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10th out of 119 books
—
14 voters
The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story
by
Julia Reed
Julia Reed went to New Orleans in 1991 to cover the reelection of former (and currently incarcerated) governor Edwin Edwards. Seduced by the city's sauntering pace, its rich flavors and exotic atmosphere, she was never entirely able to leave again. After almost fifteen years of living like a vagabond on her reporter's schedule, she got married and bought a house in the his...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
June 24th 2008
by Ecco Press
(first published July 1st 2007)
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This little book is a love letter to New Orleans. After traveling the world as a journalist, author Julia Reed moves into the garden district of NO right before Katrina. This is her story of rebuilding. I think I would have rated this book 4 stars if I had any knowledge whatsoever of NO. She is a big name dropper for restaurants, bars, parades, and important people about town. She seems to know everyone!
My favorite line comes when she finds out her house has only one broken window. "A feeling o...more
My favorite line comes when she finds out her house has only one broken window. "A feeling o...more
I am sure that some of the positive regard I have for The House on First Street is due to the circumstances in which it was purchased and read. On a recent New Orleans vacation, we spent several days roaming the Garden District, where I found this book in a local bookshop. I am personally a big architecture/architectural history buff, and enjoyed following Julia Reed's renovation chronicles in concert with our sightseeing experiences. The author's deep affection for her adopted hometown is evid...more
Sep 24, 2011
Diann Blakely
added it
Reed's contribution to the ever-growing body of work about Katrina is distinguished by its elegance and wit, as well as its poignancy and civic-mindedness. Told by a 40-something woman of privilege, one who could afford a TV-watching companion for her cat while Reed led a split existence between the Big Apple and the Big Easy, she is ultimately a woman without any true home until she moves permanently to New Orleans and finds, first, true love, and then, the city of her heart in ruins.
�Reed, a c...more
�Reed, a c...more
Reed writes for Vogue, which did an excerpt of this book early on. At that point it was an ode to her Garden District house, which she'd just moved into and was remodeling, with much detail about her scurrilous contractors and expensive furnishings. And then Katrina hit, so it became a story about surviving the hurricane and chronicling the city's recovery.
It's mildly interesting, but I'm put off by Reed's constant name-dropping, parenthetical explanations, and restaurant reviews. Sentences hav...more
It's mildly interesting, but I'm put off by Reed's constant name-dropping, parenthetical explanations, and restaurant reviews. Sentences hav...more
Eh. How's that for a rousing review.
Two problems with this: one, Reed hasn't decided what sort of book she's writing. It's billed as a renovating-my-dream-house-oh-no-Hurricane-Katrina. But both elements are presented in a pretty superficial manner. And Reed's house wasn't really damaged by Katrina. (I think a window broke or something.) So she basically camps at her parents in Mississppi and goes back and forth and does some touristy/journalisty visits to badly flooded areas. That's not to mini...more
Two problems with this: one, Reed hasn't decided what sort of book she's writing. It's billed as a renovating-my-dream-house-oh-no-Hurricane-Katrina. But both elements are presented in a pretty superficial manner. And Reed's house wasn't really damaged by Katrina. (I think a window broke or something.) So she basically camps at her parents in Mississppi and goes back and forth and does some touristy/journalisty visits to badly flooded areas. That's not to mini...more
I rated this as an "OK" book. The writing is superb and the voice is clear. But, for some reason, the book was just an okay autobiography of a catastrophic time in our nation's history, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans. (I think I got tired of the first half in which she is screaming and harranging with bad labor --- get new ones!)
Yet I didn't stop reading it because I was engrossed in the details she gave of the recovery efforts and how groups of people respo...more
Yet I didn't stop reading it because I was engrossed in the details she gave of the recovery efforts and how groups of people respo...more
I read this book in preparation for my trip to New Orleans with my family. The story is an autobiogrpahy about a woman's love of the Big Easy from afar. She took the leap and moved to a house on Bourbon street and then fell in love. She and her husband bought a house on First Street, in the Garden District, and then Hurricane Katrina struck. The aftermath of this crazy, old house and all that went into getting the house ready before they moved in, coupled with a few very interesting characters n...more
This book is strongest when the author is sticking to her journalistic roots. At one point she mentions that one of her editors makes her strike a passage from a piece on cleaning her vile fridge after Katrina, which was her only real loss, because it is her "Marie Antoinette" moment. The book is very Marie Antoinette. I was too young to care when the Edwin Edwards hoopla was all happening, and her insights into his campaigns is phenomenal. I understood a lot more, and I want to look into more d...more
The House on First Street is a true account of one woman's fascination with New Orleans, beginning with her first visit and centering on the purchase and remodeling of a house, marked by Hurricane Katrina. Although at times the story moves slowly, Julia Reed's vivid descriptions of New Orleans create almost living images of the restaurants, the beautiful houses, the slums, and the people that are part of this city. As in the rest of the book, when writing about Katrina, Reed gives her personal o...more
There were things I loved about this book, and some that I didn't like as much. The author really brings the city of New Orleans to life - she does a lot of food writing, and that aspect of the book absolutely shines. I love New Orleans and I found myself longing to return to dine in the many establishments Reed describes. Her writing is smooth and witty, but I was a little put off by her constant name-dropping (famous restaurateurs, writers, musicians - she knows everyone in New York and New Or...more
I was really interested in this book from the cover - part story of what it was like to rebuild your life in post-Katrina New Orleans and part story of fixing up an old home in the Garden District - what's not to like? But, the author fell (far) short of what I expected. She spends at least 50% of the book name dropping about all the famous people (who are all apparently her "best friend") and the other half talking about how they endured their post-Katrina hardships by dining at expensive NOLA...more
You might enjoy this book if 1) you are from New Orleans, have lived in New Orleans, or know enough about the city to understand Julia Reed's many references, or 2) your name is mentioned in this book. The odds of this are absurdly high.
