Customer Reviews

Poor Man's Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Louisiana

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Somewhat like the wonderful nonfiction works of Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways" and Raban's "Passage to Juneau", only better, much better. Like those two travel novels, "Poor Man's Provence", entertains with unique true anecdotes and historical facts about the down home exotic people and places of the Acadiana ("Cajun") Country, Louisiana. Woven into the colorful quilt of her writing, Rheta Grimsley Johnson also gives us wicked irony, Twain like humor and a little subtle, sincere, simple human philosophy. Unlike "Blue Highways" and "Passage to Juneau", "Poor Man's Provence" is not a travelogue, but instead represents ten years of learning and loving the gentle folks of Cajun Louisiana. It's a great book to read if you think that you will ever want to see this part of the American South, and it's still plenty entertaining even if you just want to get to know the natives vicariously. If there is any justice in such things, this must read book should win lots of awards.

All ethnic groups have their on distinct qualities and because of this most are completely misunderstood. Cajuns are no exception. I know when I was a kid I wanted be black. I truly didn't understand why then, but over the years thinking back I know it was because of the sense of pride that most of my black friends had. Ms. Johnson has tapped in to the Cajun pride. She conveys with humor and humility the love they have for their land and family, as well for others not of their ethnicity. Her love for them shines brightly. I love this book and highly recommend it to all.

Poor Man's Provence: - Having a fair amount of familiarity with the area and people, I'd say Mrs. Grimsley wrote as good of a memoir of this part of Louisiana as any. Whether one is familiar with the area of not, it would be worth reading it ahead of time to get the most of the visit to Cajun Country. From beginning to end I felt like I knew the central figures in this non-fictional memoir, Johnelle & Jennette, and they didn't disapoint. The place is crawling with people like them and it'll please and even surprise them all to know a transplant appreciates them for just being themselves. Whether the writer, Miss Rheta(as locals would call her), intended it or not, she and Don are now a part of Cajun's lives forever and we're all grateful for her memoir and presence.

As a non-native Louisiana resident, I know my state to be one of the most misunderstood and badly stereotyped in the U.S. It is only once I lived here myself that I discovered the diversity and wealth of natural resources that the state has to offer. Ms Johnson's book is a delight to read and brings the people and places of Cajun Louisiana to life. She does not gloss over the state's challenges, but does offer the reader a true and heartwarming view of what make the Cajun lifestyle so unique in the gumbo that is Louisiana.

In 1996, after having covered the South for over three decades as a newspaper reporter and columnist, Rheta Grimsley Johnson., with her husband Don, journeyed from their home in Iuka, Miss., to the shores of the vast Atchafalaya Swamp.

They purchased the Green Queen, a gawky one-room houseboat, and soon bought a cottage in the nearby town of Henderson, which "may well be the funkiest little town in Louisiana." There she fell in love with the people, traditions and culture of Acadiana.

A marvelous prose stylist, Johnson delivers a glowing encomium of the Cajuns--their music, food, occupations and celebrations--a people bubbling with joie de vivre and having an unselfish commitment to family and friends--"the salt of the earth"--who will literally give you the shirt off their back.

For the past decade, Rheta and Don have made their second home in Henderson, where they enjoy authentic Cajun culture. In Poor Man's Provence, she debunks the myth that "all Cajuns are illiterate hicks, backwards bumpkins."

Poor Man's Provence reveals a warm humanity and is a fun book to read.

Rheta Grimsely Johnson's reporting has won awards including the Ernie Pyle Memorial Award for human interest reporting (1983), the Headliner Award for commentary (1985), and the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Distinguished Writing Award for commentary (1982). In 1986 she was inducted into the Scripps Howard Newspapers Editorial Hall of Fame, and in 1991 Johnson was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Syndicated today by King Features, Johnson's column appears in about fifty papers nationwide. She is the author of several books, including America's Faces (1987) and Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz (1989). A native of Colquitt, Georgia, Johnson grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, studied journalism at Auburn University and has lived and worked in the South all of her career. She and her husband Don Grierson live with three dogs and two cats in Iuka, Mississippi, and Henderson, Louisiana.

