Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
56th out of 159 books
—
107 voters
Yellow Jack: A Novel
by
Josh Russell (Goodreads Author)
"[An] erotic, disturbing novel . . . shimmers with intensity . . . irresistible."—New Orleans Times-Picayune
Hailed by reviewers as "an electrifying debut" (Baltimore Sun) and "perhaps the best evocation of New Orleans ever to appear in print" (Richmond Times-Dispatch), Yellow Jack has given Southern literature its own intoxicating hybrid of Caleb Carr, Flannery O'Connor, a
...morePaperback, 256 pages
Published
September 17th 2000
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1999)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
340)
Dark and gritty, sexual and filled with fever, death, madness, and love and obsession. Told in three intertwining narratives. One is an art historian/catalog describing fictional daguerreotypes made by the main character and their import. One is his "octoroon" mistress which I think was closest to the truth and the other is narratives of the main character himself-Claude Marchand. The actuality of the Yellow Fever and the daguerreotype phase are real, all else is supposed and done well. Not for...more
I think the book-jacket comparisons with Madame Bovary and Edgar Allen Poe are a bit overblown, though perhaps not entirely misplaced. This is a creepy, disorienting psychological study. The history is well-researched and represented with lots of texture and detail. The main character manages to be thoroughly disreputable while remaining sympathetic enough that you worry for his future. I especially appreciate (1) how it painted the unique racial and cultural landscape of early 19th-century New...more
Yellow Jack was an interesting look at the affects of yellow fever and birth of the photograph. Written about Claude Marchand a student of Dauguerre, it tells the story of how he took the process of photography to the United States where he earned his living mostly by taking pictures of those who had died of yellow fever.
At times, this story was extremely morbid. The plot held my interest as it unraveled the life and loves of Marchand. He was a detestable slug especially to the women in his lif...more
At times, this story was extremely morbid. The plot held my interest as it unraveled the life and loves of Marchand. He was a detestable slug especially to the women in his lif...more
A book that's all dressed up but chooses to go nowhere. Great setting (New orleans in 1845). Great premise (Daguerre's assistant steals the master's photographic process and absconds with it to Louisiana to get rich taking memento mori portraits of Yellow Fever victims). Wafer thin characters, tiresome and repetitive couplings (can anyone still write sex scenes that don't sound like "National Lampoon" parodies of same?), and decadence that would be divine if the novel had as much narrative thrus...more
In comparison to Ragtime A Novel, this book was rather unremarkable. The protagonist is not a real character, so my googling for the portraits mentioned in the book turned up with no results.
However, one aspect I liked of this book was the amount of play Russell was able to accomplish: from the narrator who described portraits that would dictate the following action, to the secret diary entries of one of the women which provided us with factual information, to the protagonist's own thoughts whic...more
However, one aspect I liked of this book was the amount of play Russell was able to accomplish: from the narrator who described portraits that would dictate the following action, to the secret diary entries of one of the women which provided us with factual information, to the protagonist's own thoughts whic...more
I found the writing style very unique and interesting and the story was very good. Sometimes quite dark, the story shows us life in New Orleans during the time of Yellow Fever through the eyes of an early pioneer in photography. Josh Russell writers mostly from the point of view of Claude, the photographer, but he also writes short sections from the point of view of one of his mistresses and also from the point of view of a modern day historian attempting to deduce what life was like in this era...more
Monsieur Claude: Snake and snake-charmer, villain and victim, savant, artiste, and fraud. I greatly enjoyed the book, especially the juxtaposition of intertwining tales..who do we believe...anyone?
A moody, provocative period piece, and a lot more old NOLA than Ms. Rice brings to the table. 3 stars, worth your time
A moody, provocative period piece, and a lot more old NOLA than Ms. Rice brings to the table. 3 stars, worth your time
Wonderful book that captures the spirit of 19th century New Orleans. The story is told from 3 perspectives, and the reader is challenged to decide which version is closest to reality. I have read this book many times, and always enjoy it.
This was very different--a real inside look into early New Orleans and the ravages of the Yellow Fever epidemic.
The main characters were endearing and tragic...a goodread!
The main characters were endearing and tragic...a goodread!
One of my favorite historical novels set in NOLA. A cracking good read.
RIYL "Pretty Baby."