This book was not what I expected. I expected a touching Hurricane Katrina memoir, filled with memorable, possibly quirky faces, all somehow revolving around Julia Reed's house - you know, the one on First Street. What I got was an excuse for the author to stand...more
This book was not what I expected. I expected a touching Hurricane Katrina memoir, filled with memorable, possibly quirky faces, all somehow revolving around Julia Reed's house - you know, the one on First Street. What I got was an excuse for the author to stand...more
This was a quick read about the author's post-Katrina experiences, bookended by housing renovations woes. If you're not familiar with NOLA or don't care about the city's top chefs or restaurants, you can probably skip this book. There was a lot of "We ate XX at XX's restaurant XXl." Heavy on name dropping of well off or well known friends and constant reminders of the author's own wealth and fairly easy lifestyle make it hard to feel any sympathy for her. To be fair, she doesn't ever ASK for you...more
Sadly, I can't even say that this book was just ok. Less than half way through, I was dreading the remainder of the read. But, I tend to stick it out, and I finished it. I was hopeful that the book would have Southern charm and help me connect in some way to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Instead, the author ticks off the names of people she knows and complains about the state of her house-project, even though there was little damage from the storm. I felt no feelings whatsoever toward the na...more
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For some reason, I thought this book would be more about the house renovation, and that's primarily why I was interested in reading it. However, while there were some stories about the renovation, I didn't get a good sense for the work that they did and how the house ended up looking. Most of the book centered on the food scene in New Orleans and on Hurricane Katrina and its effects. Although some readers seem to have been annoyed at Reed's "Marie Antoinette" attitude ("let them eat cake"), that...more
I wanted to like this book because I lived in the same general neighborhood as the author but her capacity to be elitest and tone deaf completely put me off. A Katrina memoir that focuses on the problem finding good domestic help is not what anyone needs.
Did I mention how bizarre I found the cover art ? Who selected it ? Whimsical pastels might have been appropriate for a house renovation story but it doesn't seem to convey any awareness of the tragedy going on around her.
I do recommend HEART...more
Did I mention how bizarre I found the cover art ? Who selected it ? Whimsical pastels might have been appropriate for a house renovation story but it doesn't seem to convey any awareness of the tragedy going on around her.
I do recommend HEART...more
My impressions while reading "The House on First Street":
First two chapters: "I like it, I don't know why people dislike this book so much."
Half-way through: "What the dickens is she talking about? Who are all these people? If I were a shady contractor, this is just the easily-duped woman I would choose."
Epilogue: "Did I just read a Who's Who?"
Seriously, this woman name-drops like nobody's business. At first it didn't bother me, but it got to the point where I could no longer keep the characters...more
First two chapters: "I like it, I don't know why people dislike this book so much."
Half-way through: "What the dickens is she talking about? Who are all these people? If I were a shady contractor, this is just the easily-duped woman I would choose."
Epilogue: "Did I just read a Who's Who?"
