Product Description
Julia Reed went to New Orleans in 1991 to cover the reelection of former (and currently incarcerated) governor Edwin Edwards. Seduced by the city's sauntering pace, its rich flavors and exotic atmosphere, she was never entirely able to leave again. After almost fifteen years of living like a vagabond on her reporter's schedule, she got married and bought a house in the historic Garden District. Four weeks after she moved in, Hurricane Katrina struck. With her house as the center of her own personal storm as well as the ever-evolving stage set for her new life as an upstanding citizen, Reed traces the fates of all who enter to wine, dine (at her table for twenty-four), tear down walls, install fixtures, throw fits and generally leave their mark on the house on First Street. There's Antoine, Reed's beloved homeless handyman with an unfortunate habit of landing in jail; JoAnn Clevenger, the Auntie Mame—like restaurateur who got her start mixing drinks for Dizzy Gillespie and selling flowers from a cart; Eddie, the supremely laid-back contractor with Hollywood ambitions; and, with the arrival of Katrina, the boys from the Oklahoma National Guard, fleets of door-kicking animal rescuers and the self-appointed (and occasionally naked) neighborhood watchman. Finally, there's the literally clueless detective who investigates the robbery in which the first draft of this book was stolen. Through it all, Reed discovers there really is no place like home. Rich with sumptuous details and with the author's trademark humor well in the fore, The House on First Street is the chronicle of a remarkable and often hilarious homecoming, as well as a thoroughly original tribute to our country's most original city.
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 Cottage-modest, not mansion-grand, memoir ( edenza )
This is a nicely written memoir with a healthy dash of travelogue. Reed orients the reader with pre-Katrina New Orleans before delving into everything that comes after. The tone is informed but conversational; even when she does something that seems foolish, it seems to be a kind of "can you believe I did this?" instead of a blind justification.
I did feel that there was a fair amount of skimming, likely due to the loss of the original manuscript. I would have rather her editors/publishers extended her deadline than allow some of the narrative to get somewhat lazy.
Overall the writing was good and worth a look if you like memoir or have a soft spot (or curiosity) for New Orleans.
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 Julia's a true asset to Nola... ( chorgo_the_amazonian_king )
... so how could her book be anything but 5 stars??? ;) Julia was one of the few saving graces in Anderson Cooper's countless negative reports on Nola post-Katrina.
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The most important things. ( exiledcal )
Ms. Reed tells an interesting and very personal story about life before, during, and after Katrina, and I loved it. She's an entertaining storyteller, and has a lot of inside info on the New Orleans political and social scene -- plus, she's an obsessive foodie with good taste and an even hand. She lives large, but can also say to herself, "Get over it; it's just a rug."). I enjoyed reading about her parents and can appreciate her mother's (rhetorical) question, as the floodwaters were rising, about whether or not 11 a.m. was too early to start pouring wine.
This memoir is at times hilarious, and at times heart-breaking, which makes for a great read. Ultimately, it is about the most important things in life: family, friends, and food, and their presence (real or in spirit) through good times and bad.
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memories generated
As a former resident of New Orleans I was intrigued by this book. While living there, my husband and I renovated a house damaged by a previous hurricane, so I could identify with many of the problems Julia Reed faced. I think we would have had to abandon ship after as many setbacks as she had. However, she seems to have had a much bigger bankroll than we had. She is witty, smart, and certainly tenacious. Her references to local restaurants and people were particularly enjoyable because most of them were so familiar to me. I'm not sure how much they would mean to one who had never lived there.
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Five Stars Minus Two ( robbchadwick )
This is an entertaining book that includes a lot about one of my favorite cities. In some ways, it's even interesting to see Hurricane Katrina from a different perspective since most of what we've seen is from the point of view of the unfortunate citizens of New Orleans. However, there are lines you just don't cross when writing about a disaster that caused so much suffering. While Ms Reed gives us an informative peek of the city before and after the hurricane, much of that is overshadowed by her outrageous degree of pomposity. I believe the average reader would have understood that she is one of the privileged few without her self-serving passages about herself, her mother & father, her husband and so forth. We get it, Julia; you are a liberal and you think you do a lot for those not in your class. We appreciate that; but true philanthropists rarely brag about their efforts.
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