Why New Orleans Matters (Paperback)
Description
In the aftermath of Katrina and the disaster that followed, promises were made, forgotten, and renewed. Now what will become of New Orleans in the years ahead? What do this proud, battered city and its people mean to America and the world?
Award-winning author and longtime New Orleans resident Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and uncertain future of this great and neglected American metropolis by evoking the sensuous rapture of the city that gave us jazz music and Creole cooking; examining its deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice; and explaining how its people endure and transcend those conditions. And, perhaps most important, he asks us all to consider the spirit of this place and all the things it has shared with the world: its grace and beauty, resilience and soul.
About the Author
Tom Piazza is the author of ten books, including the novels City of Refuge, which won the Willie Morris Award, and My Cold War, as well as the book-length essay Why New Orleans Matters. He writes for HBO’s hit drama series Treme and is at work on a new novel. He lives in New Orleans.
Praise for Why New Orleans Matters…
“Powerful, rich with anger, longing, and barely expressible loss.”
-Providence Phoenix
PRAISE FOR MY COLD WAR:“Tom Piazza’s writing pulsates with nervous electrical tension--reveals the emotions that we can’t define.”
-Bob Dylan
“Hot and real and from the heart… An emotionally wrenching experience—at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking.”
-New Orleans Times-Picayune
“A minor miracle unto itself… a heartfelt, 180-page manifesto… There’s a little something for everyone.”
-Gambit Weekly
Best Book Award, New Orleans Gulf South Booksellers Association
-No Source
“An enjoyable meander through what used to be called ‘the city that care forgot.’”
-Houston Chronicle
“Pensive and elegiac… sharp [and] steely. …A mournful dirge and a vivacious ode to the city.”
-Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Insightful… a sensory paradise... Why New Orleans Matters is a celebration of the spirit of New Orleans.”
-BookInfo.net
Humanities Book of the Year Award, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
-No Source
