Louisiana Books

Contrary to the two reviews you display, this was a "One-Shot" Magazine that covered Pete's first three years at LSU. There were two Authors, Editors, and Publishers, John Muchemeche and myself. While John wrote most of the articles which were great, and took most of the pictures, the real credit for the Magazines professional look should go to Kirk Kirkpatrick, who did the artwork, Lay-out, and design. My only regret was that we didn't follow up with Volume 2, at the end of his Senior Year, and distributed it Nationally.

This is a hard to find program from Maravich's junior year at LSU. It was sold at the Pistol's home games in New Orleans. It's full of stats, interviews, and incredible photos (some color). I have seen used copies of this very publication offered for $125 in sports magazines. Two words: collector's item.

The program/book of Pete's junior year at LSU is a gem to any collector's bag. It is full of memoriable moments of Pete and Press and the LSU gang during that that year. It offers superb pictures, statistics, and in-depth analysis of Pete's flamboyant years at the collegiate level. I am so glad that I discoved this collectible item. It is a must have for any fan of the Pistol,or the average Maravich fan. Enjoy and treasure the reading. Superb!

I DESIGN MARDI GRAS COSTUMES. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN EVERY USEFUL FOR IDEAS

If you wish to view the real New Orleans carnival celebration, take a look through this window opened by its legendary artist/historian, Henri Schindler. Schindler is a local icon, the touchstone of this unique cultural expression. Students of cultural and social history as well as art lovers and designers will share delight in Schindler's masterful recreation, through well-researched and entertaining text and beautiful color plates, of the "golden age" of the celebration--an oeuvre to which Schindler adds annually through his own designs for several of the old-line carnival organizations, thus keeping alive the artistic and cultural tradition of which he writes in this and his previous books. The reader comes to know, through the insights of a true "insider", the meaning and spirit of the "real" Carnival.

This book is exquisite.
In New Orleans, Mardi Gras as practiced by the faithfull is the high holy event of the year. Mr. Schindler has documented the aesthetic traditions of the rites in a series of beautiful books- this is the lastest and focuses on costume designs from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The plates are all original drawings by the great designers of Carnivals' past (Mr. Schindler is the great designer of Carnivals present). New Orleans Mardi Gras is rooted in the aesthetic of 19th century Italian opera and this book has some truly surreal illustrations. Any Carnival faithfull, opera fan, theatre designer or just folks who love costume parties should love this book. It also stands as a serious work of art history- the talent and effort that go into mounting parades and tableaux balls in New Orleans get overlooked and all of Mr. Schindlers books on the subject document a rich history of artists and artisans who worked in the city and built its most revered tradition.

All the commonly-eaten fish and shellfish of the Mediterranean are covered in this wonderful reference and cookbook. As in his Atlantic Seafood, each animal's entry includes an old engraving (better than a photo for identification -- except for color), its scientific and common names in various languages, a description of the animals habit's and culinary qualities, and a reference to recipes.

Recipes are organized by country, and are well chosen and edited. The only criticism I might offer is that it is hard to find recipes by type. That is, it's very easy to find recipes for mackerel or recipes from Italy, but it's hard to find all the baked-fish recipes suitable for a dark-fleshed fish.

A great book like this should never be out of print! It's one of my favorite gifts for friends in Greece and Italy....

Just before his untimely death, this year, Alan Davidson received the highly prestigious Erasmus Prize for European culture, for his publications on food. This book, along with his Companion and other publications, is a classic. It is crammed full of useful and necessary information. The fish section describes a species, its latin name, and the names in various other languages in the region. The recipe section deals in an intelligent way with regional knowns and unknowns, such as a sencible discussion on bouillabaisse. Any serious library of cookbooks has to have Davidson's books, including this one.

`Mediterranean Seafood' and `North Atlantic Seafood', both by noted culinary writer Alan Davidson, the author of `The Oxford Companion to Food' are reference books which a serious cook must have in their library where time is spent deciding on what to eat rather than time spend actually cooking. These books belong to a rare breed of books in English such as Elizabeth Schneider's `Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini' or `Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients' which thoroughly cover a broad single subject or the `Larousse Gastronomique' which gives an overview of virtually every culinary subject, at least from the point of view of French cuisine.

Both books are organized in the same way that gives primacy to information on the aquatic species and secondary coverage of recipes.

