Louisiana Books

Why isn't Valerie Martin better known? Her work is absolutely dazzling. "The Great Divorce" manages to sustain a level of enjoyably creepy menace from first page to last. It weaves together the stories of three couples, all of whom end up parted in different ways. Each of these stories symbolizes the conflict between man and nature, and each gives us a preview of a different resolution to that conflict. We can part from nature amicably, we can kill it with our indifference to it, or we can be killed by its vengeance against us. This may sound heavy-handed in my telling of it, but it is far from heavy-handed in Martin's telling. The book is a work of gothic fiction, of horror fiction, of historical fiction, as well as a penetrating study of the way we live today. Martin evokes the steamy milieu of pre-Civil War New Orleans as beautifully and as convincingly as she evokes the Crescent City of today. Her language is sinuous and seductive. It has the sleek, sudden power of a jungle cat. And her storytelling skills are masterful. It is shameful that this beautiful book is already out of print. Do yourself a favor and find a used copy. You won't regret it.

Sexy, absorbing and insightful, Valerie Martin's novel The Great Divorce (following her acclaimed Mary Reilly), explores the struggle for power between men and women, nature and civilization, in three mesmerizing tales of very different women whose lives are unraveling.

Ellen Clayton, the vet at the New Orleans Zoo, tries to hold on after her faithless husband of 20 years leaves her for his young secretary. Camille, lonely and depressed, looks after the big cats at the zoo and fantasizes about relationships with sexually and emotionally abusive men.

Juxtaposed with the contemporary stories of Ellen and Camille is the gothic tale of Elisabeth Boyer, the Catwoman, a Creole beauty in antebellum New Orleans who was hanged for murdering her sadistic husband.

Martin fuses these stories of betrayal into a compelling narrative about human nature, passion and animal instinct, evoking the New Orleans of both centuries with equal clarity.

Imaginative and profound, The Great Divorce is a great read that tackles important issues without sentimentality. Despite the inherent sadness and futility that Ellen, Camille and Elisabeth confront, the novel offers a note of hope. 'I think,' Ellen tells her daughter when a young jaguar at the zoo survives an illness, 'this time we win.'

This book is a must have research tool for all serious ACW scholars. Dr. Bergeron's research is up to its usual very fine standards. Perhaps we'll get lucky and he'll do another State! Bravo!

The book contains a short history of each of the individual units and an extensive index. The definative book on Lousiana units during the Civil War.

My third graders started this novel before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Then, 1 week into the book - we evacuated Jefferson parish, and the school was closed for 6 weeks. Upon returning, we questioned wether we should or should not continue with the novel. We decided to continue - and the kids loved it - it was very therapeutic - after surviving Hurricane Katrina - to read about a girl wh survivied the Hurricane of 1893. Very well written - historically correct.

As a parent that likes to know what my children are reading, I read this book. Ms. Smith has done it again! I couldn't put it down! She has a remarkable way of seeing through the eyes of her characters. The history is very accurate, the adventure believable and the examples of every day faith beautiful! Just can't say enough good things about this book! Every mom should take the time to read this series and enjoy a short vacation into childhood!

Years ago the Chicago Trib did an article on this place and I clipped it and hung it on my frig. I made several of the dishes and was intriged enough to visit NOLA.

After visiting NOLA I had to visit this place. Wonderful.

The book is GREAT. And the recipes are very easy to follow. Also you don't have to have HARD TO FIND spices..

Chef Bannos has some of the best Cajun/ Creole cooking in the country and most of his greatest hits are featured in this book. Unlike "traditional" Cajun cookbooks, Bannos does not restrict himself to Louisiana. Jamaican, Italian and Greek influences are fused effortlessly with Cajun Creole foundations. A perfect example of this, and my favorite recipe in the book is Bannos' jerktoufee, a wild and wonderful blending of Jamaican jerk and Cajun etoufee.
Do yourself a favor and buy this book.

This is one of the most-overlooked treasures of the vast literature on the campaign and battle of Gettysburg. It details the march of the Army of Northern Virginia (with special emphasis
on Richard Ewell's Second Corps) into southern Pennsylvania. The details of the invasion and the interactions with the people
of Pennsylvania are endlessly fascinating. The book ends with the Second Corps marching to the sound of the guns at Gettysburg on 1 July 1863, so it is not an account of the battle itself.
It is an unparalleled work setting the stage, however. Buy and
read and ENJOY THIS BOOK!

For the American Civil War buff....this is THE book which details Lee's movements with his Army of Northern Virginia from the Rappahannock area to Gettysburg. The accounts of cavalry engagements at Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, Virginia are absolute with accompanying maps being the best yet. Little has been written about Lee's movement to gather the needed "rations" Commissary General Northrop could not provide. This book details last Lee's invasion of the North - which ultimately led to Gettysburg. This book is a MUST read to enlighten the reader in Lee's Northern invasion.

