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Empire of Sin
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Empire of Sin
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Empire of Sin
Audiobook10 hours

Empire of Sin

Written by Gary Krist

Narrated by Robertson Dean

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans’ thirty-years war against itself, pitting the city’s elite “better half” against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides. Surrounding him are the stories of flamboyant prostitutes, crusading moral reformers, dissolute jazzmen, ruthless Mafiosi, venal politicians, and one extremely violent serial killer, all battling for primacy in a wild and wicked city unlike any other in the world.

Editor's Note

History of shady denizens…

A wild ride through the rollicking history of New Orleans’ underworld. From the birth of jazz to the sex industry to a series of unsolved axe murders, this colorful account focuses on some of the Big Easy’s shadiest denizens, including a notorious madam and the man who ran the red light district.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 9, 2014
ISBN9781633793262
Unavailable
Empire of Sin
Author

Gary Krist

Before turning to narrative nonfiction, Gary Krist wrote three novels and two short story collections. He has been a regular book reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, Salon, and The Washington Post Book World. His satirical op-eds have appeared in The New York Times and Newsday, and his stories, articles, and travel pieces have been featured in National Geographic Traveler, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Playboy, The New Republic, and Esquire.

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Reviews for Empire of Sin

Rating: 3.865168536516854 out of 5 stars
4/5

178 ratings61 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A really interesting book on New Orleans.. from 1890 til 1920's. Politics, murders, ,mafia and so much more! Lots of research went into writing this book. So much detail.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jumps back and forth in time a bit too much, but it’s a history of how white reformers fought the fleshpots of New Orleans, and the African Americans of New Orleans, into outlaw/endangered status after Reconstruction and into the Prohibition era. As my husband commented, the recollections from jazz performers aren’t all that helpful because they tend to be vaguer and more apocryphal than the other sources in the book, but if you’re into true crime, this might be of interest.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Decent book that held my interest, but found that it took me a really long time to get through. I would still recommend for those who are interested in history of NOLA in general!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In my lifetime, I've heard reformer types rail against "sex, drugs and rock and roll." Well, back during a 30-year stretch, from roughly 1890 to 1920, the forerunners of these reformers took on "sex, alcohol, and jazz," as well as gambling in New Orleans. As this fascinating book points out, the reformers might have succeeded but, ultimately, they just drove these vices underground.It was a wild time. Rampant prostitution. Saloons everywhere. The growth of jazz. Oh and a lot of murders and some lynchings. All of these are skillfully portrayed by the author in a highly readable, entertaining book.For me, this book wasn't quite up to Krist's books on Chicago ([City of Scoundrels]) and on the avalanche ([The White Cascade]), both of which were outstanding, but it's still very, very good and one I'd recommend.Personal gripe: I won this book in the August ER and it still hasn't shown up nearly 6 months later. I'm very disappointed with the publisher for offering it and then not following through. I finally obtained it via my state's e-Read program for my Kindle.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Empire of Sin , much like Eric Larson's Devil in the White City, is a work of non-fiction that reads very much like a novel. In this case the Empire is the City of New Orleans (the Storyville section) from 1890-1920. The focus is on the origins of jazz and the fight to clean up corruption, alcohol and prostitution. I would recommend it for fans of history and New Orleans
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is an excellent history of Storyville, of brothels, and corruption, and life as it was. Krist has researched this so well and gives so much detail that New Orleans comes to life. The turn of the century was an era of much change across the country and New Orleans was no different. This book covers alcohol, murder, prostitution, the poor vs the wealthy, how the wealthy came to have their wealth, and it all reads like a novel instead of history. If you love New Orleans, read this book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In Empire of Sin author Gary Krist examines the period in New Orleans history when vice (alcohol, prostitution, gambling, etc.) was a legal and very profitable business. Using a cast of characters that include vice lords, prostitutes, jazzmen, and reformers, Krist tells the history of a city that many claim to know but few can really discuss.Empire of Sin is a very enjoyable true crime meets history book that seems to be very popular of late (such as Devil in the White City). Krist is an excellent writer, who really brings the historical figures to life. Dividing the chapters by discussing specific incidents or people and then connecting it or them with the wider picture, the book is readable and informative while not being too dense or overly detailed. I personally don't have an incredible love of New Orleans but the history of the city at the turn of the century shares many commonalities with modern New Orleans that I find fascinating. It's a really interesting glimpse into why the city of today prides itself somewhat on the decadence of areas like Bourbon Street. I highly recommend this title to fans of other true crime histories or people who love the city of New Orleans and wish to know more about its history.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Author Gary Krist chronicles thirty years (1890-1917) of battle to reform New Orleans Storyville red light district; attempts to clamp down on murder, vice and crime. The author researched historical records (memoirs, witness accounts, newspapers, police reports, court transcripts, etc.) to provide an accurate account that encompasses organized crime, racism, political corruption, the emergence of jazz music, and more. A good read that conveys understanding of a raw, brash and colorful city. lj
