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133rd out of 159 books
—
109 voters
Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in New Orleans
two decades of hilarious encounters with drifters, drunks, swindlers, transvestites, and the occasional college kid whose hawking refrain "don't be a meanie, buy a weanie" still echoes throughout the French Quarter.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
February 16th 1999
by Broadway Books
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Do you ever pick up one of those books and 4 or 5 chapters in realize:
A.) I really don't care
and
B.) Half this shit must be an exageration?
I read Confederacy, the book the title of this book gives a nod to and loved it. I started reading this and figured this guy took a hectic job and tried to turn it into a book deal. I just really couldn't get into it. Especially the part where he basically breaks into an employees house to wake him up for work and another part where he drives a butch employee...more
A.) I really don't care
and
B.) Half this shit must be an exageration?
I read Confederacy, the book the title of this book gives a nod to and loved it. I started reading this and figured this guy took a hectic job and tried to turn it into a book deal. I just really couldn't get into it. Especially the part where he basically breaks into an employees house to wake him up for work and another part where he drives a butch employee...more
I've been wanting to read this since I was a junior in high school and my English teacher recommended it to me. Finally, ten years later I happened upon it in a used bookstore — and while I'm glad to finally have found it, Managing Ignatius wasn't really worth the wait.
I do like reading about the history of Lucky Dogs and the French Quarter, especially since I don't remember much of the years I spent there as a child at my family's business. I enjoyed most of the anecdotes of all the wacky chara...more
I do like reading about the history of Lucky Dogs and the French Quarter, especially since I don't remember much of the years I spent there as a child at my family's business. I enjoyed most of the anecdotes of all the wacky chara...more
There's a lot of funny little stories in this book, which takes advantage of the fame of Confederacy of Dunces to give a non-fiction account of the real-life NOLA hot dog venders. The writing style is a little irritating - lots of 5 cent words here - and it runs long. A book about half as long concetrating on the crazy characters and incidents, and dropping, say, the author's discussions of his own writing career, and some of the repetitive stories, would have been better. Even with those drawba...more
I have been wanting to read this book for YEARS, always ask for it in used book stores. Today, there it was on the shelf at library book sale. It is going on the top of the reading pile. Always good to read about New Orleans as we approach Mardi Gras.
How sad that after all of this time I really didnt like this book. The colorful characters in this book are really very sad. Jerry simply lists one stupid, crazy or outrageous action after another, but doesnt seem to have the writing ability to make...more
How sad that after all of this time I really didnt like this book. The colorful characters in this book are really very sad. Jerry simply lists one stupid, crazy or outrageous action after another, but doesnt seem to have the writing ability to make...more
I read this years ago, but I still have it on my shelf, which is saying something considering how often I clean off my bookshelves and give away books I'm not likely to read again. No, it's not bloody Candide, but it wasn't supposed to be. I read; I laughed; I kept. And I may actually read it again.
Sidebar: Even having read this so long ago, I still make it a point to buy myself a Lucky Dog any time I'm in the Quarter and get the chance. They still don't taste that fabulous, but every now and th...more
Sidebar: Even having read this so long ago, I still make it a point to buy myself a Lucky Dog any time I'm in the Quarter and get the chance. They still don't taste that fabulous, but every now and th...more
2 likes · like · see review
Imagine an involved description of a less-well-known civil war battle. Instead of generals & foot soldiers, drug addicts & snowbirds; instead of Gettysburg's shoe factory or Appamatox's courthouse, hot dog carts. Maybe it would have been easier to understand with a map of New Orleans, but that might have made it too much work.
I read this book because I was looking for insights in working with a transient population (I work in a homeless shelter). I didn't find any, but I still enjoyed th...more
I read this book because I was looking for insights in working with a transient population (I work in a homeless shelter). I didn't find any, but I still enjoyed th...more
3.5 stars.
Yes, it's really nothing more than a long list of goofy vendors and their own particular foibles. But then again, that's pretty much what I expected it to be. Not so sure that people criticizing it for that have much of a leg to stand on.
If you like New Orleans, Ignatius Reilly, or eating hot dogs on the street, you'll probably find something in here to like. If, like me, you like all 3 of those things, you'll enjoy it even more.
Yes, it's really nothing more than a long list of goofy vendors and their own particular foibles. But then again, that's pretty much what I expected it to be. Not so sure that people criticizing it for that have much of a leg to stand on.
If you like New Orleans, Ignatius Reilly, or eating hot dogs on the street, you'll probably find something in here to like. If, like me, you like all 3 of those things, you'll enjoy it even more.
The story of a manager of hot dog vending carts in New Orleans (Ignatius being the name of the main character in The Confederacy of Dunces), this book is an entertaining look at some of the lesser aspects of managing when people aren't committed, motivated, or loyal.
This book is pretty much a collection of stories of the crazy people who work Lucky Dog carts. While Strahan manages to skewer his workers he's far too kind to himself, offering very little insight into what was going on in his own mind.
Sometimes funny, sometimes interesting. I never knew much about luckydogs before now(I've only drunkenly eaten one). Jerry Strahan(I may be related to this guy btw) sometime drifts too far into the "wow look at these weirdo kooky people!" at times, rather than humanizing them.
I'm a sucker for tales of insane degenerates' antics, but the author's constant declarations (outright and implicit) of I'm-a-conservative-Southern-boy take away some of the humor value.
Dec 27, 2008
Pipgargery
added it
Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in New Orleans by Jerry Strahan (1999)
if you love lucky dogs (or confederacy of dunces), i think you'll like this book.
If you are a fan of New Orleans, and the "quarter creatures", then this will be an enjoyable read for you. If not, or you're unfamiliar with the area/people, this will probably not be so great. It is disjointed at best and confusing at worst. The book is a bit all over the place and the story lines are hard to follow at times. But, because I love the French Quarter so much, I'm giving it an "I liked it."
I really wanted to like this one, it's about New Orleans and has a forward by Stephen Ambrose and is supposed to be about weird characters in NOLA, but in the end it wasn't well written enough, all the people and stories just ran together and didn't make me sympathetic to them. but oh well, it still made me want to go to new orleans......
this is a non-fiction book written by the man who managed Lucky Dogs for many years. There are hilarious anecdotes about the real-life Lucky Dog vendors. You can just imagine ignatious popping up at any time.
The name Ignatius appears in the title as a nod to 'Confederacy of Dunces' whose main character is an eccentric lucky dog vendor. The lucky dog vendors described in the book are certainly a colorful bunch.
Can briefly rekindle any fond memories of New Orleans or Confederacy of Dunces you might cherish, but don't expect to see Toole-worthy comic characters.
The hot dog vendors formed a colorful subspecies of New Orleans denizen. What a chaotic business, but what fund to read about it.
Going to New Orleans in March!
Quite amusing.
May 06, 2013
Thom Kahler
added it
May 05, 2013
Rachael Oglesby
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2013
Steve Yocum
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Apr 11, 2013
Jonathan Freed
marked it as to-read
Mar 06, 2013
Grant Loveless
marked it as to-read
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Feb 27, 2009 07:08pm