Book Review - French Quarter

Author: Herbert Asbury

In all my travels, i’ve never been to a city that feels, even a tiny bit, as special as New Orleans. It’s mysterious with balconies and patios throwing lavish private parties only a few few from the streets. As people walk around with alcohol, between bars, strip clubs, casinos and jazz bars tempt you to be your most wild lawless self. And traveling between Bourbon street to Royal makes you feel like you need a shower and a million dollar tuxedo. Dozens of other cities claim they have something unique and yet I would struggle to tell you one thing that sets most of them apart. When I left Mardi Gras 2022, I wanted to know why it felt so different, and so I picked up this book when a local recommended it to me.

Most American history I’ve read tends to feel very patriotic, reserved, and inevitable as heros are slowly pulled towards Manifest Destiny. New Orleans on the other hand, was founded and molded by the least mentioned in history! From it’s founding on French convicts, prostitutes, and boarding schools it’s always been unique. Stories of river boat bullies, to one of the first and only cities to legalize prostitution, you can almost see history as men argue or fight in the streets and women flash the bead tossers on the balconies. I’m not sure Asbury really answers why the city feels so special, but each chapter feels just as important today as it did two to three hundreds years ago.

From Asbury’s recounting of highly organized societies based on color mixes, to the waves of Dominican and Haiti immigrants, today’s Parade of the Zulu Krewe, or even our city guide this past week describing everyone in the city as little of both, New Orleans seems to handle race differently. In this book it was new to see race not so, to put it bluntly, black vs. white. And although Asbury could have done more to share others perspective, reading about more Voodooism or Octoroon balls, showed that Black history in America is more than just listing the infinite horrors of slavery.

I should have checked the copyright date, 1936, because I can’t help but feeling like the answer is in the difference between now and then. With long passages of dryly listing places or names, this wasn’t a page turner. But some of the stories are absolutely wild rides of their own and I would highly recommend a few chapters to someone who wanted to better understand New Orleans today.

If anyone knows of other great history books, articles, or stories please share with me!