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Atchafalaya Houseboat: My Years in the Louisiana Swamp
by Gwen Roland.This book changed my life and will yours. This book is first because it is the most important.
See the documentary on Youtube.
New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence by Randolph Delehanty (text), Richard Sexton (Photographer); A classic photography book enjoyed by millions.
An absolutely ridiculous tale that you should read right before your first visit to New Orleans, then again as soon as you get back once you see the city.
A gorgeous, GORGEOUS! book, with chapters of history and many maps that often juxtapose two seemingly unrelated data sets, i.e. Where are the levees vs. Where are the prisons? Where are the parades vs. Where are the live oaks? You will miss a chunk of your vacation if you find this in a NOLA store.
My favorite cookbook and for the most part, the least “advanced”. Here are basic recipes that will serve as a kernel from which you will build personal favorites. Mamma’s Stuffed Cucumbers and Okra a la Creole are probably my favorites. The Louisiana I love is Justin’s bountiful, flavorful, beautiful Louisiana.
Selections from our adopted poet laureate, a Romanian whose affair with New Orleans, like so many of us, was ephemeral. You may know him from NPR
“I was over by my side of the road, next to the curb, when the sedan driver threw the car into reverse and then plowed into me. As I said, my bike is big and heavy. Real heavy, with tires like a Hummer. The car hit my back tire and sent me shooting forward like a cowboy on a crazed rodeo bronc…about ten yards from where I had been…The driver looked at me and said, ‘My bad,’ and the hauled off to the corner…”
One of very few history books to hold my attention, not that I’ve finished it.