Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans

A powerful book about a city unlike any other in our country. This author went down to New Orleans to do a New Yorker article about Katrina and ended up writing a book about the people of New Orleans. From before Hurricane Betsy to post Hurricane Katrina, we follow the lives of nine people in the City. Young, old, black, white, poor, rich, honest, and dishonest are all represented in this...more

A powerful book about a city unlike any other in our country. This author went down to New Orleans to do a New Yorker article about Katrina and ended up writing a book about the people of New Orleans. From before Hurricane Betsy to post Hurricane Katrina, we follow the lives of nine people in the City. Young, old, black, white, poor, rich, honest, and dishonest are all represented in this biography of a city and its people. If you don't read any other book about New Orleans, read at least this one. Every city should be so lucky to have their story told this well.   hide

This is _the_ book to read if you want to understand modern New Orleans both before and after Katrina. Baum, a reporter for the _New Yorker_, selects nine local residents, including a member of the white elite, a tough but compassionate cop, a transsexual bar owner, and a high-school marching band conductor, whose lives reflect the complexity of what Baum calls "not the worst organized...more

This is _the_ book to read if you want to understand modern New Orleans both before and after Katrina. Baum, a reporter for the _New Yorker_, selects nine local residents, including a member of the white elite, a tough but compassionate cop, a transsexual bar owner, and a high-school marching band conductor, whose lives reflect the complexity of what Baum calls "not the worst organized city in the United States, but the best organized city in the Caribbean." Without editorializing, or sentimentalizing his characters or their city, Baum offers an impassioned account of what makes New Orleans such a unique place, and why its residents, black and white, rich and poor, keep "whistling past the graveyard," doing all they can to sustain their beloved and beleagured city. Just an outstanding book on all counts.   hide

A flavorful gulp from nine New orleans lives. Couldn't put this book down.

In a remarkable chronology of the lives of nine residents of the Big Easy, "Nine Lives" delivers an intimate and honest depiction of the city to the rest of the world. Reminiscent of John Berendt's explorations of Venice and Savannah, Baum's research leads him to become part of the city, its culture, and its people's lives. Quite possibly, he does so more fully and...more

In a remarkable chronology of the lives of nine residents of the Big Easy, "Nine Lives" delivers an intimate and honest depiction of the city to the rest of the world. Reminiscent of John Berendt's explorations of Venice and Savannah, Baum's research leads him to become part of the city, its culture, and its people's lives. Quite possibly, he does so more fully and lovingly, tying together some of the most interesting and different people into a story that demonstrates the rarity of one of America's oldest and most fascinating cities. Drawing the reader into the world of NOLA in the years between Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina, this is a wonderful, heartbreaking, and inspiring read.   hide

This book is gorgeous. Once I'm done I'm going to read it again. Baum truly captures New Orleans and it's natives.

Well done

Beautiful and at times painful love letter to New Orleans. Follows the lives of 9 people from Betsy to Katrina.