Louisiana Books

Thomas Szasz's book on Karl Kraus is invaluable because it is difficult to learn about Karl Kraus directly and in English from other sources. His works, in general, have not been translated to any large extent, and, as we learn from the book, Karl Kraus has had many detractors, many of whom deliberately obscure the deliberate and simple directness of Kraus' style because of the ideological battle over the business of psychoanalysis that occurred in his own lifetime and which persists to today.

Karl Kraus was at great liberty in Vienna to openly criticize and condemn psychoanalysis and its practitioners. How many can do so today without being labeled as "insane," "reactionary" or "neurotic and unwilling to face one's demons"?

The book is divided into two parts. In Part I there are five chapters discussing Karl Kraus as an artist, a rhetorician, and a cultural hero for all time. In Part II, we get two chapters containing some of the aphoristic writings of Karl Kraus's views on psychoanalysis and on forensic psychiatry. In the last chapter, we get aphorisms from Karl Kraus on language, life and love.

The book shows that Freud once respected Karl Kraus as a writer and a thinker -- until Karl himself began to criticize psychoanalysis as a kind of evil rhetoric, turning man from creature of heroic possibilities into mere dust before the analyst. Afterward, Freud went on the attack, and Karl Kraus' reputation suffered as a consequence of this ideological backlash. Thomas Szasz shows how Karl Kraus insisted that language must be used correctly for, if not, what is said is not what is meant, and man thus becomes duped by language.

Karl Kraus's ideas influenced Ludwig Wittgenstein in his "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus"; he also influenced the German novelist Hermann Broch, and historian Eric Voegelin.

One of of the many witty wiseacrings by Karl Kraus on psychoanalysis is: "Psychology is as useful as are directions for how to take poison."

In Part II, we also learn, among many other case examples, the horrific case of Louise von Coburg who was involuntarily committed to an insane asylum for a year (a deed to which Freud had no objections whatsoever) because she had psoriasis on her scalp and kept scratching her head and because she did not like her husband, a prince, but chose a non-royal lover instead. Karl Kraus exposes the idiotic psychoanalytic thinking that led to this monstrous decision by the state court.

Karl Kraus' aphorisms not oriented toward the subject of psychology are also a treat to read: "Matrimony: the union of meanness and martyrdom." "The devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people worse than they are."

Kate Chopin was an incredible woman who wrote from her heart. Regardless of the pain that she dealt with through her life, she still managed to create beautiful novels. As a rebel of her time, Chopin wrote about issues that shouldn't have been brought to the table. In fact, her novel, The Awakening, was banned in schools in the U.S. for quite some time. I'm obviously already a fan of Chopin, so reading this book was incredibly interesting. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read about someone who had passion for life and writing. I also recommend any of her books (a good starter would be The Awakening), I guarantee that you won't be disappointed! And if you are disappointed, then maybe you need to rethink what you are looking for...

Seyersted's work is so concise and to the point; I used this book for an English term paper on Kate Chopin and was extremely impressed by Seyersted's writing. I give this book five stars because I adore Kate Chopin's work (so I love the content), I envy Seyersted's detail, and also because this book helped me immensely in writing my term paper. Mr. Seyersted, wherever you are, thank you so much!

This book hits hard and takes no prisoners. A must read for those who want to know why the recovery in South Louisiana is at a snail's pace.
I was very shocked to know about the threat to so many of our gasoline refineries from future Hurricane storm surges.
This book exposes outrage after outrage in FEMA wasting my tax dollars. The Insurance Myth chapter was a real eye-opener.
The author does not just complain about these problems, he offers common sense solutions that should have been implemented after the storms, but are still not in place almost 2 years after Katrina.
This was a very fast read, I could not put it down. Facinating information. Highly recommend this book to everyone in the U.S.

James Klotter's sensitive portrayal of a post-Civil War controversy over a legal dispute demonstrates the powerful force of the southern code of honor that one might have thought dead given the humiliating southern defeat in war. In this case Kentuckian Richard Reid's refusal to avenge a thrashing by a disgruntled and half-mad loser in a law suit led to the downfall and death of this upstanding political leader. Reid had thus disgraced himself in the eyes of a truculent public. Klotter's work would make an excellent film--his narrative is vivid, sutble, and full of cultural meaning and depth.

This book was a Christmas gift. No damage to book.

If you only bought this book for two recipes, it would be worth the price. If you want K.Paul's recipe
for blackened Red Fish, you've got it here: Shvarzadik RedfFish. The real New Orleans bread pudding:
Bayou Lafourche Bread Pudding. We've got an autographed 1987 edition and the cover is as ragged as
21 years of use would indicate.

Loved the book. If you're from the South you can hardly fail to appreciate this story. My Mom read it to me when I was little. Every time I see a heron I remember this story.

This book is full of wonderful creole recipes. Easy to follow! God bless Walter for bringing this to print and sharing these most beloved recipes. Thank you, Deanna

Percy's approach to life can be summed up by a quote from the book: "It is a very nice world-that is, if you remember that while morals are all-important between the Lord and His creatures, what counts between one creature and another is good manners." Percy's book is a rare member of that most elusive category of books - the autobiography of true literary quality. Percy's touch is honest without being journalistic; poetic without appearing over-embroidered; and in his own eccentric person he provides the subject matter which is required to make such a work interesting. He steps out of the late 19th/early 20th century Mississippi delta as a character that could not have existed anywhere else. Affected, genteel, kind, elitist, romantic and with a view of race more in keeping with British Imperial "white man's burden" line of thought than anything American in origin - Percy the character remains fascinating even as the modern reader disagrees with his positions. A clearly and well told tale of an extinct breed (the gentrified southern aristocrat), a lost land (the Mississippi delta of the turn of the 20th century), and a buried epoch (the pre desegregation era). An excellent book - well worth reading not only to better understand a particular aspect of American history but for the pleasure of reading a well written book, regardless of the subject matter.