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Book reviews: 3 novels set in New Orleans
May. 2nd, 2011 09:41 am1. _Prime_ by Poppy Z. Brite (2005)
I love this series about Ricky and G-Man, a gay couple who run a restaurant in New Orleans. It's sort of a mystery but mostly it's just a tangy-sweet novel about these two characters, the people they meet, the food they create, and the pressures two people experience in even the most solid relationships.
2. _New Orleans Mourning_ by Julie Smith (1990)
Skip Langdon is a rookie cop in New Orleans. When Rex, the King of Carnival, is killed, Skip is assigned to investigate New Orleans's most rich and powerful families, the very people who made her feel so alien while she was growing up for not being the petite Southern belle they wanted her to be.
3. _Messiah_ by Andrei Codrescu
If _Stranger in a Strange Land_ had been mugged by Angela Carter's _Wise Children_, this novel could have been the result. Felicity is a young black woman who is determined to make it as a PI in New Orleans, but first she needs to be avenged upon the TV evangelist who stole her grandmother's fortune. Then Felicity discovers an online game in which she can have sex with famous historical figures, some religious scholars halfway around the world let loose a gang of trickster figures to run amok through New Orleans, and did I mention its the apocalypse? This novel may be an exploration of language, narrative, memory, and media, or it may be an extended Dada fairy tale, possibly both, but it's lots of fun and I recommend it highly.
I love this series about Ricky and G-Man, a gay couple who run a restaurant in New Orleans. It's sort of a mystery but mostly it's just a tangy-sweet novel about these two characters, the people they meet, the food they create, and the pressures two people experience in even the most solid relationships.
2. _New Orleans Mourning_ by Julie Smith (1990)
Skip Langdon is a rookie cop in New Orleans. When Rex, the King of Carnival, is killed, Skip is assigned to investigate New Orleans's most rich and powerful families, the very people who made her feel so alien while she was growing up for not being the petite Southern belle they wanted her to be.
3. _Messiah_ by Andrei Codrescu
If _Stranger in a Strange Land_ had been mugged by Angela Carter's _Wise Children_, this novel could have been the result. Felicity is a young black woman who is determined to make it as a PI in New Orleans, but first she needs to be avenged upon the TV evangelist who stole her grandmother's fortune. Then Felicity discovers an online game in which she can have sex with famous historical figures, some religious scholars halfway around the world let loose a gang of trickster figures to run amok through New Orleans, and did I mention its the apocalypse? This novel may be an exploration of language, narrative, memory, and media, or it may be an extended Dada fairy tale, possibly both, but it's lots of fun and I recommend it highly.