Biological family, genus, and species organize the first part on the catalog of species in order that the biological similarity of the fishes is clearly shown. Each article gives the most common English name, the two part Latin scientific name, the scientist who assigned this name (most commonly the great inventor of biological Taxonomy, Linnaeus), the biological family name, and the common name of the fish in virtually every language of the major fishing nationality bordering the relevant body of water. The North Atlantic species, for example, are named in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and others such as Gaelic (Irish). The Mediterranean species' names are given in French, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Tunisian, Turkish, and others such as Bulgarian, Romanian, and Russian if, for example, the species is most commonly found in the Black Sea, which is included in the coverage of the Mediterranean. These names in themselves are entertaining to the linguistically inclined, as it is interesting to see the similarities and differences from country to country. For example, even though the Turks came to Asia Minor from central Asia, most of their names for fishes are very similar to the Greek name, making a lot of sense, as a traveling people is likely to name things new to them based on the names given by the indigenous population. The articles on every species also have a highly detailed black and white drawing of each animal. The great value to these is that it makes comparing the appearance of different fishes very easy, as every species is depicted in a similar style. It is too bad they could not be depicted to scale, but this would have had the sturgeon filling two pages while the anchovies would be the size of a period. Instead, the remarks on each fish give the average market length and a description of the typical color and markings.

The catalog entry also gives a paragraph or two on cuisine, which is a discussion of the culinary desirability of the species and typical ways in which the animal is prepared. For most fish, this includes methods by which the fish is butchered. The catalog entries also include a list of recipes and page numbers for these recipes in the second major section of the book.

The second major section divides recipes by country. The Mediterranean volume has chapters of recipes from Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Black Sea, and Northern Africa. The North Atlantic volume has recipes from Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, the United States, Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales. France merits two sections, covering the southwest and the northwest. The US merits four sections, covering New England, the Middle Atlantic States, the Chesapeake, and the Carolinas and Georgia.

Other books, such as `Fish' by Shirley King seems to have copied this scheme, but seems to be much less successful in that not enough valuable information is packed into the catalogue to make it interesting enough reading to outweigh the annoyance of doing a two step search for a recipe on haddock, for example. The other side of the coin is that if you live in Maryland, you are much more likely to be interested in recipes from the Chesapeake than in recipes from Maine.

One is tempted to expect these recipes to be very generic and not as interesting as those you may find in books of `haute cuisine' from a fish specialist such as Eric Rippert. This is partially true. Davidson is less the great cook than he is a great writer on food. This means that while his recipes may come from common sources, he gives us much more information on the background of the recipes than the chef may do. Two perfect examples of this case are the recipes for bouillabaisse (French fish stew) and Maryland crab cakes. Davidson confesses to giving us something simpler than the `de luxe version', yet this simple treatment is entirely appropriate to the simple origins of the dish, before the gourmets got their hands on it. Similarly, the crab cake recipe has very few ingredients, mostly just crabmeat, seasonings, breadcrumbs, and enough egg to hold it all together.

The supplementary information tells much about the fish cuisine of both regions. The most interesting information is on the fact that while the Mediterranean is very shallow, it has relatively little continental shelf while the North Sea is practically all shelf, suitable to the spawning of young fish in shallow water. This does much to explain the popularity of the North Atlantic cod in peninsular Italy, virtually surrounded by water.

The bibliography shows that the author has based most of his material on local sources in native languages such as Polish, Turkish, and Portuguese. This may only help the multilingual scholar, but then it is the rare English culinary work that does this. One of the greatest things about these volumes is that all of this great material is available in trade paperbacks, which list for no more than $25.

These are must have books for devoted foodies!

This is my favorite story of all time. Even though Melitte is uneducated, she shows a greater knowledge of love, bravary, and loyality than of those who are educated. Marie is a strong character, who doesn't judge people by race, wealth, sex, beliefs, or social status, but by what's inside. Fatima Shaik paints a vivid picture of the psychological effects of slavery on the enslaved, slavers, and bystanderds of this dreadful, disgusting period of time. This story is very well researched. And I hope it will be more present on all library shelves everywhere in the furture.

Since she was six, Melitte doesn't remember ever having a loving touch, only physical and mental abuse, rags for clothes, scraps of food, and labor that is beyond her capabilty. She realizes that she is "owned" by Monsieur and Madame Duroux, an unsusessful farmer and his mean, selfish wife. When Madame has a baby, Melitte is forced to care for the child as well as cook, clean, farm, and work in the fields with Monsieur. But Melitte and Marie love each other as equals, sisters; Melitte has finally found love. Only several years apart in age, Melitte teaches Marie a coding system that is sewn into her clothing. When the cabin burns, the family moves to the Preval plantation where Monsieur works as a share-cropper, at 13, Melitte questions her enslavement, an unappreciated orphan, and her fate as being unloved and decides to secretly sew clothes for Madame Preval for money for her freedom. Monsieur becomes become increasingly callous toward the girl, stealing the money she earned to purchase her freedom. Marie helps Melitte escape to a camp of runaways. They will remember each other by heart and memory forever.
This is my favorite story of all time. Even though Melitte is uneducated, she shows a greater knowledge of love, bravary, and loyality than of those who are educated. Marie is a strong character, who doesn't judge people by race, wealth, sex, beliefs, or social status, but by what's inside. Fatima Shaik paints a vivid picture of the psychological effects of slavery on the enslaved, slavers, and bystanderds of this dreadful, disgusting period of time. This story is very well researched. And I hope it will be more present on all library shelves everywhere in the furture.

