# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/41 "2005-09-04T19:40:37Z")
Well, since we’ve gotten into music, I’ll mention that I LOVE the stuff Paul Sanchez from Cowboy Mouth has done, but the band that will always mean New Orleans to me is the Continental Drifters. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/42 "2005-09-04T20:39:19Z")
“Heaven’s Prisoners” with Alec Baldwin. “King Creole”. “Dracula 2000” ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/43 "2005-09-04T20:49:23Z")
You could call this fluff… I am rereading _The Pelican Brief_ because it largely takes place there. only to find out this morning that, like the book, there are two supreme court vacancies that need to be filled. I was looking forward to going to the city for the first time in early November but the conference I was going to speak at is being moved. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/5daacb/32.png) [@Old\_Goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Goat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/44 "2005-09-06T03:15:27Z")
James Sallis’ Lew Griffin stories (eg) **The Long Legged Fly** provide a compelling portrait of an alienated man, similar to Burke’s Dave Robicheaux but without the dramatic causes. The warm tropic rain squalls enhance the mood tremendously. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/45 "2005-09-06T03:23:36Z")
_Eve’s Bayou_ I’m not sure this movie is set in New Orleans, but it is about Louisiana and it’s just dripping with cajun/voodoo atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/46 "2005-09-06T03:52:27Z")
[John Berendt’s _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_](http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/default.asp?Lang=en&Section=books&Ntt=midnight+in+the+garden+of+good+and+evil+&Submit_Search.x=4&Submit_Search.y=9) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/47 "2005-09-06T03:57:05Z")
Wait a sec, that was Savannah, Georgia, not New Orleans. My bad. Great read, though. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/48 "2005-09-06T04:46:57Z")
_Hotel_ by Arthur Hailey. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/49 "2005-09-06T15:09:53Z")
A lot of novels and stories by [Poppy Z. Brite](http://www.poppyzbrite.com/). ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/50 "2005-09-15T17:57:33Z")
Slight highjack - > [@](#): > > 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. Fred, the drummer, was originally in a much superior live band called **Dash Riprock** out of Baton Rouge. He was their second or third drummer. _Jenny Says_, while being written by Fred, was originally released by **Dash Riprock** in the late 80s. Don’t get me started on the pale comparison Cowboy Mouth is to **Dash Riprock** when it comes to whipping a crowd into a frenzy. And oh yeah, \*\*Better Than Ezra \*\* was formed by LSU students, which at last glance, is in Baton Rouge. Don’t get me wrong. I utterly love New Orleans and I know these bands are now “based out of New Orleans”, but being a proud Baton Rougean, I get a little ticked off when New Orleans is given credit for having spawned music which was actually birthed and nourished in my town. My addition is **The Radiators** (pronounced with a short _a_ as in “that’s so rad, dude!”). Also who can forget the incomparable **Dr. John**? ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/51 "2005-09-15T18:43:42Z")
[Albino Alligator](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115495/) , directed by Kevin Spacey, with William Fitchner doing a very nice Cajun accent. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/52 "2005-09-16T00:57:59Z")
What about the Neville Brothers? Especially Aaron. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/53 "2005-09-16T09:20:00Z")
Dancing until 5am in a country bar in Fat City to _Cotton eyed Joe_ and a lot of Cajun music that I’d never recognize again. _House of the Rising Sun_ I had lunch in the once whore house, it was supposedly written about, at least that’s what the hostess said. I guess Arlo Gutherie’s _City of New Orleans_ wouldn’t count, huh? Anne Rice’s books do have the feel of 'narlins. The Witches series more than the Vampires, of course, there’s a lot of cross over. _Jitterbug Purfume_ while not set entirely in NO, it does have a good sense of the Vieux Carré. _The Rose Tattoo_ by Tennessee Williams, _Dinner at Antoine’s \* by Frances Parkinson Keyes, Ellen Gilchrist wrote short stories about NO in \* In the Land of Dreamy Dreams_ While trying to find a couple of these, I ran across [Frommers guide to N.O.](http://www.frommers.com/destinations/neworleans/0020020052.html) It has lots more. There’s not much more exciting than creeping into the Witch craft store on Royale. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859/54 "2005-09-19T17:27:54Z")
Coming in a bit late, but… The city of Genua in Terry Pratchett’s _Witches Abroad_ was clearly inspired in large part by the Crescent City: the surrounding swamps, the food, the Discworld equivalent of Mardi Gras… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-new-orleans-based-literature-movies/319859.md?page=2)