New Orleans Saints Books

This book is like an NFL Rocky type story. Except there are 10 different Rocky's that are the focus of this book in the form of football players. Not to say that it is a ripoff in anyway. It's a book that truly stands on it's own. The author seems to be very talented. His first? Are you kidding me? Sometimes I laughed and sometimes I felt sad for them. Especially knowing that all this really happened to real people makes the impact even stronger. Don't let it's setting of it being preseason football make you think it's boring. It's a book of hope, determination, preserverance, and the cold reality of life that we all have to face. This book was so good it's compelled me to write my first review for Amazon. Congratulations Woody F. and I'm looking for your next book!

I bought several copies of Falgoux's book for the football fans in my family and they were a huge hit. By our next family gathering, One Dream was the one and ONLY topic ofconversation. This book is extremely well-written, informative and impressive in it's ability to show the human side of what has become a mega-industry in the US.

This book is precisely what every NFL fan wants to know about what it takes to make a professional football team's roster. Woody does an excellent job at grabing your attention within the very first pages and holding it to the very end. If you are a fan of the NFL, this is a must read and Woody will have you turning each page anxiously awaiting the fates of the players struggling to make the Saints team. This book is masterfully written and you will find yourself rooting for the underdogs. Woody is a gifted story teller and makes you feel like you are sitting along side him at the Saints training camp. At times, I was rooting for Woody himself as he describes the difficulties the media encounters from the Saints organization during training camp. I highly recommend this book and only hope Woody has his second book in the works.

An amazing read! The author puts you into the mind, body
and soul of the players. It is more than a book about football, it is about having hope and chasing a dream. Even
when you know you wont win. Read it and pass it on,
quickly.

Woody had a great premise for a book, let's follow undrafted rookie free agents through training camp showing the emotional highs and lows of who makes the team. Since his favorite team is the New Orleans Saints, the story starts in a small humidity oppressed Louisiana town that is the sight of training camp. Woody does a great job getting to know the players and attempting to know management and how decisions are made. It's clear very early that the NFL and the Saints don't know what to make of this book and seem to have some concern that it will be a hatchet job.

But Woody writes like a true Saints fan who wants to know the players and what it's like to try to make a team. The deck is really stacked against these guys as they must beat out returning players and drafted rookies. Woody gives great examples of the many undrafted free agents who went on to become quality NFL players. But this year's group doesn't appear to have an immediate star and some of the players start dropping immediately. Some of the rookies have great practices followed by weak practices. Some have minor injuries that limit their already limited playing time. And some are trying to fill positions where there are no real spots.

It makes for an interesting read from the early cuts to the few that make it right to the final cut. Woody does a good job of showing the fears, insecurities and sacrifices these players make trying to fulfill their dream. Read this book if you are a fan of football.

TJ Fisher calls Hearsay from Heaven and Hades, the follow-up to her award winning Orleans Embrace, a sardonic handbook. But Fisher, whose vocabulary matches her boundless spirit, has put as much joir de vie into Hearsay as irreverence and derision.
The Belle of Bourbon Street has framed her compendium of anecdotes and aphorisms in 40 chapters, titled 40 Days and 40 Nights. As with Orleans Embrace, the author is ever busy resurrecting the spirit and soul of a great city. Neither Rome nor New Orleans was built in a day and Hearsay from Heaven and Hades is to be savored in more than one or two sittings.
In these "sayings for unquiet minds," emotions take every shade, but the overarching theme is Fisher's post Katrina mantra. It resonates in such passages as "Life revolving, ebbing and flowing, outlives catastrophe" and "a rotating pendulum of holy and unholy ruin." Fisher, last year's winner of the Ben Franklin award for Best New Voice, speaks out again as the Orléans mender of broken dreams.


- Garth Puckett

Keep Hearsay from Heaven and Hades on your office desk. Dip into it daily. Read a little at a time and let it sink in. Everyone has a good, bad, sad, sour, dark, light side. Real life is cruel and kind. This book captures the realities of life, love and sorrow and the complex human drama of being alive.

New Orleans is one of America's most intriguing and enigmatic cities. "Hearsay from Heaven and Hades: New Orleans Secrets of Sinners and Saints" is a guide to the countless secrets that cover the city in shadow for its entire existence of over three hundred years. New Orleans is a huge mixture of traditions- the pirates of the seas, the Christian influences, the Haitian VooDoo influences, The Cajun Country influences, the event of Mardi Gras, and so much more. "Hearsay from Heaven and Hades: New Orleans Secrets of Sinners and Saints" is a deftly compiled guide to the many, many eccentricities of this city and is highly recommended for anyone who would learn more of New Orleans.

