In January of 2000, Rob Walker left a high-powered media job in New York, and with his girlfriend, moved to New Orleans. Letters from New Orleans collects, in one volume, the delightful and unsettling observations Walker sent to friends and fans about his intriguing new life in New Orleans. When Rob Walker and his girlfriend relocated to New Orleans in 2000, Walker (a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine ) started filling his friends' email inboxes with tales of adventures from his new home. Those stories--capturing the simple, everyday, and often unbelievable moments that regularly transpired in the Crescent City--are the basis for the fascinating Letters from New Orleans . Here, the author describes the parades and jazz funerals not as a tourist would see them, but from behind the scenes, amidst the personalities. Over the course of 20 or so vignettes, Walker finds himself in dive bars that should probably be condemned; bicycling through an improvised community park that happens to exist directly below a busy freeway overpass; and mulling the consequences of random, celebratory gun firings that appear to be a regular occurrence in New Orleans. Throughout, Walker is the perfect fly on the wall; he's equal parts journalist, anthropologist, and tour guide. He devotes his energy equally to the beautiful, the downtrodden, and the wacky, but these are clearly love letters to the unique people of New Orleans. Walker is, quite simply, infatuated with his adopted city. With the 2005 flooding of Hurricane Katrina happening just months after the publishing of this book, these pieces serve as even more poignant snapshots; some of Walker's favorite landmarks may be gone forever. With that in mind, the author is devoting the proceeds from this wonderful effort to Katrina victims. --Jason Verlinde Walker left his job at a "big deal" magazine in New York and moved to New Orleans with his girlfriend in January 2000. He wrote letters to his friends and relatives in the form of e-mails, to share his observations about the city and explain why he had developed "a big, huge crush on New Orleans." The letters were later collected and published in this small book that is comparable to an old-time chapbook both in size and presentation. Walker's musings reveal him to be an astute observer of human nature, urban renewal (or lack thereof), tradition, music, economics, frivolity, and other sociocultural phenomena. The subjects of his letters range from the trifling (fried poundcake) to the serious (crime, public housing) to the bizarre (the musical stylings of Jennifer Flowers), and are presented in small, bite-size chapters. In addition to Walker's modest aim--to entertain and educate a small audience about his favorite city-- Letters succeeds as a collage of eloquent impressions of New Orleans and reads like thoughtful dispatches from a learned friend. Jerry Eberle Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Rob Walker is a wonderful writer with a gentle yet comprehensive inquisitiveness, the rigorous, observant eye of a journalist, and the light, poetic touch of an artist. He has managed to make New Orleans-a city that has been documented and written about for centuries-seem completely fresh and unfamilar and wholly compelling. Letters from New Orleans is a lovely book, and so much more. -- David Rakoff, author of Fraud, Author of Fraud This three-year meditation on life — and death — in New Orleans is as wistful as absinthe, as funky as a muffuletta at a joint off Tchoupitoulas. -- Jed Horne, author of Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans This book is far more than a poetic testament to a strange and wonderful town. It's a story about a city boy who recognizes the need to slow down and observe carefully - a story of a couple who learns to let our world's odd richness really sink in. I recommend it to anyone who feels life is going by too fast. -- Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do With My Life? ...[T]he quality that makes Walker's 'modest series of stories about a place that means a lot to [him]' rewarding reading is his immersion in the local. Neighborhood bars, regional history, hometown notables and a dash of mayoral politics reign in the recurring presence of New Orleans' dominating event, Mardi Gras. Walker's book, 'not a memoir, a history, or an exposé,' won't help a tourist get around in New Orleans, but it will help him or her see beyond the tour guide's pointed finger. ― Publishers Weekly ...a captivating tale. -- June Sawyers, The Chicago Tribune Fresh and poignant ― Forbes It recalls writers such as V.S. Naipaul, who approach cities and countries with a hungry interest in demolishing false expectations... -- Flak Magazine ...Pointed, witty insights.... ― The Times-Picayune [When Walker] delves into New Orleans' culture and character, you're reminded why the city is such a treasure. ― Msnbc Its insider-outsider perspective and s