Why New Orleans Matters - by Tom Piazza (Paperback)

About the Book

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, revisit Tom Piazza s award-winning appraisal of a city in crisis with a new afterword placing the story of New Orleans in the context of the ongoing threat to America s coastal populations.

In the decade since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Americans have learned much from the resilience of this proud, battered city. And yet, even as the city has regained some of its lost footing, other regions around the country continue to be battered by hurricanes, snow and ice storms, and massive weather events like Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the mid-Atlantic coast seven years later.

Published just months after the storm, Why New Orleans Matterswas immediately hailed as a passionate and eloquent celebration of the city as both a cultural center and a home to millions of residents from varied and sometimes precarious walks of life. Award-winning author Tom Piazza, a longtime New Orleans resident, evoked the sensuous rapture of the city that gave us jazz music and Creole cooking, but also examined its deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice, and explored how its people endure and transcend those conditions. Perhaps most important, he asked that we all, as Americans consider our shared responsibility to this great and neglected metropolis and all the things it has shared with the world: its grace and beauty, resilience and soul.

In the years since its first publication, Piazza has continued to explore the story of New Orleans and its people in many ways most notably in his novelCity of Refugeand as a writer for the acclaimed HBO seriesTreme, created by David Simon. Now, he revisitsWhy New Orleans Matters and, in an all-new foreword for this edition, re-examines the story of Katrina as a cautionary tale for a nation that has too often neglected both its treasures and, far more important, its people."

Book Synopsis

More than a decade after Hurricane Katrina, revisit Tom Piazza's award-winning appraisal of a city in crisis--with a new afterword placing the story of New Orleans in the context of the ongoing threat to America's coastal populations.

In the years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Americans have learned much from the resilience of this proud, battered city. And yet, even as the city has regained some of its lost footing, other regions around the country continue to be battered by hurricanes, snow and ice storms, and massive weather events like Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the mid-Atlantic coast seven years later.

Published just months after the storm, Why New Orleans Matters was immediately hailed as a passionate and eloquent celebration of the city as both a cultural center and a home to millions of residents from varied--and sometimes precarious--walks of life. Award-winning author Tom Piazza, a longtime New Orleans resident, evoked the sensuous rapture of the city that gave us jazz music and Creole cooking, but also examined its deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice, and explored how its people endure and transcend those conditions. Perhaps most important, he asked that we all, as Americans consider our shared responsibility to this great and neglected metropolis and all the things it has shared with the world: its grace and beauty, resilience and soul.

In the years since its first publication, Piazza has continued to explore the story of New Orleans and its people in many ways--most notably in his novel City of Refuge and as a writer for the acclaimed HBO series Treme, created by David Simon. Now, he revisits Why New Orleans Matters--and, in an all-new foreword for this edition, re-examines the story of Katrina as a cautionary tale for a nation that has too often neglected both its treasures and, far more important, its people.

From the Back Cover

Tom Piazza's award-winning portrait of a city in crisis, with a new preface from the author, ten years after.

Ten years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the disaster that followed, promises were made, forgotten, and renewed. What would become of New Orleans in the years ahead? How would this city and its people recover--and what meaning would its story have, for America and the world?

In Why New Orleans Matters, first published only months after the disaster, award-winning author and longtime New Orleans resident Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and still-evolving future of this great and vital American metropolis. Piazza evokes the sensuous textures of the city that gave us jazz music, Creole cooking, and a unique style of living; he examines the city's undercurrents of corruption and racism, and explains how its people endure and transcend them. And, perhaps most important, he bears witness to the city's spirit: its grace and beauty, resilience and soul.

In the preface to this new edition, Piazza considers how far the city has come in the decade since Katrina, as well as the challenges it still faces--and reminds us that people in threatened communities across America have much to learn from New Orleans' disaster and astonishing recovery.

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR MY COLD WAR: "Tom Piazza's writing pulsates with nervous electrical tension--reveals the emotions that we can't define." - Bob Dylan
"Piazza writes about history with a rare engagement. He understands its vitality and its force." - New Orleans Gambit
"Pensive and elegiac.... Sharp [and] steely.... Like a good jazz funeral, Why New Orleans Matters is both a mournful dirge and a vivacious ode to the city." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Novelist, short story writer, music critic, Piazza is now truly a poet of place. Reading his book is an emotionally wrenching experience--at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking--as Piazza recounts his joyful adventures in the city and the pain of watching its destruction from such a great distance... The rage and grief Piazza recounts in returning to his home... will strike a chord with everyone who has set foot in the city since August 29th. And it will make it real to readers beyond our borders." - New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Hot and real and from the heart... An emotionally wrenching experience--at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking." - New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Pensive and elegiac... sharp [and] steely. ...A mournful dirge and a vivacious ode to the city." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"A minor miracle unto itself... a heartfelt, 180-page manifesto... There's a little something for everyone." - Gambit Weekly
"Piazza wonderfully captures the spirit of New Orleans or, more accurately, the spirit of its people....If you think New Orleans is only about Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street, you need to read this book. It will open your eyes...and caress your heart." - Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune
Best Book Award, New Orleans Gulf South Booksellers Association
Humanities Book of the Year Award, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
"Insightful... a sensory paradise... Why New Orleans Matters is a celebration of the spirit of New Orleans." - BookInfo.net
"An important book...containing so many reasons why New Orleans should matter to everyone." - Madison County Herald
"An enjoyable meander through what used to be called 'the city that care forgot.'" - Houston Chronicle
"Powerful, rich with anger, longing, and barely expressible loss." - Providence Phoenix