Louisiana College Books

(NOTE: THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN COMPLETELY IN FRENCH) In the nineteenth century, there were blacks who had gained independence before and after the Civil War. Because of their French heritage, many blacks were allowed to remain free (although certain bitter laws governed their conduct in rather inscrutable ways). Free Creoles of Color were those who stood out against the crowd and fought for equality among their race. They were Martin Luther King before he took his first breath. They were Rosa Parks before she imagined freedom. These men and women paved the way for the Civil Rights movement, yet they are seldom (if ever) recognized.

A collection of beautiful (and surprisingly racy) texts from nineteenth century Louisiana, Paroles d'honneur shines. It is just a handful of short stories written by black Creoles, those who were (in those times) truly disadvantaged and who could scarcely find a way to publish their work. Most did so in subversive fashions, and these works are a token to the effort they put in to make their message heard.

Even today, their cry of racial equality stands out, especially in these stories. If you buy one work that summarizes Creole, African American, or Civil Rights movement prose, this should be it.

A great book, providing a very human view of the development of higher education. Andrew Rice is the perfect vehicle to explore Oxford, Tulane, and several experimental curricular attempts at collegiate education. Reynolds is a gifted writer. Her research is deep, her charactors compelling.

This is a very well written biography of the first Rice University president. It will be particulary interesting to those interested in the founding of the University and its early development.

An excellent work on the background of one of this country's outstanding universities. It would not have happened without Edgar Odell Lovett.

This lovely biography, written by the skilled hand of historian John B. Boles, is as much an early institutional history as life story of the first President of Rice University. Dr. Boles tells the story of how Lovett, driven by the desire to found and create a university of high standard in the rough-hewn Southwest, spent most of his academic life attempting to transplant Princeton to Houston. Most of the ideas Lovett put in place at the infant Rice Institute derive directly from his experiences at the ancient "College of New Jersey." Limited by lack of funds, depression, war, regional bias, a relatively strict charter and an exceptionally conservative board of trustees, Lovett was only partially able to reach his goals by the time of his permanent retirement in 1946. Despite the challenges, his vision remained rock solid.

Lovett built a strong foundation. Rice is still, to this day, driven and directed by Lovett's vision. The transformation of that vision into reality, after almost 100 years, makes Rice the Princeton of the South (and NOT the Harvard of the South, to reference the overused cliché). It should come as no surprise that the current Dean of the Graduate School at Princeton, Dr. William Russel, is a Rice alumnus.

I should note that this book is written very well, by a narrative historian of myriad recognitions and talents, not to mention a beautiful style. It's a local story, but it's also a story of how strong vision and leadership are so important to the health and growth of any new or struggling enterprise. Rice was lucky to have found such strong leadership back in 1912. We still need strong leaders today, especially during this time of re-examination of purpose within our colleges and universities.

This book comes highly recommended by former presidents of Rice, Columbia (George Erik Rupp), Penn, Tulane and the current president of the University of Richmond (historian Edward Ayers). It's worth your effort if you have even a passing interest in these subjects, and a must for anyone with specific interest in Rice University.

In addition to being a football fan, I am a Certified Floodplain Manager and Certified Emergency Manager. There were different angles that led me to purchase this book.

I wished the book would have gone deeper into how the individual players as a whole were impacted. The team had to move numerous times and had to play a schedule of road games. I had sympathy for everyone involved. The anecdotes talking about how the coach and athletic director had major disagreements over the coach trying to do right for his players while following NCAA guidelines is recommended reading for anyone who works in sports administration.

The book would have been better if it had the stories of more players, coaches and school officials who had to still be on the football field in spite what they were suffering off the field. The player stories mentioned were poignant and were the strength of the book. Also, I wish more had written about their journey from New Orleans to Jackson to Dallas as the team evacuated.

I would recommend the book, but I just wish that the authors expanded on the subject matter.

Thoughtfully written from a variety of perspectives. This story of perserverance in the face of overwhelming odds is an up lifting account of a small piece of the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. Any Tulane football fan will find this book an entertaining page turner.

I picked up the book and read it in about 2 hours.

I attended games as a fan on the sideline during the Katrina season, and watched the ones on TV that were too far for us to get to during that incredibly trying time for those of us trying to piece our life back together after the failure of the federal levees. I continue to bleed olive and blue and attend all the home games and as many road games as I can.

Simply watching as a spectator from the sidelines does not do justice to this team and these young men.

In reading the book, you forget whether or not you agree with the replacement of Chris Scelfo. You see the players and the coaches for the human beings that they are - their sins, their triumphs, their disappointments.

It reminds you that Tulane football is played by young men who try in their own way to do the best that they can on the field, but also in the classroom and more importantly, as in the case of Brandon Spincer, in their lives.

You will not be able to get through the chapter on Brandon Spincer's death and funeral without a box of kleenex. And Scelfo's dismissal hours after the funeral just puts the weight of the entire situation squarely into perspetive.

Thank you Coach Scelfo and Mr. Hochman for chronicaling this story - I hope every Tulane fan reads this very important chapter in the history of the program.

Roll Wave!

A wonderful memoir of a son, husband and father focused on the 1940's and 1950's.

Robert Benson's assured prose and eye for telling detail take the reader into a vanished time and place -- the Louisiana bayous of the author's youth. This is more than a straightforward memoir, though: it's a thoughtful, frequently moving investigation of the complex web of feeling that grows between father and son, the tragedies we inherit from our parents like family heirlooms. I have known Dr. Benson as a fine literature professor, a man of much dignity. Reading his book opened a door into his heart.

