Ghosts

by Edwidge Danticat

This is a good story about Haitian slums, gangs, radio broadcasts, corrupt judicial systems, and immigrant diaspora.

Danticat's stories in the New Yorker have previously been relationship based, but this story is different. Pascal is the son of restaurateurs in a 'mid-level' slum in Haiti. He works for a radio station, and dreams of producing his own show, on which he would interview the gangsters of his neighbourhood. When his idea is stolen, events unfold which put him at the mercy of the Haitian judicial system.

Danticat does a great job of describing and explaining slum life, and the reasons why people move into such a situation. I'd like to see her write more frequently in this magazine.