Blood Dazzler
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In minute-by-minute detail, Patricia Smith tracks Hurricane Katrina as it transforms into a full-blown mistress of destruction. From August 23, 2005, the day Tropical Depression Twelve developed, through August 28 when it became a Category Five storm with its “scarlet glare fixed on the trembling crescent,” to the heartbreaking aftermath, these poems evoke the horror that unfolded in New Orleans as America watched it on television. An unforgettable reminder that poetry can still be “news that stays news,” Blood Dazzler is a necessary step toward national healing.
PRAISE
“From a confluence of poetic sensibilities, in a hot political wind, Smith rises above mere topicality to address timeless concerns.”
— National Book Award judges’ citation
“Patricia Smith’s fierce, blood-in-the-mouth collection of poems . . . grows out of this disaster and already has the whiff and feel of folklore.”
— John Freeman, NPR
“Patricia Smith brings an incantatory brilliance to the horror of that hurricane and our nation’s shameful response to it. . . . A work of awful beauty.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“An astonishing poetic narrative. . . . Smith defiantly, bravely, imagines the unimaginable.”
—The Brooklyn Rail
“Powerful, visceral . . . a resonant and devastating portrait of a vivacious city’s destruction.”
— Open Letters
“A necessary read for all Americans.”
— Bustle
“This accomplished work reaffirms [Smith's] position as one of America’s strongest and most clarion poetic voices.”
—Booklist