Synopses & Reviews
From famous writers and personalities who call the city home, whether by birth or simply love, these pieces written in the wake of Hurricane Katrina serve as a timeless tribute to New Orleans. Sentimental, joyful, and witty, these essays by celebrated writers, entertainers, chefs, and fans honor the life of one of America's most beloved cities.
Paul Prudhomme writes about the emotional highs New Orleans inspires, Wynton Marsalis exalts his native city as soul model for the nation, while Walter Isaacson shares his vision for preserving his hometown's pentimento magic. Stewart O'Nan recalls the fantasy haze that enshrouded his first trip to the Big Easy when he was thirty and bowed to Richard Ford to receive his first literary prize. Poppy Z. Brite thanks New Orleans for helping her discover the simple pleasure of Audubon Park's egrets, and Elizabeth Dewberry explores what it means to work Bourbon Street as a stripper.
My New Orleans captures the spirit of the city that was -- and that will be again.
About the Author
Rosemary James, a former reporter for The New Orleans States-Item and WWL-TV, is cofounder of The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to writers and their readers. The author of Plot or Politics, she and her husband own Faulkner House Books, one of the country's most famous bookstores and the heart of the literary scene in New Orleans.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Rosemary James New Orleans Is a Pousse-Café
BALLADS TO THE BIG EASY BY HER SONS...
James Nolan Nasty Water
Walter Isaacson How to Bring the Magic Back
Wynton Marsalis Soul Model for America
Roy F. Guste, Jr. I Am Creole
Jervey Tervalon A Very Big New Orleans Family in a Very Small World
Randy Fertel Bring Back the Clowns
Christopher Rice Orpheus
DAUGHTERS...
Barbara Boggs Sigmund New Orleans
Ella Brennan The Secret Ingredient
Poppy Z. Brite Funkytown, or How New Orleans Made Me a Birdwatcher
Patty Friedmann Home Is Still New Orleans
Mary Helen Lagasse The Channel, New Orleans
Leah Chase Our Slow Curve
Charmaine Neville Come as You Are
AND LOVERS...
Andrei Codrescu A Leafy Angel
Rick Bragg This Isn't the Last Dance
Elizabeth Dewberry Cabaret Stories
Paul Prudhomme It's Magic
Mark Childress What It Means to Miss New Orleans
Julia Reed The Second Stage of Passion
Patrick Dunne Carlotta's Vases
Julie Smith Portrait of the Artist
Harry Shearer The Street
Jessica B. Harris Taking Yansa to See Miss Marie (with Apologies to the Shade of Jorge Amado)
Stewart O'Nan When Worlds Collide
Bret Lott Walking the Dog with Joe
Ron Shelton Miracles of the Ordinary
Robert Olen Butler Mr. Spaceman Arrives
Roy Blount, Jr. An Epilogue: Spice of Life
Contributors
Acknowledgments
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