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fascinating and entertaining look into the corrupt, violent and music-filled world of New Orleans in the early 20th century. Bestselling author Gary Krist does a wonderful job drawing the reader into the vice-ridden world of the Crescent City. The early history of jazz was absolutely riveting, filled with colorful characters and descriptions of nightlife. Krist also digs into the crime and racial relations during that period, tying all aspects of the narrative together with an unsolved serial killer mystery (unsolved to this day). For anyone interested in New Orleans, I highly recommend this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a book for anyone interested in the history of New Orleans and the birth of Jazz. It offers an intriguing look, and the history really comes alive. He manages to do a good job of balancing the history with the anecdotes. It did feel at times like he was trying to tell too much in one book, however. Still, an overall enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I'm having a lot of trouble with this book - I've been about 150 pages in and struggling since mid-November. The author is trying to write an Erik Larson-esque narrative history of New Orleans, and is somehow attempting to weave together a whole lot of elements over a pretty sizable time period into a single cohesive volume - prostitution, Italian organized crime, anti-black violence, Jazz music, anti-vice legislation...but while all of these topics might share some commonalities, overall it comes off like an eclectic hodge-podge and the author's insistence on picking up each topic for a chapter, only to drop it and revisit it later on is frustrating. There isn't enough cohesion to justify that kind of jumping forward and back in time, topic, and geography. I'll try to finish it but frankly, this is no Erik Larson book, and it's no Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, either.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fascinating account of life in the city of sin at the turn of the last century through the end of WWI (1890-1920). Storyville, a legally sanctioned den of iniquity, was the most progressive part of the South until the reformers garnered enough political force to regret their earlier seal of approval. Too bad I'm not at all interested in jazz since its birth and major/minor characters are discussed at length. Still, a delightful and horrifying lesson in american history.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Krist tells the story of the political history of New Orleans, Jazz, and the Ax Man murderer. I expected the murderer story line to be the most enjoyable and dominant story line, but it took a back seat to the history of jazz and New Orleans. However, I found myself really enjoying the two primary histories. Krist's writing was clear and interesting; I found myself going through the book fairly quickly. Well done!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent writing and the author manages a nice balance between keeping a story moving and delivering tidbits or trivia along the way. However, the inclusion of a possible serial killer story doesn't seem to fit with the story of Storyville.The characters come alive and are just not forgotten headlines.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When I first read the synopsis of this book, I thought it would make for a good departure from my usual read -- some creative nonfiction. And while Empire of Sin definitely delivered on that front, I thought it had a few weaknesses that really hampered how effective it was as an interesting history of New Orleans.But let's start with the good: the variety of content.Krist manages to cover a significant number of topics key to the development of New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the birth of jazz and black-white race relations to New Orleans' reputation as a city of sin and vice -- this book paints the numerous threads that were gradually woven together over the course of several decades post-Reconstruction to create the very colorful city of New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. I was impressed at the breadth of topics discussed in this book and how each connected to all others to form a fairly cohesive picture of the city. One that I was totally unaware of -- I've had very, very little exposure to the history of New Orleans prior to reading this book. So, on that front, this was an interesting read. It gave me some fairly good insight into the development of New Orleans, and I learned quite a bit. Always fun.However (and here's the bad), this book suffers from a number of structural issues that weakens its overall execution. While the topics discussed always kept my attention, the chapters often abruptly jumped from one topic to the other. The transitions between themes were almost nonexistent, and because this book includes so many historical figures, I frequently found myself confused -- mixing up names and the like -- because by the time the book got back around to continuing on a previous theme, I'd long forgotten most of the people involved. There were simply too many people to keep track of for me to effectively do so with the book jumping around like it did.I also thought the opening emphasis on crime added little to the overall book. It frames the book as if everything would connect to the mentioned crimes in some way, but most of the topics were almost wholly unrelated, and when the book finally got back around to discussing the crimes, I'd long stopped caring (and almost totally forgotten) about them. Had the focus on the crime not been there, I wouldn't have had the expectations I did going into the rest of my book, and I might have enjoyed it slightly more.Finally, I found the ending of the book VERY weak. Everything winds down suddenly and without much detail, which I thought was strange given how much detail went into everything else. