New Orleans: A Cultural History

This is a truly excellent book, however, the title for this book should have been "A Jazz Tour of New Orleans Neighborhoods." Ms. McKinney does an amazing job of guiding the reader through the many fascinating neighborhoods of the city, but in the end, this tour serves only to highlight where a visitor can find good Jazz music. Certainly, no book about New Orleans culture would be complete without a discussion of Jazz, possibly the city's most important creation. But the intense focus on this one subject comes at the expense of leaving out countless other highlights of the city's neighborhoods. If you want to read a book about New Orleans Jazz, and where to find the best venues for it within New Orleans, then believe me, this is the book you want. But if you want a book that covers other aspects of New Orleans culture, then you may have to look elsewhere. Still, this is a wonderful and unique book (the first one I have found that explores the cultural significance of neighborhoods like the Treme, Mid-City, Carrolton, the Irish Channel, etc.), and I highly recommend it for anyone with a passion for New Orleans.

Ms. McKinney has fashioned a marvelous chronicle of "The Big Easy," which will surely be on my side - pages laminated for my convenience - during my next scuba trip to New Orleans.