Louisiana Books

If you are looking for an complete and easy to use book this is the one to purchase. There are some color pictures (annuals, groundcovers, ornamental grasses, perennials, shrubs, trees, wildflowers, etc.) but what makes the book so good is the layout - when, where and how to plant, care & maintenance, additional information and additional species.

Dr. Joe White is one of the most, if not the most respected horticulturist in the state of Louisiana. His advice is always on target and the book would make a great addition to any home library.

Although the book is dedicated to first time gardeners in Louisiana, there is a wealth of information for the old timers as well. The book contains the how when and what to plant along with both common and scientific names of plants that will do well in the area.

The book is cram full of easy to follow sound advise for gardeners.

A great "welcome gift" for anyone moving into Louisiana.

I received this book as a birthday gift and haven't been able to put it down. It evoked childhood memories of Sasanquas in bowls, spider lillies in beloved friends' yards, and laughter at funny names like "Grancy Graybeard." I remembered a gigantic yellow Lady Banksea rose that grew so large it took over the roof of my playhouse. Thanks for the memories and helpful advice. Even my grandfather the masterful gardener would approve.

Anyone wishing to garden in Louisiana's unique environment should consult this guide. Organized by plant type, it is easy use for species identification, planting instructions, and care tips.

Refer to this guide before purchasing plants and again when doing garden maintenance.

First and formost it is a shame that Dr.Delatte has only had time to write one book. And I hope that she will get the chance to write another soon. In her book Lucy Audubon A Biography she sets the tone in the first chapter. She goes in great detail to explain to her reader Lucy Audubon's life. She gives a rare insight to a historical figure and brings her to life with her words. the reader feels as if they are there with Audubon as she goes through life and overcomes the obstacles in her life.

I have to say that this book is one of the best books that I have ever read. It keeps your attention from the first page to the last. A must read.

There is not much to say but that this book is one of the best books that I have ever read. It gives you a rare look into the life of Lucy Audubon.

There is not much to say but that this book is one of the best books that I have ever read. It gives you a rare look into the life of Lucy Audubon.

This is a excellent,thorough book written by an excellent, thorough lady and professor. Sadly, she passed away in August 2004, so there will be no more books. However, this book stands as a monument to her diligence as a historian and talent as a writer. Dr. Delatte will be missed.

I thought this a good book for anyone reading about or studying Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea and the March through the Carolinas. It captures the thoughts and personalities of the Army behind the man and gives the reader an insight to why they did some of the things that are so controversial today.

I have to confess a bias; Professor Glatthaar taught me US history in my first semester of college and was a very engaging, entertaining and clear teacher.

This book is history of the very best kind. It is extensively documented from primary sources, it is well written and draws the reader in and the text of the book is free from cumbersome and often distracting academic citation apparatus. It also has selected a topic of almost epic proportions.

The March to the Sea, coming on the heels of the devastating fall of Atlanta was the straw that broke the South's back. After years of war and the related hardships, the devastation that this march produced in the South dealt a death blow to the South's war effort.

In one of the great strategic decisions of the war, Sherman breaks his lines of communication and supply and, like a modern day nuclear sub, disappears only to resurface at Savannah. The freedom of movement that this decision allowed made this march even more effective.

Further, the productivity of the South, even after years of warfare is evidenced. The author presents data showing an increase in the weight of soldiers due to the richness of the diet they were able to secure from those unfortunate enough to be in the path of Sherman's army.

To quibble with a prior reviewer, this is not a novel. This is academic history of the best sort but written in a easy and accesible manner. A great book.

