Customer Reviews

The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Ned Sublette went to Tulane in 2004 to do research for his history of the city: THE WORLD THAT MADE NEW ORLEANS. But the gritty, exciting and dangerous year he spent exploring the city's music, neighborhoods and traditions was the last before the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina. The damage caused by the levee breaks and the unconscionable--no, criminal--abandonment of the city's survivors changed this great and vibrant city--perhaps forever. Sublette's book is fierce and angry and very, very personal. I've been a fan of Sublette the musician for decades, but this book was a look into the life and the scholarship of a remarkable writer and person. For Sublette, New Orleans is fascinating on every level--and the levels all coexist. He describes the historical origins of a neighborhood, the musicians, slave owners and slaves who lived there, the current watering holes, the rappers who memorialized it (and their fates) and which second lines that snaked through it, playing jazz. He explores the divided Mardi Gras traditions from the segregationist Comus and Rex to the African-celebrating Zulus and the mysterious and wonderful Indians (who were inspired by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show!). This is strong and wonderful--a book that takes history, politics and art seriously and personally. I really enjoyed every page and recommend it highly. (Actually this was written by Amy Heller, Dennis's wife and partner in Milestone Films)

I read this book during the hottest summer ever recorded down here in Austin, Texas. A little bit every night. I found it most enlightening in matters of historical value: life in Texas and Louisiana in the fifties through to the present, especially concerning race matters. And music! I am a musician, and the chapter "Tell It Like It Is" had me reminding myself to encourage all my musician friends to read this. But most importantly, this book affected my dreams. It was there I visited the streets of New Orleans pre-Katrina, courtesy of Ned Sublette. Dark and exhilarating, vibrant and ethereal. Sublette imparts a considerable love for his subject! And I have a newly acquired desire to revisit New Orleans in the flesh (it's been many years) to participate in her rebirth.--Lissa Hattersley

Going to New Orleans for lovers of American music is like going to Greece for lovers of antiquity. If you're serious, someday ya just gotta make the trip.

The difference is that a surprising number of the "ancient" things past legends like Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton recalled from the early part of the 20th century are still alive and well in NOLA today: social and pleasure clubs, Second Line parades. Indian tribes, jazz funerals, great musicians seemingly on every block .and what for my money is the best food on the planet.

If you can't get to New Orleans right now, get this book. It's the next best thing to being shown around by a native.

If you love New Orleans, this book will fill you with pride and joy and get you even deeper into the deepest city in America.

I think this is a fantastic, fantastic book. The depth of information and of a sense of the cultures of NOLA it provides is amazing. But, as the Marxist-socialist-commie-lefty-lib type that I am, I unfortunately have to agree with the Republicants posting here that his polemics, political or just cultural, distract from the narrative of the book. I recognize that it is a memoir, and not a scholarly tract. Yet when he asserts that Kerry was a useless senator who never did any good in the world he demonstrates that he has little understanding of happens in Washington (see, e.g. [...]). Further, when he slanders people who buy pizza in SOHO as "tourists" he just sounds like a pompous ass. I realize that he lives there, and that he has lived quite the bohemian life. But that doesn't mean that people who enjoy pizza in NYC are all tourists.

Still, notwithstanding his irritating political and personal polemics, it is absolutely worth reading.

I was born in Texas, living in 4 corners of that state. Although technically already an adult before my move, the 15 years I spent living and working in New Orleans from 77 to 92 was when I grew up. I already had Mr. Sublette's two music histories when TYBTF came out. Each of them are deep draughts of history and music insight that I am still exploring and use as reference. TYBTF is a more personal book than those, a memoir of a life through the prism of a unique year. For me it was a page turner, after tasting a few passages, I read it daily, devouring it cover to cover. The author shares his experiences and gained knowledge of New Orleans but first gives us what parts of his life helped prepare him for his experiences there. It speaks to the nature of the city and to the life Sublette has lived that these experiences center on music and the 900-pound gorilla of this country, race. Here I feel is the first book I've read which captures the world that I experienced growing up.

I was born in New Orleans. Even after I left I would go back and spend summers with my Aunt and Uncle in Houma, spending a great deal of time in the Big Easy. Do not be fooled: This book is not an accounting of what took place before the flood. It is a living, breathing document that holds your soul and refuses to let go until, gasping for air, you curse the time and finally close the cover and turn out the light.

I cannot describe what New Orleans was anywhere near as well as he does, and while that makes me a little sad, wow, this book is just what it needed to be to fill that gap...

This book captures so much about what I love first and foremost about NOLA. The people. The characters in these stories are what gave me hope that the return of this wonderful place would never be in doubt. It's a fascinating tapestry of the unique cultural contributions of this place that is so distinct from the rest of America -- yet whose story is the essence of our history.

Sublette's point-of-view on the Bushies and the bigots, who were content to sit back and wonder if was worth it to restore America's cultural treasure, is shared by everyone I've met in New Orleans. You may not agree, but Sublette is just a musician and late-blooming author -- what harm can his point-of-view do to this profusely-documented re-telling of an event that will be remembered as the re-birth of the American Spirit. The spirit by which the people of New Orleans have re-built their own lives, and their post-flood city, by themselves.

The Year Before the Flood offers a different perspective on the city of New Orleans and its people tracing its musical history and that influence on the world and the author.
Having read a number of books on the city, its history and the affects of Katrina, this book was a welcome addition to understanding why New Orleans is New Orleans. It offers insight into issues such as politics and race as well as charting the rich and varied musical influences that make New Orleans such a great city for music today as well as the the cradle of jazz and, as Mr. Sublette convincingly argues, rock n roll.
This book also traces Mr. Sublette's personal journey from a child dazzled by the many musical styles he encountered living in the south, to adulthood as a sucessful musician with an ongoing interest in varied approaches to music
At its heart, this is a love story for New Orleans, a story not without its ups and downs, but all in all, an impassioned account of how place, culture and art are intertwined. And how a city, like a good song, can stay in your head long after its stopped playing.

Ned's got New Orleans 100% - I thought he wrote this book for me! I am about the same age as Ned, live (par time) and play music in New Orleans I'm Cuban and he mentions Cuba and Cuba's music a lot in this book. Ned's knowlege of the city, the people, the culture, and rituals (yes, we have rituals in New Orleans) is phenomially accurate and instructional. He also mentions a lot of musicians that Ive played with, he has a whole section about Kirk Joseph and his tuba (Souzaphone, and great picture) I've worked with Kirk and that Tuba! If you're a fan of New Orleans or live in it READ THIS BOOK it will make you smile. I bought all his other books and can't wait to get to them.

As a long time visitor to NOLA and an ardent student of its music, I looked forward to Mr. Sublette's account of his time in New Orleans. While there are large chunks of interesting writing, the author chose to add too many personal vignettes that did not move the story forward and distracted from the overall flow. While I am on the same page politically as Mr. Sublette, I began to cringe at his personal references to Republicans. How did these numerous passages add to the narrative? I was also surprised to learn on page 268 that Havana is not a Caribbean city but "it too is on the Gulf of Mexico." Huh? But the overriding feeling I got from this book and one that overshadowed Mr. Sublette's excellent music commentary was the enormous weight of crime in NOLA and resultant fear the author and his wife felt while living there. If this book was my only reference to New Orleans, I would not go anywhere near the place. I hope I can shake the feeling of hopelessness garnered from this book before I head to Jazz Fest later this month. Anyone want a couple of tickets?