My New Orleans
Yep. Another New Orleans book. This one is called My New Orleans.
A friend of mine loaned me this book. He said afterwards (paraphrasing), “New Orleans is a great town for bar stool philosophers. That doesn’t mean that you want to get them all together to write a book.” Amen. Of the New Orleans books that I’ve read so far, this one is at the bottom of the heap.
The introduction of the book is almost unreadable. Several well-meaning essays compare how New Orleans is like – gumbo, a pousse cafe (a local layered drink), a doberge cake – different layers/ingredients coming together to be wonderful. Great. This book is not a pousse cafe.
One of the essays is by, apparently, an award winning author. His essay is about coming to New Orleans for the first time in order to receive a literary award from Richard Ford. Hot shot author says that New Orleans seemed like a place he’d want to know, but it seemed like it would be hard work. The end. Really. Did you see how he worked getting an award presented by Richard Ford in there? Sweet.
I could not be more of the exact target demographic for this book. And yet, they missed. If you want to read excellent books about New Orleans, I recommend Letters from New Orleans by Rob Walker (pre-Katrina) and Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza (post-Katrina). Skip this one.
Books, Non-Fiction, Review | Tim | 
July 21, 2006 7:22 am
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By Beth, July 21, 2006 @ 9:40 am
I’ll skip. But do tell us who the Richard Ford-winning author was.
By DJ Cayenne, July 21, 2006 @ 2:04 pm
It was Stewart O’Nan. I hesitated to call him out by name, because this is the only thing of his that I’ve ever read. On the subject of Nola, I am not very level-headed and unemotional. He may be swell.
If I remember correctly, his award was from the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society (Faulkner lived there for a while) and was presented by Richard Ford.
By Beth, July 21, 2006 @ 2:28 pm
I’ve read his “The Good Wife.” Think that’s it.
By DJ Cayenne, July 21, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
Any good?