(Part 2) Top products from r/NewOrleans

And since this is /r/NewOrleans and we like to keep it local, check out this good read by Rich Cohen, The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King

> When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. In between, he worked as a fruit peddler, a banana hauler, a dockside hustler, and a plantation owner. He battled and conquered the United Fruit Company, becoming a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures. In Latin America, when people shouted “Yankee, go home!” it was men like Zemurray they had in mind.

> Rich Cohen’s brilliant historical profile The Fish That Ate the Whale unveils Zemurray as a hidden kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary, driven by an indomitable will to succeed. Known as El Amigo, the Gringo, or simply Z, the Banana Man lived one of the great untold stories of the last hundred years. Starting with nothing but a cart of freckled bananas, he built a sprawling empire of banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. From hustling on the docks of New Orleans to overthrowing Central American governments, from feuding with Huey Long to working with the Dulles brothers, Zemurray emerges as an unforgettable figure, connected to the birth of modern American diplomacy, public relations, business, and war—a monumental life that reads like a parable of the American dream.

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)

I also highly recommend Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children And Other Streets Of New Orleans. Super fascinating in that it relates history of different areas by street names and the sotries behind them.

http://www.themaskstore.com

http://shop.cafedumonde.com/mpr/mdb-cafed?cfg=cafed&fnc=5&style=4&pm=&form=genRec.htm&header=genHead.htm&search=9000&field=8&reverse=1&cform=cRec.htm

Edit:

http://www.neworleansgiftstore.com

Does she like to cook? Something to do with the kitchen could be a good idea. Does she like to read? There are lots of books on New Orleans, good coffee table type big books with lots of pictures.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/051722660X/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?pc_redir=T1

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/new-orleanians-favorite-places-captured-in-coffee-table-book/

Etsy has neat stuff you won't find in stores:

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=new+orleans&order=most_relevant&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

A framed vintage map of the city would be cool, too.

http://www.gallerydirect.com/art/product/currier-and-ives/map-of-the-city-of-new-orleans-1885?substrate=canvas&style=CG&frame=F0000&size=S

Try Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men for a great fictional read. I've linked you here to the restored edition of the text, which is the verdion I studied at UNO and heavily recommend.

The location setting of the book is never explicitly said, though it has heavy parallels to Huey Long. In discussions about what our state book should be, this is the book I always suggest. I absolutely adore Confederacy of Dunces, of course, but Confederacy is way too New Orleans-centric to really be a good candidate for our state book.

All the King's Men is engaging and well written and will leave parts of your soul empty.

Will you follow Amazon links? Amazon is MSM, at least as a provider (no original content however). Don't get me started on their "1 click patent" bullshit.

• Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America -- from a previous post. Good background. It was published prior to Katrina.
  
  
• 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina -- collection of stories from the Times-Picayune (before they became nola.com)
  
  
• The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina--the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist -- author is a civil engineer and looks at the science
  
  
• The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast -- first hand accounts from people on the ground. 700 pages.
  
  These are books that friends and relatives have asked me about which is why I list them. there are many, many more books out there. read some reviews and make up your own mind.

The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans
Is pretty good, its got some dry parts, but interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-City-Improvising-New-Orleans/dp/0674725905

this is my mom's favorite gift to buy for my ex's: https://www.amazon.com/Whos-Your-Mama-Catholic-Make/dp/0925417556

​

i think she's bought 3 of them so far.

LSU's problem is not budget cuts. Their CS bachelor and masters programs have been unaccredited and very poor for 20 years. Their CS PhD program on the other hand is quite good but that's a completely different entity. (I'm not saying brilliant people haven't graduated from LSU CS, but those people were brilliant themselves and largely could have done without the 4 year term in undergrad since they learned more on the job than in Coates Hall)

SLU, LSU and all state universities are going through budget cuts. I'm on the advisory board for SLU and ULL and in the case of SLU in 2004, 67% of their funding came from the state. In 2014, it's down to only 28% from the state. So, tuition has gone up. The pressure for private donations has risen sharply. But despite this SLU CS revamped the department in 2005 including modern technology into the curriculum, modern theoretical concepts and increased its student project exposure with modern technology and techniques many times over.

So while LSU recently added a class incorporating AngularJS in it, SLU has been teaching students cutting edge technology and theory and technics like SOLID principles, MVC and now AngularJS for a decade now. I was directly involved in SLU continuing their ABET accreditation 6 years ago and wasn't even needed for the 2014 check. SLU is also constructing a new building for CS, despite having build a new for them less than 16 years ago. I don't know how I feel about it but whatever, it's a perk.

The difference isn't money, it's people. SLU and ULL CS profs have LSU profs beat by a country mile. The SLU curriculum is constantly adapted for the industry. The student focus is experience and application of the theoretical techniques. The theory classes will teach you a dictionary is faster than a list and in the project courses, which start sophomore year, you will see why and will never forget it.