Melitte is a slave girl. For as long as she can remember, she has been mistreated by a poor Frenchman and his wife on a failing farm in the Louisina backwoods. It is all she remembers, all she knows. Her mother is dead; she has never know love. Then Marie is born. Melitte should despsise her owners' daughter, but Marie treats Melitte as an equal, and they pledge to be "sisters and friends forever." Until Melitte learns some shocking truths: Melitte's owner is her father. Melitte wonders how her father can do this to her, to hold her in bondage all these years and now sell her. Marie risks losing her parents' love by helping Melitte escape slavery. But when they reach a remote Indian village, the Indians will only lead Melitte on, because they fear the white men will plot revenge on them for stealing a white child. Melitte faces a difficult choice: go back with Marie, or go on alone. In Melitte, Fatima Shaik captures the cruelty and horror of slavery through the eyes of a child.

Before purchasing this I went to a local bookstore and looked through all the N.O. travel guides. This book outshone the others - it contains lots of great information on N.O. and its surrounding areas. There is a lot of detail and off-the-beaten-path highlights not found in other travel guides. I live on the Northshore of N.O. and through this guide, have discovered places I hadn't heard about before - and that are well worth visiting. Also important to note is that this travel guide seems to be up-to-date on places that are still closed post-Katrina.

I chose this New Orleans travel guide for two reasons: it covered Cajun country as well as New Orleans proper, and it had been updated with Post-Katrina information. However, after using it, I can say, it rates highly for many more reasons. The authors seemed to have very good first hand information about all the ins and outs of visiting the New Orleans area today. They never let me down, and their recommendations were right on target. Including the River Road plantations and the Cajun area around Lafayette was extremely helpful, because none of the other guides offered that additional information. Traveling west from New Orleans is great fun, and this guidebook again gave me the inside information I like to have. Both of my B&B hosts generally echoed what I learned from the Moon guidebook. I would definitely choose another guidebook from this publisher if I had the opportunity!

If you are like me, wondering who designed that building, who invented that recipe, and why a street name is pronounced a certain way- this book is for you. You will find everything you need to plan an enjoyable vacation, but most of all you will find the history of the city and answers to all of the questions you will encounter. Never has there been a better guide to New Orleans!

I have prepared many of the dishes in the new book. All were excelent. The recipes were easy to follow. The Authentic dishes take more time to prepare than the quickie recipes from other books but WOW! what a difference in flavor. This book is a must for anyone wanting to entertain guests with Cajun-Creole flavors.

All of the recipes that I have tried in this book, from the staples to the exotic, are wonderful. Some of them (such as the Red Beans & Rice or the Artichoke-Heart Casserole) have become favorites to be prepared whenever I want to impress or just enjoy good eating.

Recipes include background information about how dishes came about, when they should be served and with what. They range from simple, everyday dishes to elaborate, impressive feasts.

If you buy only one Cajun cookbook, buy this one. Its the one to have. I'm buying another one because I wore mine out.

I hosted a Mardi Gras party and lucked-out finding this absolutly wonderful book. The recipes are easy to follow and everything that I have made (at least a dozen or so)has turned out great. I am constantly being asked for these recipes so now I am buying several copies to give to those close family and friends who have mentioned that they would like to buy it. The best of the best: Shrimp in mustard sauce, Sun-dried tomato pesto, Jezebel sauce, Cajun-Country bread pudding w/rum sauce and Chantilly cream, and on and on.

My New Years resolution was to learn to cook the wonderful foods of New Orleans. I have purchased many cookbooks and tried many recipes. This is the greatest New Orleans cookbook ever. Kit gives the history of many restaurants and chefs before and after Katrina. You will find it fascinating. The recipes are wonderful. Pictures beautiful. This is a must if you enjoy New Orleans and New Orleans food.