RIYL "Pretty Baby."
VERY disturbing, but one of the first books in awhile to catch my attention quite that strongly.
Feb 04, 2011
Mary Ellen
marked it as to-read
heard author interviewed by Bob Edwards. Setting is New Orleans 1800's. Sounds really good.
Boring. Utterly fails to connect the reader to the main character. Some interesting details about early photography.
Aug 09, 2012
Jennifer
added it
Just getting started on _Yellow Jack_. Love New Orleans, set in 19th c.
Richly atmospheric, amazingly well written, trippy tale of a not entirely likable or ethical artist careening about 1800s New Orleans.
I picked this up in a bookstore in the French Quarter when I visited 4 months after Katrina hit. The mood was fitting...the novel is grim, dark, disturbing, and full of death and misery. Having said that however, this book grabbed me. I love New Orleans fiction especially ones set in the 1700s to 1800s. This novel revolves around the Yellow Fever epidemic which plagued New Orleans in the late 1700s and how a photographer made a living taking pictures of dead people. Great writer, great novel but...more
My airplane read during a trip to New Orleans.
Cool take on the frame narrative by relating part of the story through descriptions of dageurrotypes and journal entries made by the protagonist's mistress, while letting the dageurrotypist tell part of the story as he grows increasingly mad from mercury poisoning. I was left a little disappointed at the end as I was a little unsure what was true and what wasn't when reading the daguerrotypist's version. All in all, enjoyable especially the historical background regarding daguerrotypes and the Y...more
Feb 20, 2013
Elaine Seaward
added it
Deep and dark. Loved it!
Outstanding first novel set in New Orleans during the Yellow Fever outbreak of the 1840's. It chronicles the growing madness of the character of Claude Marchand, who is based on one of the first photographers in the United States. Russell uses the exotic setting and characters to probe into the nature of art, history, and obsession, all connected by Marchand's erotic fixation on a young heiress. Challenging and engrossing, Yellow Jack poses unsettling questions and offers no simple answers.
The main character Claude Marchand seemed doomed from the start. The premise of bringing/stealing the origins of photography from France to the US was intriguing. I did like the author's change of perspective throughout the novel, because that's EXACTLY how things happen, two sides to every story. His description of New Orleans during this time period was vivid. I usually don't enjoy books that are so morbid throughout but this was definitely an exception.
Not as well written as I had hoped. Interesting story and characters, however.
Never less than impressively put together, but somehow bloodless and unmoving in the end. Russell writes with real beauty about New Orleans during the yellow fever, and about the early days of photography. The book has sadness deep-rooted in it, and that makes it a difficult book to finish. Would love to see what he's working on now.
Very unlikeable characters -- surprised the author got it published, given how much editors dictate what is likely to sell. I understand the theme of how documenting history and reality rarely are reconciled, but found the story not particularly compelling, though I was more tied in with it toward the conclusion.
Excellent historical novel set in New Orleans. It's lush and dirty, sexy and swampy. Very historically accurate. The main character is one of the first to have brought photography to the U.S. - the Daguerrotype. The process uses mercury vapor to develop the photo plates -- you can guess where that goes...
Weird book. I definitely enjoyed it, though I can't say why. Maybe because it didn't have any of the qualities that make me dislike books. It reminded me a lot of Evidence of Things Unseen, in style as well as in content - so if you liked "Evidence", you'd like this one too.
i borrowed it from Dan, nominally as research for getting the NOLA atmosphere right for my pirate novel -- and catching up on the work of a Tulane creative writing professor.
This book was just ok. When it comes to New orleans, you cannot help but always compare to Anne Rice's novels, that's why maybe I should'nt hype myself up so much.
Excellent read. The protagonist is fascinating. The story unfolds through unreliable narration, letters, and historical speculation. It works.
Vibrant and raunchy tale of the advent of photography during the yellow fever epidemics of mid 19th century New Orleans.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
I'm the author of three novels: A True History of the Captivation, Transport to Strange Lands, & Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag (Dzanc Books, 2012); Yellow Jack (W.W. Norton, 1999), which earned me the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Shane Stevens Fellowship in the Novel; and My Bright Midnight (LSU Press, 2010), which earned me a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Prose...more
More about Josh Russell...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Jan 14, 2013 07:53pm