Customer Reviews

Fabulous New Orleans

5 star:		(4)
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Having been raised in the north, I had very little idea or interest in the history of New Orleans. Upon visiting this wonderous city for a business trip years ago, I was fasinated and intriquied by the dreamlike quality this city exists in. A strange mixture of past and present, of mixed cultures and traditions and the feeling that ghosts are at every corner. I found Lyle Saxon's book at our local library by accident, the version published in 1928. The first chapter had me glued to a book for the first time in years. Reading about his own adventures in New Orleans, abet generations before my time, brought a familiar sense that has stayed with me since that first visit. it may be difficult to read this book and visualize if you haven't been, and if you have been, it's like remembering a beautiful dream or a part of your childhood you had forgotten. Visit the city and then buy this book.

When my mother-in-law was growing up in the 20's and 30's in Shreveport, LA, this book was considered the most authentic story of slavery and customs of the area. The other book by Lyle Saxon she remembers is "Old Lousiana." I'm ordering both for her.

Having been totally seduced by a trip to New Orleans last fall, finding this book (despite its dated references) was like opening a wonderous treasure chest. Saxon's narrative is informed and at times personal, and Sudyam's illustrations only reinforce this. Along with the current books about New Orleans, this is a must read. New Orleans is an old city with a storied history, not all of it pleasant. See the city through the eyes of Lyle Saxon and see history come alive.

Good read for someone like me who is a native. Interesting, and even if you don't live here, it will make you want to visit!

absolutely incredible! the book is as mesmerizing as the City herself. lyle saxon's personal accounts make this book so much more than just a history lesson. i highly recommend it!

Lyle Saxon, "Mr. New Orleans," was the self-appointed one-man P.R. agent for the picturesque city. He led the gentrification movement which saved the French Quarter from demolition, was the director of the "Federal Writers' Project Guide to 1930s New Orleans," and wrote a series of books documenting the vanishing city. His account of his first Mardi Gras--recalled 28 years after he first saw the City as a five-year-old--is excellent reading eighty years later and another example of Why New Orleans Matters (to quote Tom Piazza). Cheers!