This book contains an examination of the army that General William Tecumseh Sherman led through Georgia and the Carolinas, in late 1864 and early 1865. Instead of being just another narrative of the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns, however, Glatthaar's book is a look at the individuals that composed the army. In it, he examines the social and ideological backgrounds of the men in Sherman's army, and evaluates how they felt about various factors of the war--slavery, the union, and, most significantly, the campaign in which they were participating. The result is a fascinating look at Sherman's campaigns through the eyes of the everyday soldier. Glatthaar makes the army come alive, and shows the men not as heartless animals who delighted in wanton destruction, not as mechanized marching machines who could perform the most difficult marches without even flinching, but instead as real human beings, complete with sore feet, empty stomachs, and minds engaged in contemplation over the ethical ramifications of what they were doing to the people of the South.

This book, and others like it (such as James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades), is a refreshing change from the norm in Civil War history. The value of this book lies in its helping the reader understand that the war was fought by individuals, not masses of blue and gray, and that these individuals felt and thought a great deal about the cause they were engaged in. I have read much on the subject of Sherman's march, but never before this book did I truly feel like I understood the mentality of the 60,000 man army he led. This book will not give you a detailed and thorough account of Sherman's campaigns, but it will give anyone who already is somewhat familiar with the marches an incredible amount of insight that, I believe, cannot be gained elsewhere.

Individuals who belong to a Civil War reenacting association, history buffs, and serious scholars of the Civil War will all find quiet enjoyment in Joseph Glatthaar's historical novel on Major General Sherman's march to Savannah and through the Carolinas. Glatthaar's perspective of bringing the war down to the level of the individual soldier is not always found in historical novels. He writes about the soldier's innermost feelings, not about the glorious generals, the great armies, or the magnificent campaigns. I believe that individual battles do not win wars, but that it is the men composing the fighting force that can turn a potential devastating defeat into a glorious victory. Mr. Glatthaar has done a great justice in his portrayal of the men who conducted the march to the sea and beyond. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who wishes better to understand the soldiers that fought for Sherman

Joseph Glatthaar wrote this book in order to examine Sherman's march across the South "from the level of the common soldier, both enlisted and officer". In the introduction he states that by writing the book from this perspective, he hoped "to restore the reality of the campaigns, to understand the underlying motivation of Sherman's men for adopting a policy of devestation and to shed light on the total-war concept in military history".

Mr. Glatthaar's efforts have resulted in this very informative and engaging book. I did not know a lot about Sherman's Army before reading this book, and feel that I now have a much better understanding of the men who filled the ranks and led the regiments in their famous march to the sea. In his text, Mr. Glatthaar presents many quotes directly from letters and diaries written by Sherman's men, which really enhances the story and his conclusions.

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn about Sherman's Army- why it was successful, why it adopted a policy of total war, destroying much of the South, and why it remains controversial to this day.

Unlike many works that Alan Lomax had has hand in, this book is great reading, if nothing more. I am not known to be a fan of Alan Lomax and his father as my review of _The Land Where the Blues Began_ attests, but at least Lomax realized what a treasure Jelly Roll Morton was and interviewed him and also had Morton create hours and hours of singing and piano music.


This book offers a digest of hours and hours of interviews with Morton in the late 1930s when Morton was living in Washington. It is supplemented by some very useful interviews Lomax did with New Orleans musicians and their families in the late 1940s. The New Orleans interviews provide very useful direct source material about the social and culture and professional milieu that both Creole and Black musicians in New Orleans Sprang from. A recently written criticial review by a real scholar at the close of the book explains the great limitations of Lomax's selections and writngs here.


Lomax apparently knew little about the real history and processes of New Orleans jazz and life, so that a lot of questions that someone interest in Morton's impact on music are not asked, not just in what Lomax selected to put in this book, but in the larger transcripts of Lomax's interviews and in the monologues Morton dictated to a stenographer as part of this project. Lomax's tendency is to seek out non-musical issue his stereotypical images of Blues and Jazz musicians call forth. This is quite unfortunate because to the end of his life, Morton had a very sophsiticated and articulate understanding of music and was capable of serious discussion of jazz and blues in formal musical terminology. He was a person who seriously thought about music most of the time when he was not playing it.

