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suannelaqueur's review against another edition
5.0
A million stars. I've been looking for a book about the history of New Orleans for a long time and this one checked all the boxes. And the narration by Sean Crisden was (*chef's kiss*).
paqgen's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
fascinating book rich in history of not just New Orleans but also the slave trade in America and the Caribbean. The book ends after Katrina and from beginning to end you can feel the magic, strength, and resilience that is New Orleans.
marywalshwrites's review against another edition
4.0
Since this book is non-fiction, it doesn't have the quick pace of action and dialog in a fiction piece. That said, the research is phenomenal. I'm currently writing an urban fantasy novel that takes place in New Orleans and I found myself jotting down notes for my book as I read this one.
If you've never been to New Orleans, it's a magical and unique place and Mr. Sublette explains how it all came together. You fall in love with the city, deeply and madly.
If you've never been to New Orleans, it's a magical and unique place and Mr. Sublette explains how it all came together. You fall in love with the city, deeply and madly.
nolasia's review against another edition
2.0
It would be a great history book on New Orleans, except the author rambles off topic and defaults to his love of music history in several sections. I love music history too, but the depth on the music topic compared to the depth of all the other topics is very unbalanced.
meganreadingxx's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who knows very little about the deeper history of New Orleans—and it very much deserves its history to be recognized and remembered, because it is integral to the city and life within New Orleans today—this book was so great to read and was a different take than I’ve encountered before. The next thing I want to look into myself is the Mardi Gras Indian tradition.
megancmahon's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This was a really interesting look at the musical and economic forces that shaped New Orleans. I'd read a lot of fiction about New Orleans and figured it was time to read some nonfiction so I could learn a bit more about the city. This book gives a history of the many forces that came together to make the city, focusing mainly on the large-scale colonial and governmental forces, as well as that various different cultures that contributed to the city's music (this author's main focus).
I was disappointed that this book didn't have more micro, cultural and social history involved - I wanted to learn about the history of Mardi Gras (only really barely touched on), voodoo (more explained, to be fair, and very interesting) and its reputation as a haunted city (only barely touched on but movingly explained as a city haunted by its memory of enslavement, and of the horrors of the massacres in Saint-Domingue).
This book also left a HUGE gap: it began at the very beginning, with the Indigenous folks who lived in the territory, then put a lot of emphasis on the separate cultures that made New Orleans and their various influences (cool but not really what I was looking for) and then, at the start of the Civil War, the author skips to Katrina!! Where is New Orleans during the Jazz Age?? In fact, for much of this book New Orleans isn't really mentioned at all; it's a book about the various forces that contributed to its making but not so much about its current culture.
Also, and more importantly: this is a book about Black American culture. This author is not, himself, Black American - which is fine, but I would have appreciated a positionality statement or an acknowledgment that he was not coming at it as a neutral party (because there are no neutral parties). He was respectful in everything, but I would have appreciated a more concrete statement of this author's relationship with this work and a more clearly decolonial lens. None of this, however, stopped this book from being very interesting and well-researched, even if it skipped what I really wanted to know! The chapters about the Haitian Revolution were particularly awesome, as that's an area of history I don't know very much about.
I was disappointed that this book didn't have more micro, cultural and social history involved - I wanted to learn about the history of Mardi Gras (only really barely touched on), voodoo (more explained, to be fair, and very interesting) and its reputation as a haunted city (only barely touched on but movingly explained as a city haunted by its memory of enslavement, and of the horrors of the massacres in Saint-Domingue).
This book also left a HUGE gap: it began at the very beginning, with the Indigenous folks who lived in the territory, then put a lot of emphasis on the separate cultures that made New Orleans and their various influences (cool but not really what I was looking for) and then, at the start of the Civil War, the author skips to Katrina!! Where is New Orleans during the Jazz Age?? In fact, for much of this book New Orleans isn't really mentioned at all; it's a book about the various forces that contributed to its making but not so much about its current culture.
Also, and more importantly: this is a book about Black American culture. This author is not, himself, Black American - which is fine, but I would have appreciated a positionality statement or an acknowledgment that he was not coming at it as a neutral party (because there are no neutral parties). He was respectful in everything, but I would have appreciated a more concrete statement of this author's relationship with this work and a more clearly decolonial lens. None of this, however, stopped this book from being very interesting and well-researched, even if it skipped what I really wanted to know! The chapters about the Haitian Revolution were particularly awesome, as that's an area of history I don't know very much about.
cinnachick's review against another edition
4.0
This was an amazing read that I'm grateful to have had the chance to read it. I wish the post-Civil War history was as thorough as the history at the beginning of the book. But I learned a great deal and have a better understanding of how this city became what it is now.