Letters From New Orleans

June 6, 2005
Walker, the New York Times Magazine
's "Consumed" columnist, shares episodic vignettes of three years (2000–2003) spent in New Orleans. He takes in the usual (Mardi Gras, Carnival, a funeral, a gospel choir, Gennifer Flowers, Galatoire's, K-Doe) as a resident tourist, but his writer's perspective strays just enough off center to remain interesting. The streetcar named Desire long gone, Walker visits the history and tenants of the Desire projects. He pursues the blues standard "St. James Infirmary" through its recording history and around the world. He dons a skeleton costume and parades with one of the Carnival krewes. Not the meal at Galatoire's but the local uproar about a fired waiter gets his attention. Indeed, the quality that makes Walker's "modest series of stories about a place that means a lot to " rewarding reading is his immersion in the local. Neighborhood bars, regional history, hometown notables and a dash of mayoral politics reign in the recurring presence of New Orleans' dominating event, Mardi Gras. Walker's book, "not a memoir, a history, or an exposé," won't help a tourist get around in New Orleans, but it will help him or her see beyond the tour guide's pointed finger.

July 15, 2005
Walker, a columnist for the "New York Times Magazine" and a contributor to such publications as "Slate", the "Wall Street Journal", and the "New Republic", has published a compilation of the letters he wrote while living in New Orleans from 2000 to 2003. Originally sent via email to friends, and later as a newsletter to anyone interested, these pieces contain observations on all manner of happenings in New Orleans: the celebration of Carnival and Mardi Gras, the jazz funeral, eating, drinking, parades, religion, and housing. Interspersed throughout are Walker's comments on the city's race relations, which he confesses to find somewhat mystifying (especially in a city where African Americans are the majority). With the exception of one long chapter on the origins of the words and music to the song "St. James Infirmary," which seems out of place, the author has provided an informal, entertaining, and insightful guide to New Orleans for both the traveler and those considering relocating there. A similar title is Roy Blount Jr.'s "Feet on the Street". Recommended for public libraries. -John McCormick, Plymouth State Univ., NH

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
Walker left his job at a "big deal" magazine in New York and moved to New Orleans with his girlfriend in January 2000. He wrote letters to his friends and relatives in the form of e-mails, to share his observations about the city and explain why he had developed "a big, huge crush on New Orleans." The letters were later collected and published in this small book that is comparable to an old-time chapbook both in size and presentation. Walker's musings reveal him to be an astute observer of human nature, urban renewal (or lack thereof), tradition, music, economics, frivolity, and other sociocultural phenomena. The subjects of his letters range from the trifling (fried poundcake) to the serious (crime, public housing) to the bizarre (the musical stylings of Jennifer Flowers), and are presented in small, bite-size chapters. In addition to Walker's modest aim--to entertain and educate a small audience about his favorite city--" Letters" succeeds as a collage of eloquent impressions of New Orleans and reads like thoughtful dispatches from a learned friend.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)