Books of New Orleans for Research and Pleasure (PART 1)
““Never let the truth get in the way of a good story””
Jean-Pierre Lassus, “Veüe et Perspective de la Nouvelle Orleans,” 1726, Centre des archives d’outre-mer, Franc
New Orleans is the name we use to identify this parcel of land between the river and a lake. It is nearly an island both figuratively and literally, surrounded by water; water in its soil and water in the sky. It is like a minor deity who so many worship, find inspiration and joy despite its many shortcomings. Books were my entry port into its world and also my constant guide to understanding the city and its peculiar place in the U.S. What makes the city mythical are its many stories both true and false and most often that elusive “somewhere” in between.
My first foray into the mysteries of New Orleans was initiated in Florida as a teenager when a friend recommended a collection of short stories by Poppy Z. Brite called Wormwood. It was followed by a copy of a book called Journey Into Darkness…Ghosts and Vampires of New Orleans gifted to me by my sister after she visited the city in 2000. It made me curious to know a city that had so much dark history yet plentiful joy and celebration. What was this place?
It feels a relentless calling to write, read and make art from what I learn and to simultaneously interpret its stories with profound religiosity, fantasy and reverie but it’s impossible without the aid of books. The city is imbued into all of my work like an alchemical bond impossible to ignore or even reason. I believe that my job is to create a paradoxically realistic and dreamlike interpretation of I’ve learned, witnessed and experienced and make something from it.
I hope you enjoy this list. It’s a simple “top 10” (this being “Part 1”) but all of these have led me through the city, expanded my imagination or were simply enlightening reads, whether fictional or not. New Orleans is the U.S.’s most mythical city. Does truth matter?
Just a quick note: If you’re interested in purchasing any of these books, please consider supporting our local bookstores instead of Amazon. I’ve made it easier to locate these tiles with links below each description.
1. Wormwood (1996)
Poppy Z. Brite
This book was required reading for all goth curious kids at my high school. While not all of the stories in this book take place in New Orleans, it gives a fictional interpretation of some of the legends about pirate ghosts of South Louisiana such as “Sixth Sentinel”. The city appears a looming, unspeaking character in other stories, whispering an unknown language. My favorite description of the city is from the short story, wonderfully titled, “The Ash of Memory, The Dust of Desire”. Brite writes:
“Ancient, by American standards isn’t very old. Two or three hundreds years at most….and the abandoned mills and factories are no more than sixty years old. But I think of New Orleans, that city mired in time, where a whole religion evolved in less than two hundred years — a slapdash recipe concocted of one part Haitian graveyard dust, one part juju from the African bush, a jigger of holy communion wine, and a dash of swamp miasma. Magic happens when and where it wants to.”
Purchase here
2. Voodoo in New Orleans (1946)
Robert Tallant
Tallant provides accounts of Marie Laveau from witnesses and a story about her proposed mentor, Doctor John. There is also a story of her contribution to the aid of victims of the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1853 (the city’s worst) and how she conducted her ceremonies and gained notoriety. Some of the stories from this book have been refuted and some have alleged that it created a negative narrative about the history of voodoo although I’ve found that the author states that some of the stories he gathered from New Orleanians may have been exaggerated. The book also removes us back into old New Orleans and the neighborhood colloquially called Back-a-Town (Rampart Street area). One can imagine the world that raised Louis Armstrong.
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3. Journey into Darkness…Ghosts and Vampires of New Orleans (1998)
Katherine Smith
This is a book that is commonly found in the French Quarter’s tourist shops. Many of its ghost and vampire stories are known while others are based on Smith’s first hand accounts. What I enjoy about this book is that many of its figures existed and contributed to the well known ghost stories often heard told by tour guides throughout the Quarter. It’s a fun introduction to many of the city’s dark entries.
Purchase here
4. The French Quarter (1936)
Herbert Asbury
While written in 1936 this book is one of my favorites when discussing topics of the French Quarter. It covers the foundation of the city, its ramparts, street names, notorious figures and its late adoption of electric street lamps. Many of the issues New Orleans struggles with today can be traced to the 1800s and some of these forgotten characters would be able to relate to the experiences of modern New Orleanians. I enjoyed the detailed accounts of bars, brothels, relations between blacks and whites and the conversion of the French Quarter into “Little Palermo”. This book was dutifully written to include as much detailed information as could fit into 400+ pages and is still relevant today. If you watched the Martin Scorsese film, Gangs of New York then you’re already familiar with the author’s work.
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5. Bellocq’s Ophelia (2002)
Natasha Tretheway
This book of poetry by Pullitzer Prize winner, Natasha Tretheway is a first person narrative of sequential poems based on a photograph made in 1912 by EJ Bellocq of a light-skinned black woman working as a prostitute in the Storyville District named Ophelia. I love Tretheway’s writing and imagination. The author’s fictionalization of its titular character takes us to the beginnings of Ophelia’s career and her correspondences to a conservative childhood friend. We meet EJ Bellocq and experience the city through the eyes of a thoughtful narrator while tasting the summer rain that many of us enjoy.
Purchase here