Consulting firms cherry pick ULL and SLU junior project presentations for new hires while LSU CS graduates are largely unimpressive until their 3 year maturity.

So snag a used copy of the cs bible and give Doc a call.

Building the Devil's Empire is one that I really enjoyed.

Another good read: Nine Lives by Dan Baum

And

New Orleans Mon Amour by Andrei Codrescu

Stay Out of New Orleans: Strange Stories by P. Curran (Author)


This book was really good. It gave me nightmares.

Race and Reunion by David Blight is an amazing book that very clearly traces the rise of the Lost Cause narrative of the Civil War and the incredible effort that Confederate veterans and, to a great extent, northern politicians put in to re-framing the meaning of the Civil War in the post-war period. It's a really amazing story, one that is woefully misunderstood today.

The last madam. It's about Norma Wallace and the brothel she ran at 1026 Conti st for close to 50 years.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Madam-Orleans-Underworld/dp/0306810123

https://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Your-About-Safety/dp/045149492X

rain proof film: (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JM84Y9Z/)


larger size for windows: (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SZN6WNJ/)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0925417556

Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make A Roux? (Book 1): A Cajun / Creole Family Album Cookbook

I believe I already rec'd it here to someone, but I recently read November Road by Lou Berney. It's about a guy down in Nola who works for Carlos Marcello (famous nola gangster), who gets mixed up in the JFK assassination and has to go on the run. It's one of the most fun books I've read in years

https://www.amazon.com/November-Road-Novel-Lou-Berney/dp/0062663844

if you are looking for a little bit of crime history, read http://www.amazon.com/Mafia-Kingfish-Marcello-Assassination-Kennedy/dp/0451164180

also look for articles by Connie Atkinson.

I've always loved the mystique behind the bombastic and gregarious personality of Huey P. Long. There's a bit of a story about the completion of Airline Highway that after he left the governor's office for the Senate, he had a falling out with his hand appointed Mayor in New Orleans and vowed to never enter the city. But being a huge fan of the Roosevelt Hotel and its bar, he had the final construction of Airline be routed to drop him off right at the front door of the hotel. Which if you follow Airline to Tulane Ave, its only one left turn away and you're right there at the hotel.

And speaking of roads, while campaigning, he always vowed to create a highway system throughout the state. Being the depression era, this was nearly impossible, yet he promised all would see it. And keeping to his word, almost every little town saw a near immediate beginning to a highway system, but they would all stop just a few miles out. That's why when you go tour the state still today, you'll see these seemingly out of place big roads connecting little small towns, or the big roads that kind of go out a couple miles, then you're routed down to a two lane road.

There's also some conspiracy/rumor that FDR had something to do with Long's assassination as Long was the only candidate that was going to give him a run for his money in the Presidential election. These rumors point to the thought that based on the angles and positions of the people around him at the time of his assassination that some of his own bodyguards fired on him. There were also rumors about it being an inside job based on the notion that those closest to him, once he was shot, were more concerned with the whereabouts of his "Deduct Box" (a petty cash/war treasury that was supposed to hold a kings ransom) than they were of his health.

While there are few movies about him, I think the rendition executed by Edward Asner is probably the best, "The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish" from 1977. John Goodman depicted him later, but way more over the top, over acted, and just too out there to really take it seriously. And of course there was that recent one with Sean Penn or something like that, but I've still not seen that, so IDK.

I've got a book I'm going to search down and send the title to you. It was required reading in college for Louisiana History, but I cannot remember the name of it. I've just got to find it in my library first....its been years since I've even thought about it, but a good enough book for me have to kept it all this time. It had a plain white cover with a green block, and in that green block a simple line drawing. Maybe based on this description, someone else can jump in and name the book.

EDIT: Found it. Called "Messiah of the Masses" https://www.amazon.com/Messiah-Masses-Depression-American-Biography/dp/0065001621

My Louisiana history teacher was a man named Mr. Little and was old enough to have remembered Huey Long, so thankfully we got a good amount of first hand stories, if not twisted with a little bit of fancy, about the Kingfish. If I think of any other anecdotes, I'll repost.

You're so sensitive.

This thread among historians may be interesting to read:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/yoyys/your_opinion_how_accurate_is_it_to_say_the_civil/?sort=top

I like this comment:

>I like to say that, to someone who learned about the civil from high school, the civil war was about slavery. To someone who took civil war history as an undergrad the war was about conflicting economic systems, tariffs, regional cultural differences, or something else. And that to the grad student studying the war, it was about slavery.

I've also heard good things about this book:

http://www.amazon.com/What-This-Cruel-War-Over/dp/0307277321