Anyone read any books set in New Orleans?

[ElleSarcasmo]

I'm planning to visit New Orleans later this year. I would love to have a book set there to read on the plane over. I haven't come across any until now so any recommendations would be very welcome!

[GroupieGhoul]

I think Interview with a Vampire might be NO, and a couple of the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire novels take place in NO (although the majority take place in Northern Louisiana).

[motherinferior]

Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series is FAB.

[DuchessofMalfi]

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham is set partly in New Orleans, and the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams although that might not make for a comfortable and happy start to your holiday :)

[tripfiction]

Interview with a Vampire is indeed set in NO. Others you can try:

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
A Hall of Mirrors by Robert Stone
Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje
Crescent City by Belva Plain
New Orleans Noir by Julie Smith
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza

Well, I have several more but you probs have enough to be going on with...

[readysteady]

Most of the Anne rice books?

[Portlligat]

Thank you Tripfiction - I knew I'd read one many many years ago but wasn't even close to remembering what it was - Crescent City. Whatever happened to Belva Plain? Evergreen is high on my list of most re-read books ever. Heartrending. (Sorry to digress slightly Ellsarc.)

[ElleSarcasmo]

Thanks-those look great. Might have to do a little pre-reading as well!

[Caitlin17]

The Girl from Storyville . It's set in the Storyville red light district and features one of the least likeable heroines you're ever likely to meet. It's quite harrowing.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/1964923.The_Girl_From_Storyville

[Thymeout]

James Lee Burke - crime writer. One of the best prose stylists, v good at communicating a sense of place. More Cajun than NO but am sure the food and the climate are the same.

[lemonpoppyseed]

I just read The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow, set in NO in the 1950's. Loved it.

[thenightsky]

Interview with a Vampire.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

If you like mystery novels there is a series by Julie Smith set in New Orleans. The first is New Orleans Mourning.

New Orleans Mourning

There are more reviews on the US site.

For non-fiction, you might want to take a look at Julia Reed's The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story.

[SecretWitch]

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Excellent book. Unfortunately, menopause brain means I can't remember who wrote it..

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

Have fun. I lived in New Orleans for three years. Be sure to have a Pimm's Cup at the Napoleon House.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Secret Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is set in Savannah, not New Orleans. It is a great book, though! The author is John Berendt.

[SecretWitch]

Scone, thank you for setting me straight! GAH! I would like to blame menopause on that brain glitch but I'm afraid I just plum blanked my US Southern Cities...

[KateCroydon]

Not a book, but you could watch Treme.