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate succinct writing as much as the next reader, but in this case, the ending jumped right over succinct and hit awkwardly abrupt territory. Instead of a big finale, the book just sort of fizzled out.Overall, I think Empire of Sin made for an interesting history of New Orleans, but it suffered quite a bit from its jumbled structure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I received a review copy of this book.Empire of Sin tells the story of New Orleans at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It focuses on the struggle between the forces of vice and the local notables who want to see a different path for their city. It is well researched and full of interesting vignettes, but, to me at least, it lacked a narrative flow. Episodic though it is, it provides enough interesting information about that 30 years of New Orleans history to keep you reading.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The first notable thing about Gary Krist's new book, "Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans," may be its subtitle. The main title speaks of sin, yet between sex and murder lies jazz. Jazz?Well, yes. It turns out that when reformers tried to clean up New Orleans early in the last century, their first target was not prostitution, gambling, booze, corruption or even gangland murders, but dancing. They didn't want women, at least not white women, in places where that new music, sometimes called jazz and sometimes jass, was being played by black musicians. Jazz, played by the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and a still very young Louis Armstrong, drew white audiences to clubs where black musicians played, and reformers found this as objectionable as anything else that was going on in Storyville.An editorial in the Times-Picayune called "jass" a "form of musical vice" and said, "Its musical value is nil, and its possibilities of harm are great."Storyville, named for Sidney Story, a New Orleans alderman, was a district of the city where vice was officially tolerated for a number of years. There was also a smaller area that became known as Black Storyville, but black musicians and a few black prostitutes were permitted in Storyville, just not black clientele. The area flourished and fortunes were made by those who owned the businesses, but Storyville was eventually crushed by those seeking reform. Prohibition, which became federal law at the close of World War I, put the final nail in Storyville's coffin. This did not end the sin in New Orleans, of course. It just went into hiding.Most of the best jazz musicians fled New Orleans, finding more tolerant audiences in Chicago and elsewhere.As for murder, there was plenty of that in New Orleans at the turn of the century, much of it associated with Italian mobsters. The most feared murderer at the time, the so-called Axeman, was never caught, and his identity remains a mystery to this day, although Krist suspects those killings, too, were mostly gang-related. A burly man broke into homes in the middle of the night and attacked people in their beds with an axe. Most, but not all, of the victims were Italians who owned small grocery stores.Books about sin and the city have a lure, just like sin and cities themselves. I am thinking particularly of Karen Abbott's "Sin and the Second City" and Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City," both about Chicago. Krist himself wrote "City of Scoundrels," also about Chicago. And just a couple of days ago I saw a similar book about Steubenville, Ohio. "Empire of Sin" may not be the best book of this kind, but it does make fascinating reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When I first got this book, I had thought that it was a fictional story. The first few chapters of the book slowly changed my mind. For me, this is a giant compliment to the book--it was written so well, it was as riveting as a novel. This true story tells the history of New Orleans in the few decades before and after the turn of the 20th century. It was fantastic!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very readable history of the development of New Orleans from roughly 1890 and 1920... specifically at the development of crime, jazz, and the Storyville red-light district. The story is a bit disjointed at times as it's told chronologically and there's lots of threads involved. However, it's still a great read for history fans.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having lived in New Orleans, learning more about the history of the infamous Storyville district, the origins of jazz, etc., was a great opportunity. Very readable, but as others have observed, it's a little disjoint compared to smoother narratives like "The Devil In the White City". Still, well worth the time, and if you want a fictional counterpart, try David Fulmar's Valentin St. Cyr series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    [Empire of Sin]by [Gary Krist] was an interesting account of the downfall of what I would have thought as the golden age of New Orleans. New Orleans was the last bastion of sin in the South during the Gilded Age in America. This was a time period when people were trying to live by Victorian standards and New Orleans went against them all. This was a war between cultures and depending who won, New Orleans was bound to be changed.The book was well written. It started out really strong and the characters in the book were very colorful, more so knowing they were real people. This was a character driven non fiction which makes sense for New Orleans which had more than it's share. My only complaint was towards the end of the book [Krist] seemed to be quickly wrapping up some stories not giving the details that were present in the beginning. I have recommended this book to quite a few people though. It was a much needed non-fiction fix.