Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: New Orleans, Four Steps, Literary Network (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In 1960, Jon Edgar and Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb founded Loujon Press on Royal Street in New Orleans's French Quarter. The small publishing house quickly became a giant. Heralded by the Village Voice and the New York Times as one of the best of its day, the Outsider, the press's literary review, featured, among others, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Walter Lowenfels. Loujon published books by Henry Miller and two early poetry collections by Bukowski.

Bohemian New Orleans traces the development of this courageous imprint and examines its place within the small press revolution of the 1960s.

Drawing on correspondence from many who were published in the Outsider, back issues of the Outsider, contemporary reviews, promotional materials, and interviews, Jeff Weddle shows how the press's mandarin insistence on production quality and its eclectic editorial taste made its work nonpareil among peers in the underground. Throughout, Bohemian New Orleans reveals the messy, complex, and vagabond spirit of a lost literary age.

From the Publisher

This history of a small but mighty press in the vanguard of the mimeograph revolution

- Offers a close analysis of a southern press that published work by such noted writers as Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, Henry Miller, and Charles Bukowski

- Uses the day-to-day operations of a small press as a lens through which the nascent underground publishing industry can be understood

- Presents a unique history of a house at the forefront of the small press revolution

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (June 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578069742
• ISBN-13: 978-1578069743
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,149,588 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep Detail, Misleading Title, December 10, 2007

By	A reader (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

New Orleans, along with New York and San Francisco, was one of the three poles of the Beat movement. This book illuminates a small but important corner of what was a much larger story about the Beats and The French Quarter. The title is greatly misleading. The book says almost nothing about "bohemian New Orleans" per se. The book is a dual biography of Jon and Louise Webb. The Webbs flitted (not meant pejoratively) around the country, alighting at various times in New Orleans. But the bohemian aspects of New Orleans are mostly MIA here. There is no mention of the resident Beats of the time, no mention of the Ryder and Quorum coffeehouses, no mention of Ivan Kotterman's salon, and so on. However, if you want a very detailed look at the world of 50s and 60s Beat poetry, and who owed what to whom, this is your book. A thoughtful re-titling is in order if this book goes to a second edition.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, July 12, 2007

By	Beth Ashmore (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really liked this book this a lot. I thought at first it might be a little too academic for me but I was impressed by how accessible it was since I didn't know much about small press publishing beforehand. It turned out to be a great story about the literary small press in New Orleans. Also, it is a good read for any Bukowski fans or fans of the Beat generation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Press, October 20, 2007

By	W. Ray Brock "strangerer" (new york and sometimes japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most potential readers, I first read of Loujon press via my interest in the writing and life of Charles Bukowski. My interest in Loujon increased after having lived in New Orleans in the 80s and having encountered a little of the artistic and literary life there. From Weddle's book I've learned a lot about the Bukowski connection and the New Orleans connection and how the beautifully hand made publications of Loujon were also premier in American literature re-emerging in the 60s. Very interesting to learn of Walter Lowenfels involvement and the focus that Loujon had on Kenneth Patchen as well as Henry Miller.