Recently scholars with new information drawn from new discoveries of Morton's personal archives, correspondence, and musical library as well as the range of interviews with other musicians tend to verify much of what as thought of after these intervews as bragadoccio. Morton probably was the first person to produce written compositions that were Jazz as opposed to rag time. He was certainly playing and writing down blues compositions before Handy. Even the greatest of early Jazz Pianists like James P. Johnson affirmed that both in the days before WWI and in the 1920s Morton outplayed all the great Jazz Pianists.

The examination and performance of the music that Morton wrote in the late 1930s indicates that Morton had not only mastered composition and band arrangement in a style that would have surpassed the most surpassed swing of his day but had written orchestral pieces that prefigured the modal Jazz that Coltrane and others presented in the 1950s. These and other compositions indicate that whatever the fortunes of his public performances, Morton was a serious composer whose skills continued to advance even in his last years when his health collapsed.

Yet flagged by failing health, Morton was never able to organize an orchestra that could have played these pieces. He had been told that he could have lived ten or fifteen more years had he given up performing music, but he wanted to make his music more than he wanted to live.

Finally, Morton WAS cheated out of millions of dollars in royalties by the music industry, especially by the Melrose Brothers and by ASCAP. He was one of the first musicians to challange the way the Mafia-connected music publishers simply robbed musicians of their compositions or did not pay them. Unlike some musicians who suffered quietly or WC Handy who was one of the token Blacks ASCAP paraded around to hide its racism, Morton launched a public campaign in Downbeat and other Jazz magazines that exposed the crimes of ASCAP and music publishers like Melrose.

Until the mid 1940s, ASCAP which collected royalties for compositions from record producers, radio, night clubs, and other places where music was played had a racist setup. Few Black members were admitted although royalties were collected for their music. Morton carried out a public and legal campaign for years to be admitted to ASCAP even though it was collecting millions for the large number of his compositions that had become great hits in the swing era, like the King Porter Stomp that became a standard that any competent string band cut its teeth on.

Once inside ASCAP, he found ASCAP distributed its royalties not based on the money different songs brought royalties but on what a board of ASCAP leaders decided was the cultural worth of different kinds of music. Thus while Broadway and classical writers were getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalty payments, Morton received under 200 dollars each of the two years he was living and a member of ASCAP. Morton protested and exposed this publically in the last years of his life and attempted to gather other victims of this system in a law suit. While he was dying and unable to carry on this struggle, his protests and the information he gathered led to congressional investigations in the 1940s that forced an end to discrimination in ASCAP in regard to membership and forced it to distribute royalties based on the sales of the music, not on its "value."

The issue of braggadocio also comes here from the fact that Lomax supplied Morton with a bottle of whiskey for each Interview. Morton was not an alcholic, but those who have studied the transcripts have noted that Morton grew more inaccurate, abrasive, and unreliable longer into the interviews as the booze took effect.

This fits into Alan Lomax's consistent pattern of trying to make sources, particularly Black sources fit into the stereotypes he had about them. Lomax who took many photographs of his folk sources, for example, would force people who preferred being photographed in the Sunday Best, to appear in old work clothes. While Leadbelly actually favored the finest suits and imposed a dress code on Sonny Terry and Brownie MCGhee when they roomed at his New York Home (suits and ties as musicians are professionals and get a case, not a sack for the instrument) Lomax forced him to perform in prison garb or overalls. Lomax also created the fiction that singing and the intercession of his father John Lomax had some relationship with Leadbelly being released fromthe Louisiana penitentary when Leadbelly was released as part of program that automatically reduced prison sentences due to depression-caused cutbacks.

Lomax wanted precisely to convey a picture of Morton filled with whiskey, smokey rooms, and so forth, when Morton was one of the biggest stars of music between 1917 and 1930, performing in some of the most sophisticated venues and a particular favorite with Hollywood film stars of the period.