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    New Orleans has a fascinating history and Gary Krist captures much of it here. In just 30 years, from 1890 to 1920, New Orleans attempted to and almost succeeded in transitioning from a city of vice to a city of virtue. A once racially diverse and tolerant city was turned into a racist, intolerant city. Storyville was created, music floated in the air, and jazz was born. This book is an easy and enjoyable read. I have never been to New Orleans and was not around in the early 1900s, yet I felt like I was there in the city, at that time, getting to know all these people. The sights and sounds, the people and the politics, all of it came to life as I read. Krist covers a broad scope of material. He touches on everything from the early development of the city, to its cultural diversity, to Reconstruction, music, crime, political corruption, racism, and the emerging prohibition. We see how all these issues intertwined to spark changes, some good and some disastrous. While Krist takes on a lot of subject matter, I never felt he overreached or lacked focus. In fact, the wide array of information is what allowed me to immerse myself fully in the era. The amount of research done for this book had to be overwhelming. Yet it never felt that way as I read. There is no forcing of information or recitation of facts. The content flows smoothly. Only after I closed the book did I realize how much I'd learned.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book as an Early Reviewer(thanks librarything!). The book is well researched with a huge amount of notes at the end of the book, and it has lots of great information. My only flaw with the book was the authors style of writing. At the end of each chapter he kept ending it with a "but wait, there's more" type statement. After the first couple of times it got annoying. It's a great book for information, but because of the way it's written I just couldn't get into the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    One of the classes I took on my way to earning a BA in history was on the history of jazz music. I think that Dr. Berkaw would love to read Gary Krist’s “Empire of Sin: a story of sex, jazz, murder, and the battle of modern New Orleans”. The decades of New Orleans history covered by Krist, from 1890 into the 1920’s, saw the birth of all modern music, right there in New Orleans’ Storyville district. But the book covers much more than that. Racism and lynchings that went beyond the expected American story of white on black violence. Storyville was a social experiment, “reformers” wanted to confine activities they looked down on into one area in the city, they said this would leave the rest of the city free from “filth and degradation”. As a social experiment it worked very well. Too well for the “reformers”. Saloon keepers and madams were making enough money to take on “respectable” roles in the city. Roles that it becomes apparent the “reformers” felt should be reserved for themselves. Tom Anderson entered state politics, Josie Arlington established a family home in a “respectable” upper class neighborhood. Even worse, whites and blacks mingled together. It was not just the multi-racial houses of prostitution, that served only white customers, but the new music brought black musicians into nearly every venue. This could not be allowed in the post-Reconstruction south. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, in particular the coverage of Carry Nation’s visit to Storyville. Speaking to a crowd at the St. Charles Hotel she said “Roosevelt, Busch, Schlitz, and Muerlein are the quintet which is doing America much harm” Being familiar with Cincinnati’s brewing history I was pleased to see her reference the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company even if the newspaper misspelled it. During her conversations with working girls at Emma Johnson’s House of all Nations she was told that it it was not coercion or entrapment, the “white slavery” explanation for prostitution that was popular at the time, it was simple economics. “Respectable” jobs for single woman paid pennies a day, not close to what it cost to stay alive. Of course, as is always the case with “reformers”, Miss Nation was deaf to the facts that did not support her dogma.Krist does not rub reformers nose in their failings but he is willing to point them out. He points out that one reform politician was a ringleader in the mass lynching covered early in the book. He credits reform politicians ineptitude with their failure to get re-elected and their character assassination of “Ring” politicians as a factor allowing Huey Long to gain the governor's office. I have to give Krist credit for sticking with the facts, even when the facts don’t follow the standard script of WASP exceptionalism. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his book and look forward to finding another one of his works. Learning a little about the bartender that created the Ramos Gin Fizz was an added bonus.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Empire of Sin is very much in the same vein as Devil in the White City, and anyone who enjoyed that book will probably enjoy this one, too. Emprie of Sin alternates between relating a series of ax murders that took place in New Orleans and exploring the background and history of Storyville, New Orleans’ notorious vice district. This book gives a good overview of Storyville, the Axeman murders, and the development of Jazz during this period. It shows how New Orleans, never quite as respectable as it wanted to be, tried to deal with the numerous social and political problems of the early twentieth century and how those decisions shaped the New Orleans we know today.