A late-night companion with gusto, a book for deep thinkers. Keep it nearby, on the nightstand, in the bathroom, or on the cocktail table. Dip into it daily. This work reads like sort of a new literary form. It is easy to thumb through. Entertaining, lyrical, ironic, esoteric, filled with dark humor. New Orleans makes a great twisted-sister muse and alter ego for freeing the little voice inside. Read slowly, don't rush, and absorb the thoughts. Many of the unexpected comments are sardonic, teasing, and tongue-in-cheek. Hearsay from Heaven and Hades is recommended reading for those who like to stray, and straddle the line between being real good and real bad. It is not a work for pious people. Keep this book handy if you have come to detest a steady and wholesome diet of fake sweetness and insulin ODs of sugary self-affirmations. Cool gift!

Intense literal and allegorical observations. Entertaining viewpoints and metaphors. Traces of confessional poetry. No taboos. From beyond the post-Katrina watermark: "A collection of provocation sayings for unquiet minds."

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 !

I thought this was a great book to read. It had excitement, romance, and great characters. I especially like Gloria and Baby Raymond. Anyone who has read it and didn't think it was good is a loonatic.

Now, this woman can really write--turn a phrase--find the right word--pull us in with her language--so much so that she is worth reading just for the rhythum of her words. Her characrters are extremely well developed--especially the Cajun, ex-con 'girl boy' Harlan and the young single mother, red-diaper-baby, nurse Glory. But there are others, many others, major and minor--who pop off the pages as living breathing people that never feel contrived. The location of this story, New Orleans in the 50's, is also developed as a living character, important to the story and part of this book's accomplishment. Likewise, American Culture--and our knowledge of the events that are just around the cornor, the history that is about to unfold and our characters will have to encounter and deal with are palpable --esp. racism and to a lesser extent sexism, homophobia and even the rise of the New Left appear. Then there is the action--?? what action?? yes-each character is struggling with issues--real, serious, issues of the moment and issues of the spirit--so the title tells it all--"All Saints" -- everyone is, in fact, and in deed, worthy of sainthood, even when life is confusing--which it generally is. (Also--this story takes place on, and close to, All Saint's Day in New Orleans--so there is another inference to the living mass as Saints--crowds in parades where our characters find themselves--and all the saints that came before and are now dead, ie: why we celebrate all Saints Day--which is a nice touch). But still, while the characters and their struggles are moving, insightful and shows off the authors talents there isn't much happening. It is testament that the book is so very readable that it doesn't matter too much that there isn't much happening to pull us along. But there would be a lot more readers for this book if the story itself had half the depth that the characters do. Still --read this book--it is good, real good, maybe near great--but not quite.

Karen Palmer's "All Saints" is a wonderfully paced debut. Her sense of place and atmosphere is so detailed and sumptuous, the reader can almost feel the soggy Louisiana heat. Her characters all ring true, especially the Cajun convict Harlan Desonnier and Glory Wiltz, the nurse unable to tend to her own spiritual disease. But Palmer has an ability to create unforgettable minor characters as well - Telford Gaudin, Louis Chopin and Lonnie Dee not only support the major characters but are interesting in their own right. Palmer has an eye for the telling detail and an unsurpassed ear for dialogue. BUY THIS BOOK!

Karen Palmer's intelligent study of three people pushed to the wall by their own mistakes is a real find among the hoards of trash on the bookshelf. All Saints stacks up well against the novels of Annie Proux and Jane Smiley for storytelling but far exceeds either of these Pulitzer Prize winners in pure writing talent. Palmer's writing is deeply sensual and loaded with startling portrayals of character, absolutely gives off sparks. No author writing today stays as intimate with her characters, allowing the reader to experience their internal struggle while pulled along by an ever-thickening plotline. The narrative comes with three points of view, each identified with a lead character: Harlan Desonnier, a Cajun and recently released prisoner having served time for accidentally killing his wife; Glory Wiltz, a nurse with a baby from a mixed marriage; and Frank Doyle, a fallen priest. One might suppose Harlan, Glory and Father Frank represent the trinity of the human spirit (heart, intellect and soul) under trial. But what really characterizes this novel is that it is about something. Most novels today are action-packed little ditties full of sensational plotlines and superficial, stereotypical characters in cliched situations. Palmer's novel is full of real characters, who encounter themselves in the consequences of their own actions. Rarely even in a good novel do you get a good ending, but in All Saints, Palmer accomplishes the miraculous: three terrific endings! Each of her characters reaches a separate fate, each realizing something about themselves we as readers can identify with in our own circumstances. I heartily recommend this novel to anyone interested in a reading experience that goes beyond entertainment.

