New Orleans Voodoo by Meryl PerloffAs a New Orleans native, I was immersed in the diversity of cultures in this panoptic community. It seemed that the more removed from the familiar, the more valued the attraction for residents as well as visitors. The colorful rituals combined with the beat of faraway African rhythms and the dervish like dancing caught the attention of a fun loving population as well as opportunistic entrepreneurs. A brush with a largely unfamiliar but colorful