This collection of stories is far and away the best sampling of his true literary mastery. I have always enjoyed Southern writers (Faulkner,Capote,..), but Wolfe touches a particular vein of the satirical social landscape of the South that is unmatched. His work, I believe, is less about the South than Faulkner's, but Wolfe still has that southern glow of tragedy but with a simple beauty. Though some may find his novels tedious and long-winded, it is difficult to not like this work. Just be patient and let the words come to you. The thing I like most about his short stories is that they often leave you with a feeling of lying in bed on a summer's night listening to the train pass through town or maybe a lone dog barking in the distance, hollow... but thinking that you could live forever.

This is a collection of short-stories. For us who may be heratics in our beloved Southern Literature when it concerns Thomas Wolfe, we contend that he is a very verbose, messy messy author. His first editor had to cut and shape a large manuscript into three seperate novels (I believe that I'm correct in this), of which Look Homeward Angel was the first. (Apparently he wrote them on top of a refridgerator: a tall man.)And that book goes on and on and on--like the bunny commercial. He totally ignores any kind of sembulance of form. That is his problem, he does not brible his passion properly, Look H-- is a good book--but it could have been great--or atleast greater, depending on your view point.

Hemingway said that he was good until he began writing about other places than his home. I have to agree with that.

Now. This book, however, is his best crafted fiction. That simple. Something about the demanding, concise form of the short story works him over well. The first time that I read it I thought--that's it! The Southern author I've been looking for. But, unfortunately, I became all worked up for Look H-- and after reading that it all fizzled. One wonders two things: 1. what if he had lived longer?, he seems to have just become the craftsman that was always demanded for his ferver; and 2. what if he had written Look Homeward Angel, after he had true command of his skills.

This is a great book. In my opinion his best. Read it.

Dan Flores has lived most of his life in the Horizontal Yellow. Another, more historical term for this land would be the Spanish-Mexican Frontier. Florida was not settled from Mexico, of course, and the settlement of California was decades to more than a century later.

Flores explores this land from both the history and natural history points of view, with the historical part generally beginning with the first Spanish-U.S. contact as part of post-Louisiana Treaty boundary negotiations.

Not all Texas is the Southern spillover of Dallas and Houston; get acquainted with the rest of it, and adjacent areas, in this book.

Dan Flores' long-awaited new book once again proves he has few peers when it comes to a deep understanding of his native Near Southwest, a vision for its long term health, and the ability to weave a tale which is scholarly, literary, and deeply personal.

A well written, vibrant story about life after Katrina in a unique community. The story, based in a rural community surrounded by the Mississippi river and the Gulf of Mexico, accurately describes real personalities who make the community special in many ways.

If you are a fan of athletics, community life and the struggles of rebuilding life, then you will enjoy this book. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

Jere Longman has written an excellent book chronicling one parish's reaction to Hurricane Katrina, focusing on the high school football team but weaving in incredibly useful information about the people and history of Plaquemines Parish and all of Southeast Louisiana. It's a story of the importance of football in the fabric of a community in southern Louisiana.

Having played high school football in Louisiana myself "back in the day", I recognized so much in the story of coach Cyril Crutchfield and the Plaquemines Parish residents. The loud, profane and physical football coach. The sheriff's deputies who were former players themselves and still long to ride the bus with the team to away games. The players whose entire lives revolve around the sport. The anachronism of the wealth of resources and the grinding poverty of that part of the world. It really hit home.

The book is well-written and balanced - as an example, Longman strives to present the Belle Chasse side of the Plaquemines Parish feud, rather than simply showing the South Plaquemines/Port Sulphur side. And by tracking Randall Mackey, Jamal Recasner and the Bastrop Rams, he shows the intertwining of relationships in that part of the world.

As this review is written, Coach Crutchfield, Ridge Turner, Lyle Fitte and the rest of the Hurricanes are on their way to another state championship. One Times-Picayune reporter recently noted that they only way the Hurricanes don't win state is if they give up the sport of football between now and December. I recommend you read this book, and follow the Hurricanes through the rest of their season.

A great subject in the hands of a great writer. Hannusch lets the musicians tell their own stories.

This is one of the books that I look at all the time. Easy to read and great info - great pictures. Better than an oyster po boy. Lots of behind the scenes stuff.

What makes Montemarano's dark world so alchemical is the way in which he creates a mythology out of the broken morality, vicious hate, unrealized dreams, and the many other bleak threads from which our society is woven.

There is a quiet strength that runs through these stories. It is the strength of real self-taught morality. It is the strength of a person who is not afraid to examine the world around him. It is the strength of honesty. There is risk everwhere, and major accomplishment.

This is exceptionally good work. If you are interested in contemporary literature, you should read Montemarano.

Having read both "A Fine Place" and this latest collection, "If the Sky Falls," I'm convinced that Montemarano is the most important new writer to watch. In the tradition of Joyce Carol Oates, Jayne Anne Phillips, Tim O'Brien, and Don DeLillo, these stories hit a nerve and don't let up. He does what the supposed whiz kids of the moment seem to be afraid of doing, writing what risks most without promising redemption, using measured doses of experimentation that, like O'Brien and Phillips, not only serve the story but are necessary to the story, and writing with heartbreaking honesty, an overused term, but one that is more than applicable here. Nicholas Montemarano is not only the best writer to come on the scene in over a decade, he competes with the greatest of novelists and short story writers. This book more than deserves all the buzz surrounding it.