The seafood dishes I've made are delicious with easy directions to follow, and wonderful flavors of New Orleans. The photographs are fabulous and let you see what the dish should look like - something I really appreciate. The little stories with each recipe about the restaurant and the chef make it fun reading even if you're not cooking. I bought one as a gift and enjoyed looking at it so much, I went back and bought one for myself.

Chefs from iconic restaurants - uptown, downtown, back of town - daily elevate fish and shellfish from basic boiled beauties to traditional (and untraditional) classics. Trout Meunière can make you sob. Soft-shell crabs seem like crispy clouds. Speckled trout, shrimp, pompano, and redfish come blackened, broiled, grilled, sautéed, steamed, sauced and sassy as all get out. These are their recipes refined to be made easily at home.

The recipes in this book demonstrate how the low, the high, and the in-between coexist in a dining world that ranges from blue jeans to black tie. With taste buds to match. The photographs make it easy to duplicate these dishes at home, they are fabulous and lick-the-page wonderful. A must for every kitchen.

I loved it. I lived in New Orleans when some of the "then" was still there, and seeing all the changes is great fun.

The low ranking below must result from something personal. Sullivan is a true authority as he's taught the Crescent City's twisting, multiracial history for years at the University of New Orleans. And when Orleans Parish wanted it's cab drivers to know their own landmarks, City Hall had him put them wise. Beyond this though, it's a fine read. I used to laugh at the architectural damage the developers had done through the decade. But New Orleans has always grasped the modern and this has been its real architectural struggle. This book helps put the changes in perspective.

I found this book to be one of the best gifts I have ever received.Being from New Orleans and looking back at our past and what we have evolved into was simply nothing short of fantastic .It was well composed and the photography was exceptionally well done.Compared to similar books done slightly earlier ,this is a WINNER!I bought these as gifts for Christmas after I received mine.Everyone who got it raved.This author has proven to me, more than once, he is dedicated to authenticity and has the respect for New Orleans that New Orleans deserves.My hats off to you Mr.Sullivan.Great job.Keep up the good work.

I enjoyed this book. It is light reading. The bond with Nicky and his owner is strong. Very nice large color photos of Nicky on his romps in the swamp. A cute story for all animal lovers.

Nicky the Swamp dog is one of the best books I have read about a dog that does wonderful things. I do not like the review by the person from new York who says it has too many words as she or he is wrong. The book is the talk at my schooland many others in Louisiana but maybe the lady from New York just does not get it.Too bad, because it is GREAT!!!!!! Also many people from other places like California and Vermont love it too because I sent them one.

This is a wonderful book full of things the children need to learn. In this day and age most children don't appreciate the enviornment and the animals that live in it. This book teaches that. This books teaches you to be kind to animals, yet respect them. I met Nicky and Half Pint (D. Ray Guillory) about a year ago and they have become some of my closet friends. They have taught me about the swamp and the animals that live in it. I am a 23 year old woman that will take this book and the experience with me for the rest of my life. I have bought this book for almost everyone I know. I have also brought many of my family and friends to the swamp to meet this famous dog and her best friend, Half Pint. They have been a wonderful new part of my life and I hope you can also be as lucky as I have been to read the book and take the adventure.

There is a wise maturity to the elegiac nature of these poems. The first poem, "Water Dish," for instance, is, on the surface, a straightforward meditation on epiphanies, these beautiful moments that wake us into the present. But look a little deeper, and you will see an elegy for the "now", this present moment, no matter how wonderful. This and many of the other poems here, deeply show that, truly, like a semi truck, the future and the past so often run our lives over. And worse, the very thing we hope can save us, our best words, wall out the real. Nevertheless, courageously, these poems continue to call into the darkness and "lostness" of our lives. The echoes that return make us quiet ourselves and listen. Listen deeply.

Wenthe reinforces the basis of poetry. His poems are some of the best that are being written today. He proves a love of words, and he's a master at creating music with his medium. A beautiful, sparkling book of poems.

Pellucid fragility creates the elegiac yet joyous tone of William Wenthe's second collection, *Not Till We Are Lost.* Rhythmically varied, captured with an eye as unblinking and startling as that of fish ("crewcut lawn," "the rhododendron as a chalice / of shadow"), Wenthe's lines play the literal against the transcendent in a way that invigorates and affirms both. Quiet scholarship ("Goldeneye," "W. H. Auden, Leaving Lubbock. . .") and artfulness (the lovely sonnet sequence "The Mysteries") carry and lift these lyrics on their voyage; tact permits and renders their intimacy. To read the short poem "Gar" is to feel the universe, of a sudden, quiver. The losses that we must suffer these poems create with a candor that will break your heart; yet you will wish for them to break it again and again.