Robert Smallwood looks like any local you'd see strolling through New Orleans' French Quarter on a hot summer day, sporting a guayabera shirt and Panama hat.

But the French Quarter sights that Smallwood recounts in The Five People You Meet in Hell are anything but typical. The book is a chronological account of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath and his personal experiences during that time.

On the other hand, many of the books’ stories are the kind that take place “only in New Orleans.” In this 2-minute video clip, filmed in New Orleans in June 2006, Smallwood tell us about swapping a “disembodied” finger for a six-pack of beer.