Do Not Open

When the floodwaters that swamped New Orleans finally receded in September 2005, the post–Hurricane Katrina recovery began. One of the most common sights was the discarded home refrigerator, perched on the curb and ready for disposal. For months, thousands upon thousands of ruined refrigerators still awaited pick-up. Many had messages scribbled with markers or blurted with spray paint, rendered by owners and passersby alike, ranging from practical to sentimental, the angry to the darkly humorous. This book, featuring hundreds of black-and-white photographs, presents the communiqués that transformed appliances into message boards, and explores the post-disaster environment that inspired their creation.

Katheryn Krotzer Laborde is an assistant professor of English at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Katheryn Krotzer Laborde
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 260
Bibliographic Info: 160 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3789-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6021-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
A Foreword      viii
Introduction: Coming Home      1

ONE • Refrigerators I: Empty, Full      13
TWO • The People Who Grieved, the City They Mourned For      50
THREE • Voices of the Storm      76
FOUR • Refrigerators II: Getting the Word Out      89
FIVE • Signs of the Times      114
SIX • Refrigerators III: Anarchy and Anger      131
SEVEN • Grief and Frigidaires      164
EIGHT • Talkin’ Trash      177
NINE • Refrigerators IV: Hope, Faith, and Love      199

Epilogue: Gustav      228
Chapter Notes      239
Bibliography      245
Index      249