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The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story
by: Julia Reed

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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: July 01, 2008
Publisher: Ecco
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Sales Rank: 6392
Studio: Ecco

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:

Julia Reed went to New Orleans in 1991 to cover the reelection of former (and currently incarcerated) governor Edwin Edwards. Seduced by the city's sauntering pace, its rich flavors and exotic atmosphere, she was never entirely able to leave again. After almost fifteen years of living like a vagabond on her reporter's schedule, she got married and bought a house in the historic Garden District. Four weeks after she moved in, Hurricane Katrina struck.

With her house as the center of her own personal storm as well as the ever-evolving stage set for her new life as an upstanding citizen, Reed traces the fates of all who enter to wine, dine (at her table for twenty-four), tear down walls, install fixtures, throw fits and generally leave their mark on the house on First Street. There's Antoine, Reed's beloved homeless handyman with an unfortunate habit of landing in jail; JoAnn Clevenger, the Auntie Mame—like restaurateur who got her start mixing drinks for Dizzy Gillespie and selling flowers from a cart; Eddie, the supremely laid-back contractor with Hollywood ambitions; and, with the arrival of Katrina, the boys from the Oklahoma National Guard, fleets of door-kicking animal rescuers and the self-appointed (and occasionally naked) neighborhood watchman. Finally, there's the literally clueless detective who investigates the robbery in which the first draft of this book was stolen. Through it all, Reed discovers there really is no place like home.

Rich with sumptuous details and with the author's trademark humor well in the fore, The House on First Street is the chronicle of a remarkable and often hilarious homecoming, as well as a thoroughly original tribute to our country's most original city.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A delightful, page-turning memoir of a house and a hurricane
(Note: Cyber stalkers roam with freedom on Amazon to distort vote totals)

"The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story" by Julia Reed is an enjoyable book--for the wonderful characterizations, for the bon vivant attitude of the writer and her crew, for the generosity of spirit during a catastrophe, for the genuine difficulties and joys in restoring an old house, and not least for incomparable settings in the incomparable city, New Orleans. This is definitely a book that merits a second reading.

Reed's "New Orleans story" happens to be unusual. As a journalist and editor for Vogue and Newsweek, she had the opportunities of meeting and interviewing famous people like Walker Percy and Ann Rice. But her stories were not just stories, but connections. Growing up in a well-off family allowed Julia more opportunities than most. She became part of the group of people in her family and family ... Read More

Rating:

- Marie Antoinette +
I am utterly flabbergasted by the content and tone of Ms. Reed's book. I found it utterly distasteful, not the least bit charming, boring and shallow. She puts Marie Antoinette to shame. I expected to enjoy and love this memoir about New Orleans and Katrina, instead I felt throughout that it should more aptly have been named, "How I Managed to Eat Lavishly, Still Drink My Favorite Champagne and Decorate My New Mansion, as Katrina Wrecked Thousands of Lives Around Me." Ms. Reed's book, replete with recounts of all her grand, costly Katrina gestures (such as buying dinner for 700 National Guardsmen without bothering to ask what the bill would be), and after having her jewelry stolen, remarking that the good thing about having your "serious" jewelry stolen is that "inevitably", its been photographed at parties, so it makes it easier to trace and find it, is a primer for insensitivity, smug self-indulgence and not only ... Read More

Rating:

- At times tedious and disappointing
I lived in New Orleans for several years, luckily I managed to move far away a couple of years before Katrina, so I missed all of that. So when I learned about this book I thought it would be fascinating to read about someone else's experiences living there and dealing with contractors and construction (like I did) and going through all the horror of Katrina. In the end, the book was not fascinating, it was a bit tedious, sometimes infuriating, and occasionally interesting and maybe even a little entertaining.

I don't want readers out there to think, based on the author's experiences, that all the locals hang out at Galatoire's drinking vodka all day because no one expects you to come back to the office after lunch. I worked for a living, I owned a tour company and later I had office jobs. I assure you if I spent all day drinking my lunch at a super expensive landmark restaurant someone would definitely ... Read More

Rating:

- New Orleans, Like it or not is a continuing tragedy in the midst of charm.
In taking us from the comfort of observing yet one more upscale redo of a home and the ensuing 'perfect' life of the future occupants into the change of course Katrina forced upon every resident of New Orleans, Julia Reed exposes many of the shocking still kept secrets behind of the veil that has been dropped by the current administration over our collective memories about the horrific disaster and the even more appalling mismanagment of relief as perpetuated at every level of government in this country. The way people have found to survive, thrive, revive, and celebrate post-Apocalyptic New Orleans is touching, memorable, and a call to action. Julia's book is call to not forget Katrina, to not forget the underserved people in our land. Julia show us that they can be the poorest folks who are lost and also lost everything or the poor national guard who are doing their duty, living on the edge seeing horrific things daily, ... Read More

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