6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lucky Man, August 8, 2001
This review is from: Lucky Man: A Tubby Dubonnet Mystery (Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the sixth Tubby Dubonnet book and we all know by now that these books are not about the plot; they're about drawing a picture of a certain New Orleans way of looking at life. What to eat is a very important part of that (and I'll get to that in a moment), but in this book we see something else.
Tubby's view of New Orleans is generally that area that stretches from the French Quarter to Riverbend. Even though it's a decidedly friendlier (read richer, whiter, safer) view of the world than most New Orleanians have, sometimes a deep weariness sets in. Tubby is thinking for many New Orleanians when he reflects on the pervasive trash in the streets, the cops double parked on St. Charles Avenue while attending to personal errands, and the general aversion toward doing an honest day's work. This is truly the city that forgot to care. Tubby, in his mind, was "crossing a bridge and leaving New Orleans behind." (Many have claimed that the best view of the city is the one you see in your rear view mirror, and I am not unsympathetic to that idea.) But Tubby is obviously locked in. No other state has laws like Louisiana; a lawyer can't just get another job somewhere else. But luckily for Tubby, no other place has restaurants like New Orleans. So here's where and what Tubby ate in this book:
Liuzza's - Appetizers were andouille gumbo, 4 shrimp, and 2 oysters each. Tubby had baked garlic oysters; his companion had barbequed shrimp.
Red Fish Grill - sweet potato catfish; andouille meat pie.
State Street Café - a bucket of boiled crabs, shrimp, crawfish, and potatoes.
Upperline Restaurant, JoAnn Clevenger's cheerful yellow cottage with giant Martin LaBorde paintings hanging above the front door. It was mentioned, deservedly so, in an earlier book as well - Appetizers: fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade; spicy shrimp with jalapeno corn bread. Entrees: roast duck, garlic-crusted Gulf fish, veal grillades with mushrooms, peppers, and cheddar grits.
Readers will have noticed that oysters frequently figure prominently in Tubby's meals. In an earlier book, Tubby stopped at a po'boy shop on Magazine Street (probably the one right across the street from the N.O. Academy of Fine Arts, and just a couple of blocks from Beaucoup Books, where Tony Dunbar books are always in stock). Watching the cook prepare his fried oyster sandwich, he "was thinking that oysters were really sort of unappealing when you met one by itself. The moon rock shell might be as big as your hand, and stuck fast to all manner of barnacles and calcified sea life. Grab it firmly and it would likely slice the heck out of your fingers. It took a character with a strong wrist and stout blade to open one, and then what you had was a moist pale creature void of form. Yet he could think of no superlatives adequate to describe the pleasures of consuming one." Now that's writing!
I have some predictions for forthcoming Tubby Dubonnet books: In "Lucky Man," there is a minor character named Frank Daneel. I predict that Tubby will meet him and someone named Greg Soniat for dinner at Gautreau's Restaurant. Clancy's, with its enormous selection of single malt scotches, is due for an appearance. My long shot prediction (because Mr. Dunbar loves to poke some fun) is a mention of the chocolate desert bar in the revolving restaurant atop the Hyatt.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lucky Man, October 25, 2000
This review is from: Lucky Man: A Tubby Dubonnet Mystery (Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love the Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries. Tony Dunbar hits the nail on the head every time with his great New Orleans discriptions. Regional fiction is so enjoyable, especially if you've ever lived in an area that is written about.
You know who he is borrowing his characters from, you know where he is in the city and you can just feel the weather. There is no other place quite like New Orleans. It is really a seedy old city with it's own characters that would be hard to make up. Dunbar is as affectionate with his great characters as John Kenedy Toole was with Ignatius J. Reilly.
His stories are terrifically entertaining.
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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lucky Man, June 28, 2000
This review is from: Lucky Man: A Tubby Dubonnet Mystery (Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Dunbar's plots are often zany but Tubby Dubonnet is a purely lovely man and I look forward to reading each new book about him. Makes me want to live in New Orleans just so I could run into him occasionally. Or Dunbar. Whatever.
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