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Back in the early 90's, I was in New Orleans and spent an evening on a restaurant balcony overlooking Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. There were strip joints and live music venues all around, and watching the goings-on was absolutely fascinating. We saw at least two drug deals, a couple making a deal for sex, and a near fist fight between the barkers for a live sex show featuring women and a place with female impersonators. I couldn't help but think that Storyville in the late 1890s and early 1900s must have been just like this.See, New Orleans has always been a pretty loose place, vice-wise. And about 1890, the city leaders - the morality crowd, anyway - decided that something needed to be done to clean up the city, if nothing else than to make it easier to get Northern investment money. Of course, there were people profiting pretty well from the vice going on all over town, and they weren't going to let the gravy train just stop. So a section of the city was set aside where prostitution, drinking and gambling were legal, or at least tolerated. Gary Krist's The Empire of Sin gives the history of Storyville's rise and fall, and the decades long fight between the forces of morality and those who ran the "dens of iniquity". Along the way we get to touch on organized crime through the Italian Black Hand kidnapping rings and the beginnings of the Mafia in the city, the birth of jazz in the bordellos and dance halls, and even an axe murderer serial killer (or maybe not)! It's an interesting time, and sounds a whole like some of the culture wars today. Krist is pretty good at tying all the various strings together into a coherent history. Makes me want to go back for a visit!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book starts out well, presenting a memorable cast of characters on both sides of the law (and in between) in late 19th Century New Orleans. Krist makes us spectators to the birth of the notorious Storyville Red Light District and its denizens. Along the way, we are introduced (briefly) to the likes of jazz legends Buddy Bolden, Joe Oliver, Kid Ory, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong. And a horrible series of murders (some by a mysterious "axman") run from one end of the book to the other.And perhaps that's the problem. There is almost too much here, and while the author does a good job, thanks to his exhaustive research, with the facts, it all gets a bit numbing and repetitive after a while. Some of the characters come to life, and some don't. But because there are so many of them, it makes for a less than compelling read at times. Still, I emerged knowing an awful lot more about New Orleans that I ever did before. It is a fascinating history, but perhaps, like its subject, it doesn't lend itself to easy organization. The result is a bit disjointed without a real thread to pull the reader through to the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I received this book from Early-Readers and had been trying to win it for some time; I'm so glad I finally won a copy, it was everything I was hoping for!This was the story of the City of New Orleans between 1890-1920 and was devised of three main parts; music (jazz), the Axman murders & the rise and fall of Storyville. One of the reasons I wanted to win this book is because I read Madam by Cari Lynn & Kellie Martin several months ago and it told the story of Storyville, Tom Anderson & Madam Josie Arlington. I wanted to follow up with Gary Krist's novel and explore these stories even more. I was not disappointed! Gary goes into great detail about Storyville & its "mayor" Tom Anderson. Mr. Anderson controls much of Storyville with his businesses and the people he does business with in the world of vice. His relationship with leading madam Josie Arlington is explored as well.In this vice world music plays a huge part. The early 1900's was the beginning of the jazz age and the story of many big names such as "Little" Louis Armstrong are told. Jazz was a chance for people of color to make it big, express themselves and tell their stories all through music. This book deals with a lot of oppression of people of color, ie; blacks and octoroons. Whites and blacks don't mix in New Orleans.Lastly, the book tells the story of the Axman. He (or they) were a constant threat to the people of New Orleans during this time period. Primarily attacking Italian grocers at night with an axe. One theory was the Axman was really the Black Hand Mafia (the Italian Mafia) committing crimes against their own but was it? This book had everything; sex, alcohol, jazz & murder! It was well researched and did not read like a work of non-fiction at all. It was very easy to get into the "characters" heads and listen to the story they were trying to tell about the turn of the century in New Orleans. I highly recommend this book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The author writes about a 30 year period of New Orleans history, from 1890 through 1920. This was the period of the famous (and infamous) Storyville, the restricted red-light district of the city where every vice was available, tolerated, and mostly legal. It's also where jazz was born. Krist paints intersecting portraits of vice and the fight against it, the birth of a new music, organized crime, some specifically heinous crimes, and important persons of the day.I liked it. Starting, I worried that it was going to be a hobbled together, over-told history, but it did not turn out that way. The pieces all fit together nicely and the reader ends up with a very good idea of what the time, area, and people were like. Personally, a little to my surprise, I found that by the end I was rooting for the members of the 'Ring' - the politicians and other prominent business men who supported the status quo - against the puritan and prohibitionist prisses of the early century. Krist makes the very nice point that it was these same zealots against 'white slavery' (i.e. prostitution), alcohol, dancing, and music that also most heavily supported the importation of Jim Crow segregation to New Orleans which had a tradition of being more tolerant (though by no means perfectly so) of racial mixing.For those who enjoy well-told local history, this is a very nice work that you should enjoy. I am not knowledgeable about NO at all, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book from Early Reviewers and requested it because it seemed like it could be a mix of Dennis Lehane's books and maybe a little "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" thrown in. I wasn't disappointed. A lovely walk through New Orleans through the eyes and ears of characters that live in the underbelly won me over. Really worth the read.