Reddit reviews Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans

Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans.

Super engaging books that follows the true stories of 9 New Orleanians from Hurricane Betsy in 1960 through Katrina.
Their stories are intermixed through the book, so you read a chapter or two of one story before swapping to the next.
I think it introduces a lot of New Orleans traditions from a very personal perspective, and I learned a lot (especially about the Mardi Gras Indians).

It’s an easy, quick read and I highly recommend it.

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Gumbo Tales - by Sara Roahan -- The most beautifully written book about New Orleans cuisine I've ever encountered. Hilarious, poignant, reflective, uplifting and sad. Don't read if you're hungry. Or if you're not near food because you will become hungry.

The World that Made New Orleans -- Ned Sublette -- A narrative history book that looks at all the cultures, people, government systems and all the historical events that shaped the formation of New Orleans. Great read, if only for the chapter where the author incredulously wonders why people would argue Thomas Jefferson didn't sleep with his slaves.

Nine Lives - Dan Baum -- An oral history of nine New Orleanians that lived through Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina. Includes tales from the wife of legendary Mardi Gras Indian Tootie Montana, marching band director Wilbert Rawlins (also featured in "The Whole Gritty City") and the President of the Rex Organization, among others. Beautifully composed and written.

City of Refuge - Tom Piazza -- Historical fiction following a group of people as they recover from Katrina. Looks at people from every walk of life in New Orleans and does a great job of transmitting their individual struggles in the wake of the storm.

New Orleans, Mon Amour -- A collection of writings and short stories about life in New Orleans. Probably the most romanticized of all the books I've listed but no less awesome.

I also have to second the recommendations made for Confederacy of Dunces (one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud books you'll ever read) and the Moviegoer.

(Edit: City of Refuge is fiction)

As someone from Europe who knew basically nothing about NOLA and went there just because of Treme, feeling like I was walking around in the show for a week, I can tell you that you're up for an amazing experience! On a sidenote, I happened to be there while season 4 was taping and had some cool experiences, but that's a longer story... :)

I'm currently rewatching the show with my gf who is blown away by it, and surprised that she didn't know about it. It definitely hasn't got nearly enough attention.

If you're interested to learn more about NOLA I can recommend a book, Nine Lives (https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Lives-Mystery-Magic-Orleans/dp/0385523203/) a biography written like a follows number of people throughout the yearsbetween Betsy and Katrina. It's really good, although a little bit hard to get into due to many parallel stories.

Cool, thanks for the rec Jester.

Another couple that I like:

Nine Lives

Managing Ignatius

I once had a conversation at a bus-stop with a cross-dresser. It was in the evening of Halloween; I had worked late at my downtown job and was on my way home. The guy said he was heterosexual; in fact, his girlfriend had helped him dress up. (I don't know why she wasn't with him.) He said the only time he dressed as a woman was on Halloween, and he had been doing it for several years. He had just gone to a downtown gay bar where they have a beauty contest every Halloween for female impersonators, and he was on his way to a party. I don't think he had gone there to compete--he wasn't that good looking, but he did look rather convincingly female. His voice gave him away, though.

I say if it sounds like fun to you at all, go for it.

If you have a chance, read a book called Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum. The whole book is good, but it happens that one of the nine people depicted there, John Guidos, is a cross dresser.