Customer Reviews

Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red Light District

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Al Rose's history of America's only (until recent decades in parts of Nevada) legalized red light district is an entertaining read if you have an interest in American history, Victorian and Progressive Era culture, historic preservation, jazz or prostitution. Featuring Ernest Bellocq's bittersweet photographs of Storyville's denziens and reproductions of 19th century New Orleans newspapers and gossip sheets this book has a moral for all of us: namely, that the legalization of prostitution can put an end to disease, abuse, and harrassment by johns and the authorities and become a viable part of the economy.

"Storyville, New Orleans" starts out with a brief history of prostitution in the Crescent City and takes the reader on a street-by-street tour of the district created by city aldermen in 1897. Photographs of the girls and their houses are on just about every page and really shows the day-to-day operation of Storyville. In addition, scattered throughout Rose's work are the surviving calling cards and advertisements for each prostitute and her place of business. This includes the "Blue Book", a sort of Yellow Pages for the lecherous. There is also an extensive chapter on the jazz musicians--professors--who played in the various brothels and bars. Storyville was closed by order of the US Navy in 1917 and Rose shows us what happened to some of the women and many of the buildings.

My only problem with this book is that many of the newspaper reproductions--especially that of the full-length Mascot in the back--are hard to read. I first found "Storyville" in my university library years ago when I was a student researching a paper. It was an original hardback copy and the pictures and reproductions were of a much higher quality. This paperback edition is not as good. I hope future editions will correct this when it comes time to print. Other than that, I recommend this "Authentic, Illustrated Account" to anyone who likes their history a little on the raw side.

In my research for a recent paper on the lives of prostitutes, I found this book indispensible, not only for its inclusion of interviews with actual Storyville prostitutes, or its thorough examination of the history and availiable statistics on the district, but also for the strange and beautiful photographs that are abundant in its pages. The expressions, attitudes, and settings the women and photographer chose say volumes about life in Storyville, as does Al Rose's wonderful book!

I came across this book while on vacation in New Orleans. The book is extremely well put together and the historical photos interesting. The testimonies by the women involved in the life make the book hard to put down and make for more factual and better reading than any scholarly reasearch book on the topic. This is a must have for anyone interested in the topic or as a coffee table book.

Al Rose was a mentor and great friend to me. He died in New Orleans thirteen years ago and was given a jazz funeral. He researched Storyville for 14 years. Many of the records had intentionally been destroyed. At the time he began the research he was living in Hollywood, Fl and wanted to paint a mural and map of Storyville on a wall in his home. He was a wonderful artist as well as writer. When he went to find a good map of Storyville and more details he discovered that the records of ownership of the well known houses of prostitution had been razored out of the official deed books. Intrigued by this he went on and on and the result was Storyville. He was a renaissance man: artist, writer, jazz impressario, labor organizer. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and worked with the Quakers to smuggle social democratic leaders out of eastern europe after the soviets took over. He studied under Diego Rivera, knew Trotsky, was a friend and confidant of every great jazz musician of the 20th Century and befriended all of them. I sat in his living room one night while Eubie Blake played the piano. Al wrote his biography and knew him for 50 years. He produced jazz records for the State of Louisina, still much in demand by collectors. The records bear the legend, "recorded under the personal supervision of Al Rose." His real name was much longer---he was from a very old New Orleans family and actually has to take fencing lessons in case he had to fight a duel. he would be extremely pleased at the reviews on this site. I miss him a lot. Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red Light District

If this was a fictional account about the section of New Orleans called "Storyville," no one would ever believe it. That it is true is wonderful, monstrous, fascinating, horrible, and damn good reading. The birthplace of blues, jazz, Dixieland and the beginning of the "Black take" on music that has swept the world and reinvented itself many times...right up to the present. The sex in this book and the way it was practiced and viewed at the time is unbelievable; it boggles the mind. This book cries out to be the basis for a movie, a musical, and/or a TV series. The cast of characters defies explanation. If this book doesn't blow your mind, you don't have one. Great!

This is a very informative book.However, more than being full of facts and figures and information, this book is interesting. The interviews with prostitutes, pimps, visitors and musicians that lived and worked in Storyville make this book interesting. The pictures are tactful and add a lot to the book and it's contents.

Anyone interested in the history of New Orleans will find this a not to be missed book. Anyone interested in prostitution will find this book useful.

This book reads more like a textbook than a novel, but the historical information and photos are anything but boring. There are some wild stories about what these "buiseness women" did to one another that left my mouth gaping. I had no idea prior to reading this book how districts like these thrived. This is a thourough historical account that is worth reading.

I first heard about Storyville while researching material for a book I was writing. I found the Valentin St Cyr novels and in those I "discovered" Storyville. This book gives a great background on that area of New Orleans.

Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District is written by Al Rose. The author states that the purpose of this book is "to give the reader a reasonable true-to-life impression of `The District'--its people, its music, its press, its rise and decline, its `ways" (1). Rose is not interested in telling myths and rumors. He wants to tell the true story and present only the facts. This book is also not an argument for or against the legalization of prostitution. Through his interviews with former inhabitants of Storyville and historical accounts, the author delivers a powerful message of what life was like for residents living in New Orleans shortly after the turn of the century.

This book describes how Storyville began, how life in New Orleans was affected when it was in business, and how it eventually was shut down by the government. Al Rose also includes chapters on the people, music, press, and first hand accounts from some anonymous survivors of storyville. These different chapters help to describe many aspects of Storyville. The author does a thorough job of recounting the events of Storyville. While taking the reader through the history, Rose also includes many photographs, documents, drawings, maps, and excerpts from newspapers of the time. This helps the reader to better understand and visualize the history and show evidence that the author is interested in only telling the true story.

Al Rose starts the reader off with an introduction to Storyville. He describes Storyville as the legal red-light district of New Orleans. It existed for nineteen years from January 1, 1898 to November 12, 1917. Storyville was an area defined by law to be used for prostitution and other areas of vice. Lawmakers wanted a way to control and regulate prostitution without having to openly acknowledge it. New Orleans passed an ordinance, and this ordinance initiated the episode of events that created Storyville. The ordinance stated that prostitution was clearly illegal outside of storyville, but neither legal or illegal inside it. The area was later named Storyville by the press after Alderman Story, who helped to write the ordinance that created Storyville. Alderman was mortified and fought with the press for years to change the name. The residents of New Orleans often called Storyville `the district.' It was only called Storyville by the press and historians.

The most informative part of the book is the chapter dedicated to anonymous interviews of people who experienced `the district' first hand. Rose includes several interviews with many different types of people, with different view points of Storyville. He interviews a "Trick Baby," a Pimp, a Man About Town, a Madam, a Crib Woman, a Working Stiff, and a Working Girl. These interview give the reader amazing insight to what it was really like to live in New Orleans while Storyville was open for business. In one interview with the "Trick Baby," she describes how she was born in the attic of one of the brothels. Her mother was a prostitute and her father was just another customer of `the district.' She compares growing up in a brothel to growing up with a father that owns a grocery store. "I know it'd be good if i could say how awful it was and like crime don't pay--but to me it seems just like anything else--like a kid who's father owns a grocery store. He helps him in the store. Well, my mother didn't sell groceries" (150). These interviews force the reader to imagine what it would be like if they were in that situation. This helps one form their own opinions about prostitution and vice.

In another interview with a Man About Town, who was a customer of `the district,' the man offers a unique insight into how the businesses were run. He states that he has traveled all over the world, and has been to many different `whorehouses.' He says that Storyville is different from all the other districts that he has been to. He reveals that, "The foreign whores, somehow manage to feign an attitude that leads you to believe, at least for the moment of intercourse that you have their attention and that they are interested in seeing that you have a pleasant time" (155). He describes them as having pride in workmanship. He compares this experience to his experiences in Storyville, "Storyville whores, no matter how well-dressed or how gaudily expensive the whorehouses, were avaricious, greedy, and uncouth. Really low class people, despite the Blue Book ads" (155). This contrast helped to reveal the truth about how storyville was run.

Rose also talks about this stark contrast between Storyville and how prostitution is done in other places around the world. He compares it to Japan where women raised in the authentic geisha tradition receive a professional training in the sexual arts such as the Kama Sutra. He adds that Storyville was not about art, it was about greed. He describes the women as having no real interest in their customers' enjoyment or satisfaction. All they wanted was the money that the men brought. This helps to realize how unique and different Storyville was for other places that dealt with prostitution.

Al Rose writes Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District as a true account of the events of `the district.' He uses many primary and secondary sources to describe the attitude of Storyville and its people. He helps the reader to understand that `the district' was a unique place. The interviews offer an extraordinary view of the lives of the people and how they were affected by Storyville. This book gives a significant understanding of the history and its importance to the reader.

Covers the truly bizarre (and lewd) phenomenon of Storyville -- an 1897-1917 experiment with segregating all prostitution in the city into a 4 block x 4 block area. This was obviously a real labor of love. Al Rose appears to have looked under every sheet and peered into every closet. He has amassed a very large collection of interviews, correspondence, printed material, and photos. The final product is interesting, well organized, well illustrated, and well written. It is amazing what he fits into 200 large pages.

I'd highly recommend this adult glimpse into a seedier and less discussed element of New Orleans' unique and offbeat culture.