The lot of women in the 19th century wasn't a terribly impressive one -- many of them had been reduced to babymakers and inoffensive "property" for the men.

And Kate Chopin caused a massive scandal when she wrote about one woman who drifted from societal normal in "The Awakening," leading to a world of exploration, love, and ultimately tragedy. Her misty, vaguely dreamlike writing can pull a reader into the world of 1900s New Orleans and its society, but her heroine sometimes feels more like a vessel than a fully-realized person.

Edna Pontellier is the wife of successful New Orleans businessman Léonce, and mother of two lovely young boys. Yet she is dissatisfied by her life, and feels no connection to the other wives and mothers, who idolize their motherhood and subservience. And when she encounters handsome young Creole Robert Lebrun while on vacation, she begins to "awake" to the feelings she has left behind during her marriage.

Distancing herself from Leonce and her sons, Edna begins exploring art and emotions that have been denied her by the strictures of her society -- as well as an affair with the flirtatious Alcée Arobin. She even moves out into a cottage of her own, much to the horror of those who thought they knew her. Her romantic feelings have not moved on from Robert, but his return makes her realize how different she has become...

Kate Chopin's most famous work is often cited as a sort of proto-feminist work, with a woman rebelling against the male-dominated role she has been given. The fact that a story about a woman abandoning her husband and kids caused such a scandal only adds to that belief.

But that's a rather restricted label to give such a versatile author, and "Awakening" is a book with too many facets to be so restrained. In many ways Chopin resembles a Southern version of Edith Wharton, exploring the stultifying society that she once dwelled in, and the often-tragic consequences of people -- particularly women -- who dared to step outside those unforgiving boundaries.

Chopin's lush writing elevates this story even further, weaving an atmospheric, vaguely dreamlike web around everyday New Orleans. She makes readers feel the heat of a summer's day, the remote beauty of a party, the eerie majesty of an empty sea. And though "The Awakening" is infused by a feeling of languid dreaminess, Chopin creates a feeling of tension and inevitability that grows as the book goes on. It's almost a shock at the book's finale, when that tension releases in a quiet burst of poetic language.

And to her credit, Chopin is able to make her points about women and society without setting up straw-men. Such characters as "angel of the house" Adèle Ratignolle and the stuffy Leonce (who sees Edna as his personal property and expects her to obey) are examples of the usual society of the time, yet Leonce is a fully realized character who loves -- but can never understand -- his wife.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that Edna herself is at times rather thin as a character. While she has many conflicting desires, she sometimes seems like a mere vessel for all those desires to be displayed over time. But there are some scenes where she does seem like a fully realized person, such as when she meditates on her lack of housewifely virtues, is struck by wild mood swings around her sons, and befriends Mademoiselle Reisz.

"The Awakening" is more than just an early feminist novel -- it's an exquisitely written story about the roads that our own desires can take us down, and the tragedies that can come from it. A must-read, if nothing else for Kate Chopin's powerful writing.

This book was written for young children (maybe first, second grade). It is very simple and does not go into a lot of details about the demise of many of the Indian tribes in Louisiana. It is a good introduction however.

I read this book and some of it seemed very dated. It is full of information. However, there are times in the book when I would think - 'well, that is not how we would say it now'.

On a positive note, the author does talk about the tribes as if they are seperate, rather than lump them together as Indians, as many books do.

Great introduction book for young children just beginning to learn about Louisiana.

This book is awesome. If you're interested in a school, but still don't quite have a feel for what it's really like, all of the College Prowler books are perfect. It has information on all aspects of campus, from the quality of academics, to night life, to dorm rooms. The best parts are where they list specific things, such as which dorm rooms are the best and where the best places to eat are. The only thing is that they pretty much ignore the specific departments. This just gives you a feel for what it would be like to go there.

Sadly, there are many who will never have heard anything about Arna W. Bontemps (pronounced "bon-tom") who this book is written about. Had it not been for the poet Langston Hughes, I too would not know who Arna Bontemps was. The two best friends were both struggling African American writers when they met in 1924... a friendship which would last until Mr. Hughes untimely death in 1967. Both were born in 1902. This book details Mr. Bontemps' life, and while he lived during a very exciting time in our history, he lived during a time of struggle. African American writers did not always receive all the same breaks as white writers. Then too, there were also some of the other horrors of the time as well. Even so, Mr. Bontemps couragiously plunged onward. Despite struggling to raise a fine family of six children with his wife Alberta, Mr. Bontemps still managed to follow his dream of writing novels, poems, short stories, children's books, and articles. After a few years in Harlem, he obtained his Masters in Library Science, and eventually became the Librarian/curator at Fisk University, where he then remained for many years until his retirement. When I read about Mr. Bontemp's life, and of his place in the lives of others during that time, I am always reminded of the song, "The Wind Beneath My Wings." You know, "You are my hero," and all that? Arna Bontemps quietly, yet always, was the constant, uplifting wind that helped keep Langston Hughes going, and many others going. And reading about his life, he keeps me going too. This book takes us from Arna Bontemps' birth to his death...through his struggles and many accomplishments...and those of many others during this time who touched his life. Though the subject matter meant alot to me, I can't say that this is a well written book. It really draaagggs in places, and deserved to be written better. Nevertheless, this is the only biography that I know of about Mr. Bontemps, and if you are interested in his life, or, Langston Hughes' life, or the Harlem Renaissance, then I strongly recommend this illustrated book.

I like Lee's TV show. It's good, but this book disappointed me a bit. It's a good format but some of it is dull and there is a whole section that is not even written by him. I thought it was an okay read. If you want a good book on LSU and the SEC, get "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football" by Chris Warner (LSU grad). There are some good stories in here though.