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Q&A | May 20, 2013

Michael Marder: IMG Powell’s Q&A: Michael Marder

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Describe your latest work. When I started working on Plant-Thinking in 2008, I had no idea that the project would turn out to be as broad as it did.... Continue »
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Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans

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Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans Cover

ISBN13: 9780385523202
ISBN10: 0385523203
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

After Hurricane Katrina, Dan Baum moved to New Orleans to write about the city's response to the disaster for the New Yorker. He quickly realized that Katrina was not the most interesting thing about New Orleans, not by a long shot. The most interesting question, which struck him as he watched residents struggling to return, was this: Why are New Orleanians — along with people from all over the world who continue to flock there — so devoted to a place that was, even before the storm, the most corrupt, impoverished, and violent corner of America?

Here's the answer. Nine Lives is a multivoiced biography of this dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city through the lives of nine characters over forty years and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed the city in the 1960s, and Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. These nine lives are windows into every strata of one of the most complex and fascinating cities in the world. From outsider artists and Mardi Gras Kings to jazz-playing coroners and transsexual barkeeps, these lives are possible only in New Orleans, but the city that nurtures them is also, from the beginning, a city haunted by the possibility of disaster. All their stories converge in the storm, where some characters rise to acts of heroism and others sink to the bottom. But it is New Orleans herself — perpetually whistling past the grave yard — that is the story's real heroine.

Nine Lives is narrated from the points of view of some of New Orleans's most charismatic characters, but underpinning the voices of the city is an extraordinary feat of reporting that allows Baum to bring this kaleidoscopic portrait to life with brilliant color and crystalline detail. Readers will find themselves wrapped up in each of these individual dramas and delightfully immersed in the life of one of this country's last unique places, even as its ultimate devastation looms ever closer. By resurrecting this beautiful and tragic place and portraying the extraordinary lives that could have taken root only there, Nine Lives shows us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.

Review:

"Nine Lives reaches for, and grasps, an astonishing range of experience in New Orleans. In tracing the paths of these lives over decades, and across the lines of age, race, class, and gender, it gives an essential perspective on what was lost, and found, by the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Dan Baum doesn't live in New Orleans, but New Orleans lives in him, and on every page of this harrowing, compassionate book." Tom Piazza, author of City of Refuge and Why New Orleans Matters

Review:

"Nine Lives is stunning work. Dan Baum has immersed himself in New Orleans, the most fascinating city in the United States, and illuminated it in a way that is as innovative as Tom Wolfe on hot rods and Truman Capote on a pair of murderers. Full of stylistic brilliance and deep insight and an overriding compassion, Nine Lives is an instant classic of creative nonfiction." Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

Review:

"Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans is one of the most moving — and riveting — books ever written about the rich and complicated life we live here." Times-Picayune

Review:

"A splendid book... Baum continually serves up wonderful detail and phrasing....People in Nine Lives sometimes use the phrase 'You feel me?' the way other people say 'You understand?' If Baum had employed these words as the last line of his book, as a question about everything he's told us, the answer would be a firm, appreciative 'yes'." New York Times Book Review

Review:

"[A] shimmering portrait... [Baum] adroitly moves his subjects through parades, prisons, divorces, sex changes, fancy balls and gun brawls — yes, the stuff of life here — showing New Orleans as a magnetic, enduring force." Washington Post

Synopsis:

Originating in a heralded series of New Yorker articles, Nine Lives explores New Orleans through the lives of nine characters over 40 years, bracketed by two epic hurricanes.