Despite these criticisms, I urge anyone interested in finding out not only about Jelly Roll Morton, but about the origins of Jazz in New Orleans and the entertainment industry in the earkly 20th Century to read this book. A good supplement, or perhaps a better place to start would be _Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton_ by Howard Reich. This can be followed by _Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West by Phil Pastras_.

In spite of Jelly's bragadocio and the author's lack of Jazz background (Lomax was a folklorist) it's a very interesting book. Jelly must have felt injusticed when, in the late thirties, Benny Goodman was earning lots of money with "King Porter's Stomp". But the truth is that, exactly like King Oliver, he was outpaced by the revolution started by Satchmo.

I have always been a fan of Jelly Roll Morton, and I've always looked for books about him. This is by far the best. I loved it. I wish they would re-issue it

Alan Lomax interviewed Jelly Roll while doing an extensive set of recordings shortly before Morton's death. He followed up with a number of interviews with people who knew Jelly Roll. Lomax did a fabulous job of keeping himself out of the way while letting the often colorful information from the interviews tell the story of Jelly's part in the birth of jazz, a story with triumphs, massive ego and ultimate decline. I read a library copy and am buying a copy for a present.

This is one of the rare books for it can be enjoyed by just about anyone who picks it up. Its the amazing account of the life of Jelly Roll Morton, one of the best jazz pianists of all time. Though a braggart and troubled man, he created some of the very best pieces of jazz. The book goes into his life from his childhood and his time working at Storyville to the very troubled end in the early forties. You learn about his family, his troubled relationships with Anita and Mabel and how he went from being wildly successful to dying virtually forgotten. Voodoo, New Orleans, jazz and Creole culture, its all here.

Written with flair and never boring, Mr. Jelly Roll is a book that you will read more than once. Its a look at a legend and a glimpse into a world we can only know of through books and music. Get this if you want a good read and a look at Mr. Morton's life. A true classic.

Fun and exciting reading. The plot is strong and the chapters carry your interest to the next. Strong main character. Looking forward to reading the next detective Cal Panterra mystery.

Started reading the e-book and had to buy the paperback. Fun and entertaining.

Fast paced action. Kept interesting by a twisting plot and creative characters. Surprisingly exciting and fun reading.

With this novel, the author has created one of mystery ficton's most compelling hero: gutsy New Orleans detective Cal Panterra. The author's gift for combining gritty realism and grab you be the throat drama makes this who done it a truly satisfing read. I couldn't put it down ! Whatever your favorite adjective is, you'll use it about this book. Looking forward to the next one.

This is an original! This book is well-paced, keeps moving with lots of twists and turns, and keeps you guessing. I loved the way the writer didn't get bogged down in details. And if you like a good ending, this book won't let you down. A truly good book, fun to read, and an unexpected climax. Can't wait for his next book!

I love the photography in this book. Laura McElroy captures all the flavors of the French Quarter. Having not returned to the Crescent City in many years, I think I will look for an opportunity. This book is on my coffee table.

Laura McElroy's photographs are beautiful and perfectly capture the feel and essence of New Orleans. You almost forget to read the text because you are so caught up in the pictures. I recommend it highly for anyone who loves New Orleans or just appreciates fine photography.

Laura McElroy's photography is outstanding. I've been to New Orleans on several occasions, and she has captured the city just as I like remembering it. Her splendid photography inspires me to return in the very near future to one of my favorite U.S. city's. If a city can have moods, she has certainly captured them. The light, colors, and facial expressions enhance the experience of thumbing through this wonderful book. I'll be doing it again and again.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler" is a phrase that you see and hear all over New Orleans (pronounced "N'awlins"). The phrase means "let the good times roll" and surely they do in New Orleans. I found this guide to be an outstanding introduction to the city for those who have never been there. I intend to give a copy to my mother, who has always wanted to visit New Orleans and has never made it there.

