50bookchallenge, 15000pages
Book #55 -- Walter M Brasch, Unacceptable: the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina, 100 pages.
As the title suggests, this is an inflammatory, highly partisan critique of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, placing particular blame on President Bush and top Republicans in his administration. This does not mean that the information contained within in is not valid. Brasch's position is well-supported, although he fails to clearly distinguish between authoritative scholarly and government sources and subjective interviews and newspaper articles. Considering the proliferation of rumor and misinformation after Hurricane Katrina, even in the mainstream media (unsubstantiated claims of snipers firing at rescue operators comes to mind), this oversight is a significant one. Brasch presents his case, and leaves it up to the reader to determine the reliability of his sources. In addition, although he consistently states his sources within the text, there is no bibliography or endnotes giving complete citations, so fact-checking can be difficult. Despite these drawbacks, the prose is clear and the thesis well-argued.
Progress toward goals: 162/366 = 44.3%
Books: 55/150 = 36.7%
Pages: 14979/50000 = 30.0%
2008 Book List
cross-posted to 15000pages, 50bookchallenge, and gwynraven
As the title suggests, this is an inflammatory, highly partisan critique of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, placing particular blame on President Bush and top Republicans in his administration. This does not mean that the information contained within in is not valid. Brasch's position is well-supported, although he fails to clearly distinguish between authoritative scholarly and government sources and subjective interviews and newspaper articles. Considering the proliferation of rumor and misinformation after Hurricane Katrina, even in the mainstream media (unsubstantiated claims of snipers firing at rescue operators comes to mind), this oversight is a significant one. Brasch presents his case, and leaves it up to the reader to determine the reliability of his sources. In addition, although he consistently states his sources within the text, there is no bibliography or endnotes giving complete citations, so fact-checking can be difficult. Despite these drawbacks, the prose is clear and the thesis well-argued.
Progress toward goals: 162/366 = 44.3%
Books: 55/150 = 36.7%
Pages: 14979/50000 = 30.0%
2008 Book List
cross-posted to 15000pages, 50bookchallenge, and gwynraven