Do You Know What it Means
                 to Miss New Orleans?*

Tennessee Williams: "America has only three cities - New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."


While waiting for a traffic light to change on Canal Street, I overheard a man say he didn't like New Orleans. When I turned to glance back at the man, his face was contorted in a grimace as he repeated, "No, I don't like it here."

I remained on the corner after the light had changed, thinking about his unhappiness. New Orleans is a complicated city and many adjectives have tried to capture its diverse personalities. Fascinating. Corrupt. Artistic. Dangerous. Graceful. Welcoming.  His mood had not altered mine. I was ready to explore this city of contradictions.  

My husband and I were in New Orleans on a business trip (him), and a book binge (me). With only one free afternoon together, we decided to take a class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Before the jambalaya got started, we listened to the history of the city and its culture, including the food and music that sets it apart from other American cities. Somewhere between stories of the Louisiana Purchase and the arrival of Cajuns, Pat Hirsch, our chef and instructor, said what perhaps best sums up the city: "Things are done just a little differently down here." 

Including books, I add silently.

Ignatius J. Reilly
"A Confederacy of Dunces"

National literary treasures such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams spent time in New Orleans dreaming of tangled plots and absorbing characters. Richard Ford, Walker Percy, John Kennedy Toole and Anne Rice have all called this city home, sometimes using it as a character.   

And don't forget the art world, cautioned a server at the R'Evolution restaurant on Bienville Street. Overhearing the conversation about great Southern literature, he reminded us that Degas lived in New Orleans and found great inspiration. Degas' house on Esplanade Avenue is now a bed and breakfast inn.

Several blocks later, I thought again of the unhappy man on Canal Street. Was he bored with New Orleans? How is that possible? The city hums with activity. There are tours of literary landmarks, haunted houses, cemeteries, architecture. Wander around Tulane University. Ride on the St. Charles streetcar line. There are museums, bars, antique stores, restaurants & cafes, bookstores, and streets lined with shops. Find a bench to rest on and listen to conversations not your own. From my bench, I watch an inebriated woman swaying and smiling broadly at an array of colorful flowers in over-sized pots, tourists checking maps, and a street artist covered in paint holding a pose, with a hat nearby for donations. Two women approach the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square and immediately notice the tarot card readers who have taken up residence just feet from the basilica. "Is that a good idea?" one woman asked the other, pointing at the readers.  

Faulkner House Bookstore

Later, turning a corner, I breathe air that is heavy with moisture and smells of the Mississippi River, the quiet partner of New Orleans. As in all relationships, there have been moments of drama. The river has given the city much of its history and wealth. Occasionally, the river has risen up and threatened that same wealth.

Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the city and to the river.

Our two visits to New Orleans had 15 years between them. One restaurant remained our favorite and we hoped it would still stand open on Decatur Street, offering the shrimp creole, okra, and gumbo that we remembered. On a quiet block, there it was, welcoming our return. We had a leisurely and outstanding dinner at Olivier's on our final night in the city. The restaurant's owner, Armand Olivier Sr., paid a visit to our table and we shared our fond memories of his restaurant. He smiled, and asked us to pass along our enthusiasm for his creole dishes. Consider it done, Mr. Olivier!

Food, art and music have their celebrations in New Orleans. But there is probably only one festival that has people lining up to compete for the best shouting of STELLA! from "A Streetcar Named Desire." The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival is March 19-23. (Listen for the STELLA! competition around 4:15 CST)

Maybe the spectacle of the sham Stanley Kowalskis would change the mind of the unhappy man on Canal Street.

For those of us not fortunate enough to attend the festival, we can read a novel, memoir or play of New Orleans, of the South.

Tennessee Williams - Memoirs; Streetcar Named Desire

Anne Rice - Interview With the Vampire

Elmore Leonard - Get Shorty; Mr. Paradise

Eudora Welty - Optimist's Daughter; One Writer's Beginnings

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces

Julia Reed - The House on First Street

William Faulkner - A Light in August; As I Lay Dying

Flannery O'Connor - A Prayer Journal; Collected Works

Zora Neale Hurston - Folklore, Memoirs and Other Writings

James Dickey - Deliverance

Carson McCullers - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Horton Foote - Collected Plays & The Trip to Bountiful

Allan Gurganus - Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All

Kate Chopin - The Awakening

A visit to New Orleans isn't complete without spending time in one or two (or more) bookstores. A few suggestions:
Faulkner House Books
Librairie Book Shop
Beckham's Book Shop


                         "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans,
                                      and miss it each night and day?"

*Song by Eddie DeLange and Louis Alter, 1947
sung by Louis Armstrong