A wake. A wake upon the river rolls. It bubbles and gurgles and carefully unfolds from the barnacled belly of a passing ship. It reaches its rings around the bend of this crescent-shaped bowl below sea level, stretching from ship to shore. It curls and then breaks onto the bank of this city without cares and pushes a black bottle into the hands of the queen of this sleep... Thus begins this story set by Mark Ballard Baker in New Orleans around the week leading up to Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday, the day after. The mythic rituals of New Orleans men and women, black and white, young and old,...