Seriously, this woman name-drops like nobody's business. At first it didn't bother me, but it got to the point where I could no longer keep the characters...more
This book was almost offensive. I picked it up when we were in New Orleans, hoping to learn a bit more about the city. The description made it sound very intriguing. It turned out to be mostly a chronicle of all the ways this woman spent money (and a lot of it)... on food, renovating her house, etc, etc. She talked more about her home renovation mishaps that were happening as the city was recovering after Katrina. She tried to frame her story as if it was about the rejuvenation of the city but i...more
On one hand I'm surprised I liked this book; usually memoirs of rich people doing rich people things don't appeal to me much, and the book is pretty much just that. I like the style and tone of the writing, and I guess that carried me past the gag reflex usually activated by so much name and label dropping. A Katrina memoir written by someone who can afford, on the spur of the moment, to order barbecue for the 700 National Guard personnel guarding her neighborhood from looters. So, a different p...more
Julia Reed never disappoints me. This is the story of her first house, which is located in New Orleans, and its restoration, which, unfortunately, coincided with Hurricane Katrina. With good humor, Reed populates the book with her indomitable friends and family, a vagrant "helper," the contractor from hell and the inept crew he recruited to restore the house. Thrown in the mix is a little bit of New Orleans history, Louisiana politics, some harrowing Katrina survival stories, and descriptions of...more
Julia Reed is an excellent writer, so for that reason alone the book deserves three stars. Her account of her renovation of a beautiful old house in New Orleans' garden district comes with a fascinating glimpse into the life of a privileged Southerner with a lot of friends, a very active social life, and a well-stocked bar. Her behind-the-scenes look at life after Katrina, is interesting too. But the book drags in places -- if her editor had cut out a few hundred characters, it would have made a...more
Julia Reed had a decades-long love affair with the city of New Orleans, long before she met her real-life love there later in life. The House on First Street is a love story about Reed's affection for the The Crescent City, from its decadent food to strong drinks to jazz music.
Reed grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, a few hundred miles up the river from New Orleans. In the book she recalls the New Orleans of her childhood as a place people went for long weekends, business trips, and celebration...more
Reed grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, a few hundred miles up the river from New Orleans. In the book she recalls the New Orleans of her childhood as a place people went for long weekends, business trips, and celebration...more
I enjoyed reading this book; loved all the restaurant suggestions; wrote many on my lists for our next forays both into Mississippi and New Orleans, though most I suspect would be beyond my budget. I enjoyed reading her observations of New Orleans and the people who lived there. Found it odd that she included Andy Fastow by first and last name as she talked about her affair with him (made me feel bad for his family), but never mentioned (protected?) the last name of her husband. An interesting r...more
I liked this book because I've been to New Orleans and am familiar with the different districts. The purchase of the house pre-Katrina and the travails of getting remodeling co-ordinated made for a fun read. Of course, after Katrina, the description of what the city went through is so sad. Even a small thing like wha they had to do with all the refrigerators and rotten food was something I had never thought of. I agree with other reviews in that the author drops so many names that I half-expecte...more
how many times can someone get fleeced during a renovation and refuse to put an end to being a complete pushover? If one has an endless summer checking account, then I guess it doesn't matter what people do to your house and how long they take. This is what I learned from reading this book as a new homeowner who has a long to-do list and not a lot of cash flow: eating at fine dining establishments appears to be the antidote to flaky or even worse insouciant contractors.
the number of typos in th...more
the number of typos in th...more
Imagine a disaster of third-world proportions told through the lens of first-world white privilege, and you have the makings of this book. I picked this up while on vacation in New Orleans, thinking the premise (woman moves into a new home three weeks before Katrina struck) sounded like an interesting tale of personal and urban renewal. Instead, Reed knows her perspective is limited, but makes no bones about it. At one point, she gives the caveat that her editor at Vogue cut a fluffy reference f...more
4 likes · like · see review
Aug 30, 2009
Jenni
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who has lived in New Orleans
Shelves:
2009
Whoever described this as a love letter to New Orleans is absolutely correct. However, it is different than other love letters to New Orleans I have read. Reed doesn't spend hours admiring the city's much-loved oak trees, her humid sexuality or even her spectacular architecture - which is impressive for a book that is purportedly about a house.
Reed speaks so beautifully about a time that lives on in so many people's lives as a terror. The book covers Reed's move to New Orleans from New York and...more
Reed speaks so beautifully about a time that lives on in so many people's lives as a terror. The book covers Reed's move to New Orleans from New York and...more
Reed went to New Orleans in 1991 to cover politics. A Southerner by birth, she lived a peripatetic but always interesting life filled with parties, stories, tall tales - all of it accompanied by food.
At age 42 she marries (for the first time) and the newlyweds buy a historic house in the Garden District. For anyone who's rehabbed a house, worked with contractors and construction crews the book will strike a chord. A chord of terror given the lack of work ethic - let alone job skills - of many o...more
At age 42 she marries (for the first time) and the newlyweds buy a historic house in the Garden District. For anyone who's rehabbed a house, worked with contractors and construction crews the book will strike a chord. A chord of terror given the lack of work ethic - let alone job skills - of many o...more
I enjoyed the book - in large part because of reading in the week prior to a visit to NOLA - it provided a great context for a stay only blocks from the author's home (which was not on purpose). I truly enjoyed the author's voice, and the humor & sarcasm which she employs. I do think the name-dropping is excessive, however - and it gets tiresome. It provides a very informative narrative on the experience of Katrina from the point of view of privilege, yet you like her, and the New Orleans sh...more
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| The House on First Street | 1 | 7 | Jan 25, 2009 06:40am |
Dec 01, 2008 08:36pm