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US Mall 1 - The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story
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List Price: $23.95
Our Price: $11.97
Your Save: $ 11.98 ( 50% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ecco
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.63350463
EAN: 9780061136641
ISBN: 0061136646
Label: Ecco
Manufacturer: Ecco
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2008-07-01
Publisher: Ecco
Release Date: 2008-06-24
Studio: Ecco
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cottage-modest, not mansion-grand, memoir
Comment: This is a nicely written memoir with a healthy dash of travelogue. Reed orients the reader with pre-Katrina New Orleans before delving into everything that comes after. The tone is informed but conversational; even when she does something that seems foolish, it seems to be a kind of "can you believe I did this?" instead of a blind justification.
I did feel that there was a fair amount of skimming, likely due to the loss of the original manuscript. I would have rather her editors/publishers extended her deadline than allow some of the narrative to get somewhat lazy.
Overall the writing was good and worth a look if you like memoir or have a soft spot (or curiosity) for New Orleans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Julia's a true asset to Nola...
Comment: ... so how could her book be anything but 5 stars??? ;) Julia was one of the few saving graces in Anderson Cooper's countless negative reports on Nola post-Katrina.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The most important things.
Comment: Ms. Reed tells an interesting and very personal story about life before, during, and after Katrina, and I loved it. She's an entertaining storyteller, and has a lot of inside info on the New Orleans political and social scene -- plus, she's an obsessive foodie with good taste and an even hand. She lives large, but can also say to herself, "Get over it; it's just a rug."). I enjoyed reading about her parents and can appreciate her mother's (rhetorical) question, as the floodwaters were rising, about whether or not 11 a.m. was too early to start pouring wine.
This memoir is at times hilarious, and at times heart-breaking, which makes for a great read. Ultimately, it is about the most important things in life: family, friends, and food, and their presence (real or in spirit) through good times and bad.
Customer Rating:
Summary: memories generated
Comment: As a former resident of New Orleans I was intrigued by this book. While living there, my husband and I renovated a house damaged by a previous hurricane, so I could identify with many of the problems Julia Reed faced. I think we would have had to abandon ship after as many setbacks as she had. However, she seems to have had a much bigger bankroll than we had. She is witty, smart, and certainly tenacious. Her references to local restaurants and people were particularly enjoyable because most of them were so familiar to me. I'm not sure how much they would mean to one who had never lived there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Five Stars Minus Two
Comment: This is an entertaining book that includes a lot about one of my favorite cities. In some ways, it's even interesting to see Hurricane Katrina from a different perspective since most of what we've seen is from the point of view of the unfortunate citizens of New Orleans. However, there are lines you just don't cross when writing about a disaster that caused so much suffering. While Ms Reed gives us an informative peek of the city before and after the hurricane, much of that is overshadowed by her outrageous degree of pomposity. I believe the average reader would have understood that she is one of the privileged few without her self-serving passages about herself, her mother & father, her husband and so forth. We get it, Julia; you are a liberal and you think you do a lot for those not in your class. We appreciate that; but true philanthropists rarely brag about their efforts.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cottage-modest, not mansion-grand, memoir
Comment: This is a nicely written memoir with a healthy dash of travelogue. Reed orients the reader with pre-Katrina New Orleans before delving into everything that comes after. The tone is informed but conversational; even when she does something that seems foolish, it seems to be a kind of "can you believe I did this?" instead of a blind justification.
I did feel that there was a fair amount of skimming, likely due to the loss of the original manuscript. I would have rather her editors/publishers extended her deadline than allow some of the narrative to get somewhat lazy.
Overall the writing was good and worth a look if you like memoir or have a soft spot (or curiosity) for New Orleans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Julia's a true asset to Nola...
Comment: ... so how could her book be anything but 5 stars??? ;) Julia was one of the few saving graces in Anderson Cooper's countless negative reports on Nola post-Katrina.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The most important things.
Comment: Ms. Reed tells an interesting and very personal story about life before, during, and after Katrina, and I loved it. She's an entertaining storyteller, and has a lot of inside info on the New Orleans political and social scene -- plus, she's an obsessive foodie with good taste and an even hand. She lives large, but can also say to herself, "Get over it; it's just a rug."). I enjoyed reading about her parents and can appreciate her mother's (rhetorical) question, as the floodwaters were rising, about whether or not 11 a.m. was too early to start pouring wine.
This memoir is at times hilarious, and at times heart-breaking, which makes for a great read. Ultimately, it is about the most important things in life: family, friends, and food, and their presence (real or in spirit) through good times and bad.
Customer Rating:
Summary: memories generated
Comment: As a former resident of New Orleans I was intrigued by this book. While living there, my husband and I renovated a house damaged by a previous hurricane, so I could identify with many of the problems Julia Reed faced. I think we would have had to abandon ship after as many setbacks as she had. However, she seems to have had a much bigger bankroll than we had. She is witty, smart, and certainly tenacious. Her references to local restaurants and people were particularly enjoyable because most of them were so familiar to me. I'm not sure how much they would mean to one who had never lived there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Five Stars Minus Two
Comment: This is an entertaining book that includes a lot about one of my favorite cities. In some ways, it's even interesting to see Hurricane Katrina from a different perspective since most of what we've seen is from the point of view of the unfortunate citizens of New Orleans. However, there are lines you just don't cross when writing about a disaster that caused so much suffering. While Ms Reed gives us an informative peek of the city before and after the hurricane, much of that is overshadowed by her outrageous degree of pomposity. I believe the average reader would have understood that she is one of the privileged few without her self-serving passages about herself, her mother & father, her husband and so forth. We get it, Julia; you are a liberal and you think you do a lot for those not in your class. We appreciate that; but true philanthropists rarely brag about their efforts.
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