This book has three outstanding attributes that deserve praise. First, the photographs are sumptuous and brilliant in capturing the many different parts of New Orleans and her moods. Second, the text captures a sense of the city that cannot be seen in photographs. Many of my favorite traditions are described here in loving detail from King Cakes to the best Cajun cuisine (and that "Cajun" refers to the Acadian settlers from Nova Scotia). Third, the book is very reasonably priced.

Those who know New Orleans will find the book to be better at hitting the high spots than giving a total overview. The rowdiness of drinkers partying on Bourbon Street, women peeling on the balconies to attract tossed beads during Mardi Gras, and grimness of wine-soused beggars and tap dancing children looking for hand outs are all missing. The Crescent City looks in the book more like a section from Disneyland than the real thing. But that's okay. If you want to see the best of New Orleans, it's all here in this book . . . and you can avoid the less attractive parts when you visit there.

The essays and photographs focus on the spirit of the people of New Orleans, the party-going style, wonderful local food, the city's architectural history, and the major festivals and spectacles. Although I have been in New Orleans many times, I did not know about the Jazz and Heritage Festival at the end of April and the beginning of May, the Crawfish Festival In March, the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival when the fleet is blessed, or the French Quarter Festival. I plan to revisit and time my arrival to include these events.

"Y'All Are Pretty, Too" is the subject of the book's first article. In the town's generous spirit, a woman admired another woman's appearance in a bar and came over to compliment her. Seeing that the other women wanted to be complimented too, the woman providing the compliment turned as she went back to her table and added as an afterthought, "And y'all are pretty, too."

After you finish this delightful guide, think about what sort of a guide would capture the best of where you live. Have you seen and done all of those good things lately? Have you recently helped a visitor to find them? Now's a good time to change all that if you haven't. Let the good times roll!

There is a reason photographers get equal billing! McElroy's photos are breathtaking. The text becomes secondary as the Big Easy springs to life. Whether as a treasured memory of a vacation, business trip, or a visit to the gulf's most famous city, this coffee table book should be front and center on everyone's table or shelf. McElroy has captured the true essence of the City and her people. I purchased six copies for customers and friends. Whether born and bred, adopted, or just plain passing through...New Orleans is hard to forget. A great reminder of a great city!

I've been to the French Quarter twice in the last year. I think I left my heart there! It's such a beautiful city with so much history, and so many great and colorful people! This CD does the city justice and then some! The pictures are glorious, and I don't think there's a block in the Quarter they missed. You can take a variety of "guided" tours, or you have the option of clicking on a map of the Quarter. The map let's you click and see just about every square inch of the Quarter. There aren't a lot of interior pictures on this CD if that's what you are looking for. There are also panoramic views which are great, and an area to "meet" a couple of people from the French Quarter and get some info and perspective from them. This is just a really great buy for anyone who wants to travel to New Orleans' French Quarter, or for people like me who absolutely love the city!

I tried this CD after viewing the Armchair Tour of Charleston, SC, and I think this one is even better. Tons of information and great photos. I'd love to be able to visit the French Quarter every few months, but failing that opportunity, this has got to be the next best thing.

Wow! The quality of the pictures and the effect of the panoramic feature was impressive. New Orleans French quarter is one of my wife and I's favorite places to visit. The use of the DVD shows us some of the houses that we have not visited plus things about the ones that we have that we missed- decorative vents in the buildings. I particularly enjoyed the lady with the Cajun accent doing the audio. Love the dialect. This helps us plan our next trip. Good job.

The armchair tour series is a must for folks who travel or appreciate the unique beauty and architecture of our country. Each armchair cd uses multiple media sources to create the look, feel, and sound of a particular city. I used the the cd to prepare for travel and then passed the cd on to my son for a shcool project. The armchair cd is the next best thing to "bein there".

