# What's the best New Orleans based literature/movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859 "2005-09-03T04:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/1 "2005-09-03T04:38:39Z")
ALL DISCLAIMERS IN PLACE: THE HUMAN LOSS OUTWEIGHS BY FAR THE MATERIAL LOSS OF KATRINA That said, the cultural loss is incredible as well. Luckily, the Quarter itself still stands and will survive with damage. I’ve been replaying all of my New Orleans stories in my mind (my parents honeymooned there, some of my earliest memories of vacation are from there, the first time I danced was there, my one and only orgy was there (I was in the Orgiast Reserves and never called to active duty), the only topless bars and pimps and leather fags and voodoo rites [not the touristy type but for the true orthodox practitioner] and Klansmen, etc., that I’ve ever encountered were there, it’s just incredible. And of course I’ve been reliving the literature set in New Orleans. The two immediate ones that come to mind as the best of New Orleans based literature are probably the two obvious ones: _STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE_- you can appreciate this play if you’ve never been to New Orleans in summer, but it has another level if you know how the heat and air literally hit you in the face when you walk outside and know the sound and smell and characters of the quarter. _CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES_- **THE** New Orleans novel. It could not have been set anywhere else. What are your favorite movies and novels and other works set in N.O.? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/2 "2005-09-03T04:39:46Z")
P.S.- No snobbery allowed in this thread. Cheesy movies, historical romance novels, anything counts. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/3 "2005-09-03T04:46:05Z")
Walker Percy’s _The Moviegoer_ was my first thought. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/4 "2005-09-03T04:54:08Z")
_ZOMBIE! VS. MARDI GRAS_. Yeah, I know it’s been called ‘the worst film ever made’, but there are a couple of great N.O. ‘nuggets’ in it – like ‘Blue Dog’ being hit by a car, and idiots shooting guns in the air. Not to mention beads, blood and breasts, Galileo, and a pudgy ninja. Besides, I shot two scenes. 😉 _CUT UP_. I worked on this one as well. Beautiful shot of the Huey P. Long bridge at the beginning, a nice cemetery, and I get killed on a levee. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/5 "2005-09-03T04:54:14Z")
_A Walk on the Wild Side_ by Nelson Algren. There was a movie, but I felt it lacked, you know, that Nelson Algren-ness. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/6 "2005-09-03T05:15:11Z")
Definitely Walker Percy’s _The Moviegoer_. Also, strangely enough, lesser Anne Rice imitator **Poppy Z. Brite’s** novels deftly accomplish, if nothing else, portraying a very loving and magical view of New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/7 "2005-09-03T05:18:36Z")
My favorite book on the city’s history and culture is _Fabulous New Orleans_ by Lyle Saxon, first published in 1928. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/8 "2005-09-03T05:26:50Z")
I mourn the potential loss of music history. Louis Armstrong to Louis Prima to 9th Ward Hip Hop. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/9 "2005-09-03T05:26:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > P.S.- No snobbery allowed in this thread. Cheesy movies, historical romance novels, anything counts. That’s a “Duh!” Camp and NO went together like red beans and rice. Note the use of the past tense. Mark my words, New New Orleans will be built by Disney. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/10 "2005-09-03T05:42:39Z")
Dean Koontz new Frankenstein series takes place in New Orleans. Of course, it could easily be any other city, but he does seem to accuratly protray it, in terms of how people lived down there and what have you. At least, I think he got it right, having never been there myself. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/11 "2005-09-03T05:47:17Z")
There’s an 80’s movie called “AngelHeart” that I always liked. Most of it took place in New Orleans. And let’s not forget “Gaberial Knight:Sins of the Fathers”. I’ll never be able to look at Rada drummers without thinking about that game. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/12 "2005-09-03T06:51:17Z")
For a good movie, there’s [Panic In The Streets](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042832/) which was shot almost entirely on location in New Orleans. For a cheesefest, [Live and Let Die](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070328/) should suffice. Here’s a [list of other films shot in New Orleans](http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=New%20Orleans,%20Louisiana,%20USA&&heading=18;with+locations+including;New%20Orleans,%20Louisiana,%20USA). ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/13 "2005-09-03T07:03:26Z")
I came in specifically to mention _Angel Heart_, a great horror-noir film starring Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro, and Lisa Bonet. Also two of the three great jazzmen named Louis hailed from the Crescent City, one black and one white: Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima. More recently, the entire Marsalis clan, first family of jazz, and the great Harry Connick, Jr. call N’awlins home. Celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse (born in Massachusetts), Paul Prudhomme, and the late Justin Wilson (I gar-ron-tee!) are all from there as well, and helped bring Cajun and Creole food to the mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/14 "2005-09-03T07:20:38Z")
I know the guy who wrote [Pedestrian Wolves](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1894815149/qid=1125732435/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-5007899-5963003?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), a story about a hedonistic romp through New Orleans. The writing style takes some getting used to, but it’s an over all good book. ---
**Author:** ![BennyAdeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BennyAdeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BennyAdeline)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/15 "2005-09-03T07:52:46Z")
a confederacy of dunces ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/16 "2005-09-03T08:20:21Z")
_Interview With The Vampire_, Anne Rice ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/17 "2005-09-03T12:14:33Z")
James Lee Bourke has written a slew of books set in Cajun country and in NO featuring Dave Roubechoix (sp?). Dave is an recovering alcoholic detective washed up from NO and back at his family home nearby. These are all pretty good reads and the area covered was hit hard. BTW, some of the books mention earlier hurricanes that had ripped through the area in IIRC the 1950’s ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/18 "2005-09-03T12:25:54Z")
If you count TV shows, there was [Bourbon Street Beat](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052453/), one of four 50’s Warner Brothers mystery shows set in “exotic” American cities. The others were “Hawaiian Eye” (Honolulu), “77 Sunset Strip” (LA) and “Surfside Six” (Miami Beach). The Big Easy ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/19 "2005-09-03T12:27:11Z")
Remember Scarlett and Rhett’s New Orleans honeymoon. And how Rhett was always going to New Orleans to visit the young boy that was his “ward” and went to school there (what an incredible coincidence that prostitute Belle Watling had a son who also went to school in New Orleans _snicker_snicker\*). ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/20 "2005-09-03T12:40:33Z")
One of my favorite mystery series is set in New Orleans. I seem to be able to mention this about a million times a year on the SDMB, in threads like “What is your favorite mystery book?” or “What is your favorite historical fiction book?” so _far be it_ from me to pass up another opportunity to plug it – anyway, it’s Barbara Hambly’s series featuring Benjamin January, who is a free person of color in New Orleans in the early 19th century. The books do a great job of setting the time and place, and there’s tons of fascinating details about N.O. customs and society. The first book in the series is called _A Free Man of Color_. Frances Parkinson Keyes wrote a whole bunch of novels set in New Orleans, although nearly everything is out of print these days. They’re mostly society plays, very prim, very mannered, but intriguing in their attention to detail. _Dinner At Antoine’s_ is probably her best known book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859.md?page=2)