In the summer of 1959, A. J. Liebling, veteran writer for the New Yorker, came to Louisiana to cover a series of bizarre events that began with Governor Earl K. Long's commitment to a mental institution. Captivated by his subject, Liebling remained to write the fascinating yet tragic story of Uncle Earl's final year in politics. First published in 1961, The Earl of Louisiana recreates a stormy era in Louisiana politics and captures the style and personality of one of the most colorful and paradoxical figures in the state's history. This updated edition of the book includes a foreword by T. Harry Williams, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Huey Long: A Biography, and a new introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Yardley that discusses Liebling's career and his most famous book from a twenty-first-century perspective.
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About the Author
A staff writer for the New Yorker from 1935 until his death in 1963, A. J. Liebling also served during World War II as a correspondent for that magazine in France, England, and North Africa. He wrote a number of books, including The Honest Rainmaker, The Sweet Science, and Normandy Revisited.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Louisiana history!,
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This review is from: The Earl of Louisiana (Southern Biography Series) (Paperback)
As a life long resident of Louisiana and student of history,I can say this is one of the finest (and funniest!) books written about any of our politicians-So much has been written about the Long family, especially Uncle Earl, but Mr. Liebling really "gets" it-He captured the weird, wacky flavor of our #1 spectator sport, politics-Although this book was written over 50 years ago, so much remains the same-And that's not always a bad thing! Read ANY book A.J.Liebling wrote-He was a treasure!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oil's Well...,
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This review is from: The Earl of Louisiana (Southern Biography Series) (Paperback)
A.J. Liebling is a National Treasure. In reading his musings on boxing, he turns phrases and employs language that makes perusing the fight game fascinating even though the principals have not laced up gloves in over sixty years, and many of the fighters have been banished to anonymity.In this book, Liebling turns his considerable talent to Earl Long, the brother of Huey "Kingfish" Long, and the long-ago Governor of Louisina. The author makes the contention that Long was even more fearless than his assassinated brother, and blazed a trail to liberalism in a Southern State using his brilliant street smarts, and eccentric personality. Liebling illustrates one such story of Long's compassion brilliantly, in sifting through 1960's politics to bring it. The story involves a group of "negro" leaders visiting him to complain that the local hospital had not hired enough "colored" nurses. Long, who was not a segregationist (they abounded in the late 1950's in the south) told the leaders that he would get more nurses hired, but they would not like how he did it. Long went to the hospital and visited a room with two "colored" patients. When a white nurse walked in to check their vitals, Long began screaming that it was an abomination to have white people drawing blood from "niggers", and this would surely lead to miscegenation, and was an effrontery to God's plan. Within months, there was a nursing corps that was almost half black. Long cared about all his constituents, and was cagey enough to know how to play the politics of the era. Liebling makes Long a larger than life figure, and in his prose, also delivers a look at the South in a time capsule. Reading Liebling is best done in a reclining chair under a hot sun at an empty pool. If one can simply concentrate on the images and phrases Liebling offers, with little else to contemplate, reading about whatever subject this gifted writer chronicles can be a transforming experience.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Pleasure to Read,
This review is from: The Earl of Louisiana (Southern Biography Series) (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book so very much. Like the old saying goes, "They broke the mold after they made (Earl Long)". I'd like to know Earl Long's life story. It must have been an "interesting" up-bringing to have shaped this quirky, big-hearted politician.The author is a superb writer. His style really grabbed my imagination. Tell me another story, A. J. Liebling!!!
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