This is the coolest product! I have to admit I didn't know what to expect when I got it but I was floored as to the amount of information and the extent to which they go into detail. The photography is beautiful. It is so much fun to just walk down the street and see a picture of every single house. I had a ball following the clues looking for this guys lost keys and the graphic at the end was hysterical. It's like buying every single book about the French Quarter, having all the really interesting things be highlighted for you and then have pictures of it all added. It just brings the whole city, with all it's incredible buildings and fascinating stories, to life. I don't usually get this excited about things but this is really great!

Like other reviewers here, I belonged to the Scholastic Book Club when I was in my early teens, and NIGHT IN FUNLAND was one of the books I ordered. I didn't have money of my own, but I remember my mother counting out change from her purse for me to buy books with. My copy of FUNLAND, published in 1969, cost just 75-cents! This is one of the few books I still have from my childhood or adolescence. My favorite stories from the volume were and still are: "Too Early Spring," by Stephen Vincent Benet, "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket," by Jack Finney, "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, "Antaeus," by Borden Deal, "The Sea Gulls," by Elias Venezis, and "Night in Funland," which I consider the best of the bunch, by William Peden. Peden, in whose name a literary prize is awarded each year, creates a frightening and hauntingly real story of tragedy and loss. The story delves into the archetypal fear we have of losing control of our world (symbolized by the carnival) and being unable to keep those who depend on us safe from harm. It really is too bad this book is no longer in print. It's a real gem.

I got this book when I was in the 4th grade through the Scholastic Book Service. Does anyone else remeber them? Anyway, right from the very first story, "Night In Funland" I was hooked. Each story was better than the last. And I still have that well worn paperback. Did you know that an episode of "The Twilight Zone" was based on the story titled "4:00 PM"? And of course "Charley".
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes great short stories. And my personal favorite is "Too Ear;y Spring".

I read this book one summer when I was 12 or 13, some of the stories have stayed in my mind ever since. I was looking for it to give to my 12 year old son. I recommend it as a great summer book, filled with strange images and intiguing mysteries. Pure fun to read.

This was a book I read as a thirteen year old. It was one I couldn't put down. It frightened me and painted spooky images in my mind. Images that robbed me of sleep. A great book.

I, too, read this book when I was 13 or 14 and I found it fascinating. I lent it to a school mate that year (1968) and never got it back. I've been looking for it ever since! The ORIGINAL Flowers for Algernon was in this book--way before the movie "Charlie" or "Charly" came out.

This book had such a wonderful meaning. I love the way she incorporates a leaf's point of view. Everytime that I babysit I read this book to them as a bedtime story. The kids always seem to enjoy it. Usually it's the first book they recommend for me to read to them at night. Sometimes I get feed back from the parents telling me that they hear their kids talk about the book. Believe me I think this book is worth every penny.

I bought this book at a book signing because as a child I always had a fixation for alligators. It is an easy book for young kids to follow and I would recommend this to all people, young and old. In the future when I plan on having a family this book will definately be read to my children.

I loved this book. I read it with my nephew almost everynight. It is great quality time. We love discussing her illustrations, they are so capturing. I would recommend this to anyone who loves spending time with their young loved ones.

I loved this book. I read it to my nephew almost everynight and have so come to value this time with him. He throughly enjoys the book with me. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to enjoy time with their young loved ones over a delightful book.

I am a 1st grade elementary school teacher and I purchased Not My Skin through a book club. I read the book and decided that it would be a great book for my students to hear. I read the book to my class and it became the class favorite. Not only is the message positive, but the story is one children will love. I recommend this book to anybody that cares about the message books convey while still captivating the attention of young people.

