# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/21 "2005-09-03T14:24:02Z")
Mysteries - Ditto on Barbara Hambly and James Lee Burke. Would also add both series by Julie Smith, the one with Skip Langdon and the other with the computer focus, I forget the protagonist. D.J. Donaldson has a pretty good series, with a forensic a la Patricia Cornwell style. Tennessee Williams has several other short stories and plays that take place in, refer to, visit, or were written in New Orleans. Yellow Jack by John Russell is also good, tied to the early history of photography. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/22 "2005-09-03T15:19:10Z")
Darn it, **delphica** , you beat me to it! The Benjamin January series is one of my favorites as well. Long live Barbara Hambly! ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/23 "2005-09-03T15:49:08Z")
I came in specifically to mention _A Confederacy of Dunces_, which was in the OP. Having read it, I almost feel that I have some understanding of why things turned out the way they did this week. Another favourite: the movie _Tune in Tomorrow_, which, although based on a Peruvian book, was set in New Orleans, and worked just perfectly, notwithstanding having Keanu Reeves as the male lead. ---
**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, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/24 "2005-09-03T15:52:48Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > 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). Harumph! The two films I mentioned were not in the list. And _Cut Up_ had been featured on the cover of, and had a two-page spread in, _Shot In LA_ (‘Louisiana’s Film Monthly’) and there was an article on it in _The New Orleans Times-Picayune_ in 1994. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/25 "2005-09-03T21:11:36Z")
No one is going to mention anything by Anne Rice. (note that is not a question but a statement) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/26 "2005-09-03T23:32:41Z")
[The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202464.html) just covered this today as an appreciation piece. Bravo! Music? Many many sorts. But for me the greatest live band of all time is New Orleans based _Cowboy Mouth_. They’re currently on the road and their blog is just bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/27 "2005-09-04T00:41:11Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > [The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202464.html) just covered this today as an appreciation piece. Bravo! > > Music? Many many sorts. But for me the greatest live band of all time is New Orleans based _Cowboy Mouth_. They’re currently on the road and their blog is just bleeding. This is the band behind the sub-minor late-nineties hit _Jenny Says_, right? Interesting - I had no idea that they were still around even years ago, much less now. What makes them so great live, out of curiosity? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/28 "2005-09-04T00:44:41Z")
I have never been to New Orleans, and probably will never be able to go there. From my outsider’s point of view, I thought that the film [Pretty Baby](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078111/) had what seemed like an authentic flavor of the city in earlier times. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/29 "2005-09-04T00:53:50Z")
Jim Jarmusch’s [Down by Law](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090967/) probably best encapsulates the New Orleans mystique. Granted, the film has next to nothing to do with the actualities of the city; Jarmusch admits freely that he’d never even been there before they started shooting. Still, he nails the New Orleans that exists in the popular consciousness\*. Also, you can’t really go wrong with Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni. - Heh. I accidentally typed “the **poop** ular consciousness.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/30 "2005-09-04T01:12:19Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > This is the band behind the sub-minor late-nineties hit _Jenny Says_, right? Interesting - I had no idea that they were still around even years ago, much less now. What makes them so great live, out of curiosity? The best quote I heard was ‘On a bad night they’ll tear the roof off the house. On a good night they’ll save your soul.’ You simply can’t come out of a Cowboy Mouth show feeling worse than when you went in. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/31 "2005-09-04T01:12:56Z")
> [@](#): > > But for me the greatest live band of all time is New Orleans based Cowboy Mouth. Ugh. I used to see those schmoes in Tuscaloosa, and their shows were the dullest snoozefests I’ve ever attended. YMMV, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/32 "2005-09-04T01:20:24Z")
Particularly apropos at the moment, perhaps, would be [_Panic in the Streets_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042832/). ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/33 "2005-09-04T11:58:37Z")
_Jitterbug Perfume_ by Tom Robbins is partly set in NO. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/34 "2005-09-04T15:07:29Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > No one is going to mention anything by Anne Rice. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/35 "2005-09-04T16:13:58Z")
It’s not literature or a movie, but the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread title is a song called “Dixie Drug Store” by the band Grant Lee Buffalo (which is no longer together). It’s about a man who wanders into a New Orleans store and unknowingly spends the evening with the ghost of Marie Laveau. I don’t know that it’s the “best” New Orleans-based song I know, but it’s definitely one of my favorites, and since it’s the first one that popped into my mind I figured I’d share. Side note: I had no idea there was a Doper called **Johnny Angel** … now that song’s going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day! > [@Zebra](#): > > No one is going to mention anything by Anne Rice. Except that **Blalron** did, in post #16. > [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Music? Many many sorts. But for me the greatest live band of all time is New Orleans based Cowboy Mouth. They’re currently on the road and their blog is just bleeding. You and I have shared our appreciation of Cowboy Mouth in the past, but I’d still forgotten how cool it is to have someone else around here who loves this band as much as I do (and “Take Me Back to New Orleans” ranks right up there with “Dixie Drug Store,” especially now). With the band site down, I’m keeping tabs via Fred’s site/blog. > [@Ogre](#): > > Ugh. I used to see those schmoes in Tuscaloosa, and their shows were the dullest snoozefests I’ve ever attended. YMMV, obviously. I could understand not liking their music or their style, but to call their shows “dull snoozefests”? :eek: I think you must have seen some other band masquerading as Cowboy Mouth… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/36 "2005-09-04T16:16:59Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > “Take Me Back to New Orleans” ranks right up there Oops, it’s just called “New Orleans” … I always make that mistake! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/37 "2005-09-04T16:27:21Z")
Somewhere, I have [a tribute CD to Anne Rice](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000041O3/qid=1125851752/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2381099-1792068?v=glance&s=music) . While I am not a fans of her’s, I liked the artists. One of them is **Sting** , preforming a song called “Moon Over Bourbon Street” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/38 "2005-09-04T16:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > You simply can’t come out of a Cowboy Mouth show feeling worse than when you went in. Yes you can! We saw Cowboy Mouth a couple years ago when they were touring with Great Big Sea, and after about an hour of them screaming tunelessly, we left. It was giving me a headache. New Orleans culture is an intangible, though – it’ll be back, it’s just temporarily living somewhere else. Even Preservation Hall survived intact. And there are bars on Bourbon Street that _still_ haven’t closed. For me, although he’s not particularly known outside New Orleans, I’ll know the city is back up to full swing when there’s a music festival and trombonist Freddy Lonzo sits in on every set with every band all day for three days, no matter what style of music they’re playing. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/39 "2005-09-04T16:55:40Z")
Damn! I wanted to be first to mention Barbara Hambly’s Benjamin January books. I’ve only read the first two–I really need to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/40 "2005-09-04T17:02:11Z")
I always thought **The Big Easy** with Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid just dripped with New Orleans atmosphere. And surprisingly, so did the comedy **Undercover Blues** , also with Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner. And don’t forget **Chief Wiggum’s** short-lived TV show set in New Orleans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859.md?page=3)