Tropical storms are given names by meteorological offices around the world. In English we generally prefer to be anthropomorphic, using male and female names alternately, but elsewhere it may be different: Nargis, the cyclone that swept through Burma (Myanmar) in 2008 was named in India and means narcissus.
In her previous book about Burma (as she prefers to call it), Emma Larkin drew a parallel, from quiet confidential conversations, between the thought-controlled world of George Orwell's novels such as "1984" and that country now. Larkin writes under a pseudonym, but speaks Burmese and slips in and out of the country often, gathering what information she can. She builds a believable portrait of life under the military regime.
"Everything is Broken," which has an epigraph from Bob Dylan, is her account of the destruction wreaked by the cyclone, and how little the government did to help.
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