Synopsis:

Nines Lives is a multivoiced biography of a dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city, told through the lives of nine unforgettable characters and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. Dan Baum brings this kaleidoscopic portrait to life, showing us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.
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About the Author

Dan Baum is a former staff writer for the New Yorker, and has written for numerous other magazines and newspapers. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Patricia Richardson, January 3, 2013 (view all comments by Patricia Richardson)
My favorite book of the year was a difficult choice, but I picked Nine Lives. So much to this book! - history, suspense, personalities across the entire spectrum making up New Orleans society. I found myself repeatedly doing internet research to find out more details of events or people, and everything I learned matched up what Dan Baum presented accurately. This is a book I would read again and I look forward to a return trip to New Orleans to visit locales featured in the book. This is a must read for anyone touched by Katrina and its aftermath, or just by the color and legacy of New Orleans itself.
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Carrita, January 26, 2012 (view all comments by Carrita)
i have read about the first 42 pages and feel drawn in from the start even though the author said it would take 50 pages to understand what was going on. some of time frame is around hurricane betsy and is in the 9th and 7th wards. the author has done a gread job of describing the people, events and houses and area. the reason i know some of this is because my husband is from new orleans and lived in the 9th ward and said that the details are all correct - so kudos to the author. this is a definite recommend read - the only problem i have is that it would be better on an eboook where i can adjust the print. the print in this book is hard for me as an older lady to read and so i use a magnifying glass to read it but it is great.
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Susan Feldman, December 23, 2011 (view all comments by Susan Feldman)
If you've ever been to New Orleans, or are thinking about going or love the series Treme, this book is required reading. Former New Yorker writer Dan Baum takes you to New Orleans with the pre- and post-Katrina stories of 9 wildly diverse New Orleaneans. Baum brilliantly allows his 9 interviewees to weave a history lesson (Hurricane Betsy, Mardi Gras Indians, Krews, second lines) into their personal stories of the devastating impact Katrina had on the people, built environment, and culture of this amazing city.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385523202
Author:
Baum, Dan
Publisher:
Spiegel & Grau
Subject:
Regional Subjects - South
Subject:
United States - State & Local - South
Subject:
New Orleans (La.)
Subject:
New Orleans (La.) Social conditions.
Subject:
Biography - General
Copyright:
2010
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20100231
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
1 MAP
Pages:
368
Dimensions:
8.02x5.16x.81 in. .57 lbs.
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Related Subjects


Biography » General
Featured Titles » General
History and Social Science » Americana » Louisiana
History and Social Science » Americana » New Orleans
History and Social Science » Americana » Southern States
History and Social Science » World History » General

Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$10.95 In Stock
Product details 368 pages Spiegel & Grau - English 9780385523202 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Nine Lives reaches for, and grasps, an astonishing range of experience in New Orleans. In tracing the paths of these lives over decades, and across the lines of age, race, class, and gender, it gives an essential perspective on what was lost, and found, by the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Dan Baum doesn't live in New Orleans, but New Orleans lives in him, and on every page of this harrowing, compassionate book."
"Review" by , "Nine Lives is stunning work. Dan Baum has immersed himself in New Orleans, the most fascinating city in the United States, and illuminated it in a way that is as innovative as Tom Wolfe on hot rods and Truman Capote on a pair of murderers. Full of stylistic brilliance and deep insight and an overriding compassion, Nine Lives is an instant classic of creative nonfiction."
"Review" by , "Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans is one of the most moving — and riveting — books ever written about the rich and complicated life we live here."
"Review" by , "A splendid book... Baum continually serves up wonderful detail and phrasing....People in Nine Lives sometimes use the phrase 'You feel me?' the way other people say 'You understand?' If Baum had employed these words as the last line of his book, as a question about everything he's told us, the answer would be a firm, appreciative 'yes'."
"Review" by , "[A] shimmering portrait... [Baum] adroitly moves his subjects through parades, prisons, divorces, sex changes, fancy balls and gun brawls — yes, the stuff of life here — showing New Orleans as a magnetic, enduring force."
"Synopsis" by , Originating in a heralded series of New Yorker articles, Nine Lives explores New Orleans through the lives of nine characters over 40 years, bracketed by two epic hurricanes.
"Synopsis" by , Nines Lives is a multivoiced biography of a dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city, told through the lives of nine unforgettable characters and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. Dan Baum brings this kaleidoscopic portrait to life, showing us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.
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