Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans is Susan Larson's delightfully informative response to questions most frequently asked her as book editor of the Times-Picayune. Tourists and locals alike want to know what to read, where authors lived, which bookstores to browse, and when literary festivals are scheduled. Now all the answers can be found in this one convenient volume, the only complete directory of New Orlean's "write life" available.
For many visitors, Larson says, to stroll New Orleans "is to walk through an Ellen Gilchrist short story" -- or, one might add, through A Confederacy of Dunces, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Moviegoer, or Interview with the Vampire. From William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams to Poppy Z. Brite and Anne Rice, New Orleans has harbored and inspired an extravagant share of literary talent, virtually since its founding. It's where, legend has it, William Sydney Porter became O. Henry and Samuel Clemens found the name Mark Twain.
Larson's user-friendly guide includes: a brief history of the fiction writers, poets, journalists, playwrights, historians, critics, essayists, and others who have flirted with the Crescent City's muse across the years; a tour of both famous and lesser-known sites throughout the literary landscape, including authors' homes and hangouts; an extensive reading list of favorite New Orleans titles in categories from mysteries to cooking; and a catalog of bookstores, libraries, literary events, and other resources. A "lagniappe" chapter of advice and odd tidbits by well-known authors yields reasons enough to cherish this guide (Robert Olen Butler and Elizabeth Dewberry's outline of a romantic weekend in the French Quarter isentrancing just to read!).
Inscribed with Larson's expertise, enthusiasm, and warmth, the Guide represents a gift from one true booklover to others. Whether you are passing through the Big Easy, residing there, or longing to visit, these pages will heighten your experience of one of the most intoxicating places on the planet, taking you into countless nooks and crannies along its storied streets.