RA 101, Redux

I need blog help 101; perhaps a whole week to teach myself all the tricks of the trade. No wonder I'm having so much trouble writing this review for LJ! Look how wordy I am. I write a draft, count the words - did I tell you? 175 to 200? Impossible! Then I go through and begin removing all my favorite adjectives until the review is pared down to nothing and then I wonder, would I want to read this book if this was all I knew about it? Folks, it's harder than it looks.

So, onward and upward as our friend Bob Macomber says. Another book I just finished and really enjoyed was one I saw in the weeding pile with such a sweet cover I felt compelled to rescue it. The House on First Street, My New Orleans Story, is one of those non-fiction quasi-autobiographies with food, drink and remodeling thrown in. I just eat these up. I wasn't familiar with the author, Julia Reed, but won't forget her now. She has quite a pedigree as a journalist with many awards to her name, but after reading her story, I'd say it's a miracle she's still alive to write it! How do these journalists abuse their bodies so devastatingly and still look so damn good?

http://www.themayborn.com/reed_julia.html

Do you ever wonder if it's really worth it to deny yourself an excess of experience for the long life trade off? I ask myself that every time I walk by Kilwins!! (and they usually win) At any rate, this book is a quick read and a great look at what miracles can be done when money is no object! Julia was certainly already doing very well by herself when she met and married a well known attorney and they bought an old historic house that was in major disrepair. Her stories echo those of Peter Mayle and Frances Mayes before her, yet her troubles seemed to be of her own making. There's a term "more money than brains" and, at the risk of sounding a little unkind, if the shoe fits......She trusted everyone! Tried to employ every down and out barfly she'd ever met in the city and oh, they took her for a ride. After fits and starts the house on First Street begins to resemble the grand dame it once was and, you guessed it, Katrina!

Ms. Reed's story takes a much more serious turn as she tells of the evacuation, the days after the levies broke when communication was impossible, the losses of those who were left behind or stayed behind to protect their property. She focuses on the folks she knew best, the business owners, chefs and restaurateurs who fed the hungry with salvaged goods. She has no use for the Governor of Louisiana and gets a bit politically righteous when speaking of FEMA and its disastrous non-response to the situation in the Crescent City. All in all this was a great build up to my first book discussion book next season, City of Refuge.

Betsy and I are off to a Colin Firth movie in a few minutes so I'll have to get to book number 4 tomorrow. A dreary day, the paper full of sad and difficult news, so a good day to head to Coconut Point and lose ourselves for a couple of hours.