Letters from New Orleans [Paperback]

Rob Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2005

In January of 2000, Rob Walker left a high-powered media job in New York, and with his girlfriend, moved to New Orleans. Letters from New Orleans collects, in one volume, the delightful and unsettling observations Walker sent to friends and fans about his intriguing new life in New Orleans.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Rob Walker and his girlfriend relocated to New Orleans in 2000, Walker (a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine) started filling his friends' email inboxes with tales of adventures from his new home. Those stories--capturing the simple, everyday, and often unbelievable moments that regularly transpired in the Crescent City--are the basis for the fascinating Letters from New Orleans. Here, the author describes the parades and jazz funerals not as a tourist would see them, but from behind the scenes, amidst the personalities. Over the course of 20 or so vignettes, Walker finds himself in dive bars that should probably be condemned; bicycling through an improvised community park that happens to exist directly below a busy freeway overpass; and mulling the consequences of random, celebratory gun firings that appear to be a regular occurrence in New Orleans. Throughout, Walker is the perfect fly on the wall; he's equal parts journalist, anthropologist, and tour guide. He devotes his energy equally to the beautiful, the downtrodden, and the wacky, but these are clearly love letters to the unique people of New Orleans. Walker is, quite simply, infatuated with his adopted city. With the 2005 flooding of Hurricane Katrina happening just months after the publishing of this book, these pieces serve as even more poignant snapshots; some of Walker's favorite landmarks may be gone forever. With that in mind, the author is devoting the proceeds from this wonderful effort to Katrina victims. --Jason Verlinde

From Publishers Weekly

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 [him]" 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 20)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Garrett County Press (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891053019
• ISBN-13: 978-1891053016
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.5 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #541,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rob Walker contributes to The New York Times Magazine and Design Observer, among others. He is the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, and Letters from New Orleans.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Journalism' as it once was: Sharing observations, realities, opinions February 24, 2008

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Rob Walker may use his day job as a New York Times Magazine Columnist to support himself, but with the publication of LETTERS FROM NEW ORLEANS he clearly steps into the arena of fine writers whose messages stand solidly on their own. This collection of shared letters via email does not come across as yet another Blog site, but instead reveals a writer of sensitivity of observation, calm excitement of discovery, and an artist who can enter a space apparently foreign to him and make it not only his experience but also that of his reader.

This too short book covers a period of time when Walker moved to New Orleans and adapted to the idiosyncrasies of that magical city in daily exploration of its peculiar wonders. With his companion 'E' he attends a New Orleans church service (as the only white people present) and learns to appreciate the gospel singing, the attire and the unconditional love that pours from the congregation; he dresses for Carnivale and participates in the traditions of bead throwing and costuming that have only been images in films and photos; he takes us on a journey through the celebration of a New Orleans funeral - which is anything but morose - and teaches us about the 'cemeteries' of tombs above ground in this city below sea level; he ponders on the traditions of firing guns into the sky to celebrate most any event; he explores the famous 'St James Infirmary' of song fame, sharing the origins of the place and the myths; and he mixes with the people in this city of poverty of pocketbook but wealth of mind.

Reading Rob Walker could be experienced as a prelude (or postlude) to appreciating the art of Tennessee Williams and the Jazz Greats. His technique in writing is to keep it simple and observational, and in doing so he raises his writing to the level of poetry - succinct with themes and variations that always return us to the spirit of one of America's most treasured cities. Highly recommended reading. Grady Harp, February 08

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Read June 21, 2005

By H. F. Corbin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Rob Walker's LETTERS FROM NEW ORLEANS is part travelogue, part memoir with a little social commentary thrown in for good measure. According to the introduction, this book grew out of actual letters he began writing to friends after he and a girl friend identified only as "E" moved to New Orleans in early 2000. Four years later the couple left the city "for reasons that remain unclear." Since they at first were not meant for publication, perhaps that is why these meandering letters are so wondrously conversational and totally unself-conscious. To a letter, they are a delight to read and made me want to revisit this most European of U. S. cities.

Mr. Walker covers some of the subjects usuallly associated with New Orleans: Mardi Gras, jazz funerals, fine dining, the French Quarter and the relentless humidity. Although he obviously loves this city, he does not shy away from writing about the blight of public housing, urban decay and the fragile balance of race relations. The book is chock-full of both memorable characters and places. Whether they got that way on their own or were made that way by Mr. Walker's pen, it really doesn't matter. We meet Ernie K-Doe, the R & B singer who gave us the hit "Mother-in-Law," whose funeral Walker writes about. And Galatorie's, the restaurant that fired a popular waiter-- who apparently couldn't keep his hands off women diners-- and so incensed its clientele that the article covering the firing in THE TIMES-PICAYUNE generated more reader comments than any subject since September 11. Don't forget the part-time embalmer at the funeral home Over by Rhodes and fulltime cashier at the grocery store Save-A Center. Or the notorious Gennifer Flowers. I feel better knowing she wound up in a club in the French Quarter where she now occasionally holds court, sings a little and will be photographed with you for $6.00. It seems appropriate that her now club once was a bar with what the writer describes as a "high-end whorehouse" upstairs.

The author is nothing is not thorough. In one of the longest chapters in his book, he tells us everything we ever wanted to know-- and then some-- about the song "St. James Infirmary." Although I had never heard of the song before, I'm going to find the Harry Connick version and see what the fuss is all about. Mr. Walker is that good at making his case for this music.

One of the most intriguing things about the LETTERS is that Mr. Walker never tells the name of the woman who is living with him although he mentions her constantly. She is simply "E." Elvira, Emily, Evangeline? We do not have a clue as to what the "E" stands for. Since he tells us that she left a good job in New York City to move to New Orleans with him, we are probably safe in assuming that he is not guilty of transporting a minor across state lines. On the other hand, perhaps, as Garrison Keillor would say, E thought she could do better and insisted on remaining anonymous.

Finally, although there are many interesting photographs scattered throughout the book, we never see a picture of the author. Most readers want to see what a writer they like looks like-- and like Mr. Walker you will. LETTERS FROM NEW ORLEANS is a fascinating, informative read.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Real New Orleans December 26, 2005

By Patti Charron

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've collected dozens of books about New Orleans, all in an attempt to further my understanding of the mysterious love affair so many of us have with the Crescent City.

In "Letters From New Orleans," Walker examines his own love affair by crafting slice-of-life vignettes shot through with the kind of colors and detail that make the reader want to tumble right down the rabbit hole with him.

Walker gets gets off Bourbon Street and gets real. "Letters From New Orleans" is personal and yet has wonderful, broad appeal owing to Walker's skill as a writer and storyteller. One need not have lived there or even visited to enjoy this book, but those who have had the pleasure of New Orleans, will be further delighted (and educated). It left me wanting more. I've read it three times; I'll read it again.

As for books about New Orleans, this little gem is a huge must. It captures the wackiness, the peculiarities, the enchantment and the "je ne sais quoi" that makes this American city unlike all the others. Rob Walker is donating the proceeds to hurricane relief efforts, which makes reading it even sweeter.