PATRON SAINTS tells the story of a people thrown into hell on earth after the worst natural disaster in American history and how a professional sports team, of all things, helped them return to normalcy. Using an oral history approach, author Alan Donnes creates a mosaic of voices that take the reader on an emotional journey from the depths of despair to the triumph of victory, not just on the playing field (which the Saints did), but in the hearts and minds of the people. More powerful than WE ARE MARSHALL or REMEMBER THE TITANS, PATRON SAINTS is the most inspiring story to come out of the Crescent City since Katrina and may well be the most inspiring sports story ever told. In the words of everyone from a 12 year old boy to the President of The United States and from players to fans, PATRON SAINTS gives us all a reason to cheer. We dare you to read about the team's and THE PEOPLE's return to the Superdome and NOT tear up. This book reminds us all why sports is so important in our lives. PATRON SAINTS is for the serious football fan and, maybe even more so for those who wonder why cities fight to get and keep professional sports franchises. Read PATRON SAINTS and see how the SAINTS gave New Orleans a reason to BELIEVE.

PATRON SAINTS is currently being developed as a major motion picture to be filmed on location in New Orleans.

This is more of a compilation than a novel. I bought this for my husband, who is not normally much of a reader, but he couldn't put this down. He read alot of it out loud to me, because he was so interested in the stories. I finally told him that I would read it myself when he was finished, which I did, and really enjoyed although I am not a football fan. Who couldn't be a fan that year? It tells the story from perspectives of all sides, and tells of the inspiration that came from unexpected places and inspired unexpected people.
This is definitely a must read for New Orleanians, who lived this, and understand what that Saints season meant to us. But also for others who weren't there and don't live here to understand why it meant so much.

This book gives an amazing and accurate account of how the New Orleans Saints inspired and motivated the City of New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. As someone who went to that Monday night game against the Atlanta Falcons in the newly renovated Superdome, I cannot begin to describe the emotions I and many others experienced that night. Seeing the Saints run onto the field was my "Katrina moment." It was then that I knew things would be alright. The Superdome had always been a place to go to have fun. It was not that horrible place seen by so many people after Hurricane Katrina. To see the Saints return to the Dome turned a negative back into a positive for me. It was just one more step on the path back to normal.

That night my brother and I parked the car and began walking to the Dome. The walk took us through neighborhoods that had not yet been gutted. It took us past buildings that had water lines almost over my head. I thought about the people who walked that same path to the Dome after the hurricane hoping for refuge from the devastation. I got a lump in my throat and began to cry. This walk, however, was different. This walk was positive and determined. It was prideful, and it had purpose. We were walking to the Dome to bring it back and to bring our Saints back. Fans walking to the Dome were not just fans, we were family. We were family members from all over the New Orleans area who were brought together to welcome home a team many of us believed might never return. That night we were going to show the world that New Orleans - our home - would also return. We needed something to believe in. The Saints gave us that inspiration. We believed in them, and they seemed to believe in us. It was a powerful year.

Though I cannot even begin to describe the true emotions felt during that football season, this book does a great job. I loved reading how the players and coaches felt and how the team was just as inspired by us as we were of them. Just like a previous reviewer, I'd recommend this book to anyone who has ever pulled for the underdog. It's a remarkable read.

Told through interviews with everyone from Quarterback Drew Brees to fans of the Saints who lived in New Orleans during the rebuilding of the city, Patron Saints covers one of the greatest, TRUE underdog stories in all of sports. The interviews with Saints players and coaches are fascinating, and provide a unique insight into what actually went on behind the scenes during the unlikely Cinderella season. But what truly makes this book special are the interviews with the fans; real people who convey how important this team was to the residents of post-Katrina New Orleans. Patron Saints gives the reader a "view from the gallery;" a chance to share in how the Saints' winning season was able to uplifit the spirits of an entire city where so much had gone wrong.

There are very few true sports stories this great (that of "Rudy" Reuttiger and the Marshall football program come to mind). But this book isn't just for Saints fans, or even football fans; it's for anyone who has ever rooted for the underdog.

I saw the author interviewed at a Saints pre-season game, and he stated that he is donating 70% of his revenue from the book to help childrens schools and hospitals in New Orleans. I think thats great, he wanted to tell our inspirational story and help the children of the City of New Orleans, too !