This book, though fun to read, has numerous flaws. I agree with another reviewer who took exception to Grimsly's discussion of child beauty pageants and the use of "literally" in one sentence. In addition, at the end of one chapter, the author notes that the best bakery in the area is Poupart's in St. Martinville. Well, either she means Poupart's in Lafayette or Dana's Bakery in St. Martinville. Either of these could be called the best bakery in the area, although Poupart's probably wins on variety of offerings. There simply is no Poupart's in St. Martinville. The fact-checker for this book should be given a reprimand for this.

I would have liked to see a few pictures of the author's houseboat, their cottage, Chicken on the Bayou restaurant, Bon Creole restaurant in New Iberia (named by the author as the best po-boy place in Louisiana - and I totally agree), and Johnelle and Jeanette. In lieu of printed pictures, perhaps the author could refer us to a website with a photo album of these places.

The writing was weak, though, as mentioned above, generally enjoyable. Grimsly's portrait of generally modest means, but fun-loving Cajuns as unlike other Americans is spot-on. We work to live rather than living to work. There is a 'joie de vivre' here that is not found in most areas of the US.

After traveling through Cajun Country many times, I now know what I've missed! Rita tells it the way I want to hear it and live it!

1st: I had already posted this review and it was deleted. There is nothing wrong with disliking a book and expressing it! Is Amazon into censorship? Has anyone else had this happen to them?

2nd: Re-post of my review:



I had really looked forward to this book. I am moving to LA in 8 months and am reading everything about it that I can. I actually couldn't even finish this book. It was poorly thought out and whoever edited it should go back to school. Throughout the book I kept asking myself, did she even think about what she was saying before she wrote this? The overall tone of this book was of a whiny woman seeking cultural acceptance who has a very limited story telling ability.

Here are just a few examples of why I would not recommend this book to anyone:

1) The writer was talking about watching a local beauty pageant and how she strongly disagrees with beauty pageants because they are anti-feminist. Then she says "But the young cajun women are so beautiful...I suppose it would be a waste if they all turned up their noses at pageants, however anachronistic and sexist the events may be."
Well, this struck me as a plainly stupid thing to say. A waste?! Why? Because then their beauty would not be objectified properly? Someone's feminist card just got revoked.

2) Discussing how nice some of her friends were, she told a story about how they were willing to lend her their only car so she could travel out of state to be with a sick relative. That is all fine and good, but then she writes "They were literally offering the shirt off their own back and wanted us to take it."
The couple was NOT 'literally' offering the shirt off their own back, they were LITERALLY offering to lend her a car. Come on, this is a mistake that a high school kid knows not to make.

3) She has a slightly creepy relationship with the neighborhood children. She styles herself as some sort of feminine Mr. Rogers, and all the children come and spend quality time with her in the "Clubhouse" a.k.a. her backyard shed. Strange? Yes. Further, though she professes some deep bond with this kids, she refers to one of them as a "snaggled-tooth girl" who she hopes is not another "street urchin." She is LITERALLY calling a little girl names.

4)This writer ended up at a rooster fighting match. She describes how the roosters are fitted with steel knives on their legs, which they stab their opponent to death with. She then talks about how this animal cruelty is nothing compared with the chicken people eat every day, because those chickens are shackled to a conveyor belt, stunned, and then have their heads put through a guillotine. This is apparently much worse then cock fighting because, this author argues, "at least gamecocks die a natural death." I am sorry, but how is being stabbed to death by another rooster with knives a "natural death"???

In sum, I do not recommend this book to anyone with a modicum of sense.

I was expecting fiction. As the community book of year, I felt it would some how teach us something. It didn't for me.