fallen out onto the sidewalk. I call my brother-in-law who says that his fence does that all the time — he never nailed it back together after Katrina. Give it a nudge and the thing collapses. A few hours later, a video crew from “The NewsHour” with Jim Lehrer is marching one of Gustav’s victims back and forth in front of my sister’s fence. My brother—in-law asks me to go prop it back up, so that the neighbors won’t take offense, but I leave it down, as other TV crews may need it. There’s precious little else that might serve as a Backdrop to a Catastrophe. The city looks too good.