Brings the majesty of the French Quarter to life in a luxurious parade of pictures and prose. Fabulous hotels, churches, fine restaurants, antique shops, and art galleries line the streets of the Quarter. But some of the most fascinating architecture--that of private residences--has never been photographed until now. In 1716 John Law, in what McCaffety calls a "real-estate scam," persuaded the Duc d'Orleans to sell shares for a French settlement. A flood wiped out the settlement in the first year, but the colonists continued to come. By the mid-19th century, New Orleans was the busiest port in the world, with a strange alchemy of European, Carbbean, and American influences in character and architecture that is totally unique. NPR's recent report on the damage done in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans by the voracious Formosa termite makes viewing these two books of stylish photography even more poignant. Award-winning photographer McCaffety (Obituary Cocktail: The Great Saloons of New Orleans) lovingly records scenes of luxury and decay in the Vieux Carr or the French Quarter of New Orleans. McCaffety offers the reader views that elude the countless tourists. We are privy to private, antiques-filled residences, walled courtyards with balconies and fountains, lush tropical gardens--what she calls "the city's hidden memory." Sexton's work looks at "the River Road," a stretch of highway that links New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has identified the area as one of the most endangered historic sites in the United States. Law's influence was shown here also, as he was given a charter to increase the French population to 10,000 in a ten-year period. Likewise, a distinctive architecture evolved here: the plantation on the river with a dominant main house. Much of the style is still around, and with aerial photographer Alex MacLean, Sexton captures the grandeur. We see standing chimneys from lost glorious homes, stately houses still active and enjoyed, and plantations of historical note. Sexton also shows other notable architecture and its geography--tenement "shotgun" houses, cemeteries, churches, steamboat landings, levees, swamp, sugarcane, and massive oaks hanging with Spanish Moss are occasionally interspersed by abandoned oil refineries and massive new petro-chemical operations. Both of these books are essential regional purchases, but they are also highly recommended for architecture, photography, and history collections everywhere. -Joseph C. Hewgley, Nashville P.L. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Photojournalist McCaffety's homage to New Orleans' French Quarter reads and looks like a tourist seduction. With an emphasis on pictures, this coffee-table book cum vacation brochure invites readers into the heart of this Louisiana city's interiors and exteriors. It meanders a bit--with a soupcon of history, geography, and literary details--until it reaches its soul: an exploration of the five types of homes, from the deceptively simple Creole cottage to service structures known as garconnieres (for young men), among others. We peek inside some amazing residences, homes to art dealers and ambassadors, with side notes about famous authors drawn to the Quarter's charms, such as William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, and Walker Percy. An unabashed salute to a uniquely American polyglot city. Barbara Jacobs "The mysteries of the French Quarter have yielded themselves to Kerri's camera like uncorked perfumes. What kind of camera does she have? There is a mystery-uncorking, poetry-uncapping, surprise-producing mechanism inside it. Kodak doesn't make it. There is only one such instrument, and I am grateful that Kerri owns it. The French Quarter is grateful, too. The old coquette never had it so good." --Andrei Codreiscu, National Public Radio correspondent and author of Messiah "This is the real Vieux Carr�, rarely seen by casual visitors, beautifully rendered in evocative color photographs. The visual texture of its design, detail and patina is palpable." --Frank W. Masson, AIA "Kerri McCaffety's photographs represent the haunting, shabby grandeur of the French Quarter. Though her subjects are diverse, they share an aura which few photographers ever capture on film. Kerri's images reveal an inner city suspended somewhere in time, languid in its sultry air and splendid in its ethereal light." --M. Lindsay Bierman, Southern Accents "McCaffety knows how to capture the fleeting beauty of a moment." --Susan Larson, Times-Picayune "What a fine photographer. . . . It takes a red-headed woman to shoot pictures like that." --John Mariani, Esquire In Old Creole Days, George Washington Cable described the French Quarter succinctly: ". . . beauty lingers here." A century later, in his poem "New Orleans," Jim Metcalf implored, "Never forget what you really are . . ./this beautiful old enchantress . . ./this siren at the bend of the river . . ." New