Ritz of the Bayou

Nancy Lemann is one of the treasures of southern literature. Like many another great writer, she can be misunderstood. Her love for her native state, Louisiana, and city, New Orleans, is so deep that she speaks in a voice whose irony at times hides from the insensitive her profound affection for her imperfect, but nonetheless uniquely endearing, place of origin. She is a poet, one with great heart and abundant humor, and this book is one that will live alongside other Crescent City classics such as The Earl of Louisiana, by the great A.J. Liebling. It's a warm, profoundly witty book about "human frailty," one Liebling would have loved.