I have tried several of the appetizers and most are excellent. I recently fixed the artichoke squares and the lumpia appetizers for a party and they were a big hit. The easy shrimp newberg is excellent! There are a number of recipes I am anxious to try. I highly recommend this cookbook because the recipes are different. I expect before long, everyone in my family will have this cookbook.

I can say without hesitation that this cookbook will provide you with beaucoup examples of real New Orleans cuisine that you will enjoy to the fullest. This book started out as a labor of love in 1980 and has grown into one of New Orleans' most popular cookbooks. In fact, it was awarded the "Outstanding Community Cookbook Award" from the Tabasco/McIlhenny Company Cookbook Hall of Fame. It has also been mentioned in Town & Country and other magazines.

In addition to the large collection of original recipes, the book also includes 33 pages of recipes from famous New Orleans restaurants.

I use this cookbook on a regular basis. I'm glad to see that some good people from other parts of the country have reviewed it before me. But if you want one local man's opinion who loves to cook, trust me on this one! There are several other great cookbooks which capture the essence of New Orleans cuisine, and this one is a sleeper that ranks right at the top.

Order the book and laissez les bon temps rouler!

I've been using many of the recipes from this book since 1982 when it was given to me as a Chrismas present by a girl friend of mine. I've used close to half of the recipes and been rewarded for it. The only glitch I found was in the stuffed mushroom recipe. It calls for twice as much broth as needed. When the ex and I split, this is the one of the few cook books I insisted on keeping, with good reason.

My family...sisters(2), and mother have used this cookbook and love it. It is easy to use and has some great New Orleans recipes. In fact, my mother bought one and then decided that it was so good we all needed one. If you are interested in La cuisine it has a wide variety of dishes which are really delicious. (I like the appetizers, my sister who has a sweet tooth loves the desserts) Good luck!!!

This book brought back so many fond memories of when I was growing up in a little town north of New Orleans. My parents were from New Orleans and of Italian descent, and this book is reminiscent of so many things I experienced as a child. My mother made a St. Joseph's Altar for 17 years until she was no longer able to do so, and I was thrilled to find recipes for so many of the dishes she prepared in this book!

i bought two of these; one for our former pastor - priest
and one for our altar society; it is just wonderful

A beautiful book with super pictures. If you cannot come to New Orleans to see the St. Joseph Altars in person, then at least buy the book and enjoy the pictures. The Feast of St. Joseph is on March 19th.

Growing up in a Sicilian family in the 50's, the St Jospeh Altar was a labor of love for my parents. I can recall the women gathered around the kitchen table with their own special paring knives for making cookies and secret recipes for the traditional dishes of their homeland. The photographs are a vivid reminder of those tables laden with so many pastries with the strange sounding names.

Although this book is seen from the celebrations in New Orleans, it still captures the story of the St Joseph Altar with the prayers and rituals of the occassion. I can still hear the beautiful sung Litany of St Joseph translated into English in this book, and taste the crunch of "mudica" (toasted breadcrumbs)on the pasta. This book would be a treasure to hand down to your children as you tell them of their grandparents and great-grandparents or as a gift for anyons who remembers San Guiseppe's feast day. It is a scrapbook of a time past for most Sicilian familes who have blended into the cultural melting pot, and a reminder of a heritage that should be kept alive for future generations.

This is a great book that depicts the entire 2006 New Orleans Saints football season. The pictures are wonderful and the story was written very well. I bought it as a birthday present for my husband and he LOVED it.

Excellent book. Great item to remember the Saints amazing 2006 season for years and years to come. I look forward to next year's book about the Saints Super Bowl Championship.

This book was awesome!!!! I have been a Saints fan for many years, through the good and the bad. The 2006 season was awesome. This book is a great recap of a wonderful season for the New Orleans Saints. It has a week by week analysis of each game of the 2006 season. This is a great gift for a New Orleans Saints fan.

Geaux Saints!!!!!

"Selected from the book by the same title, these framing-quality images evoke the multi-layered architectural history of the five-mile stretch of New Orleans that encompasses a century of architectural styles, including intricate Queen Ann houses, stately Italianate and Richardsonian mansions, and more. This is where the old and new live cheek-by-jowl, where decay is an art form, and where preservation is a way of life."--Amazon UK

Swoboda and Hays have collaborated to write a special, sterling history of the New Orleans Saints. This may be the best book written about a football team in the history of books!

If you like the Saints, I guarantee you will love this book-- and you should buy it at any price!

A terrific book for any Saints fan that has edured the trials of the last 30+ years. We have few things to be excited about in the history of our beloved franchise, and this book kept me reading. It very skillfully details the 88-91 seasons and let me as a saint fan re-live our "Glory Days". This is a must for any Saint fan.