Greenville’s Julia Reed – a senior writer at Vogue; a contributing editor at Newsweek; and a food writer for The New York Times, author of Queen of the Turtle Derby – probably backs up her grocery list after twice writing her latest book, the House on First Street: My New Orleans Story.
New Orleans’ road to recovery continues to this day. But the road to The House on First Street was a hard one too, because in the epilogue, we read of Reed’s no end of rotten luck. Roughly a year ago, her book was ready for the publisher. But a burglar got his hands on some things: the author’s TVs, some jewelry — and her computer. She’d backed up exactly one chapter of her book.
Renovation of a house. Recovery of a whole city. It’s all in how you look at it, but try rewriting a book from scratch. Reed did. She had to. And it’s hard to imagine the lost version being funnier, more exasperating, and more affecting. For fans of Reed’s previous book, the best-selling Queen of the Turtle Derby, I don’t have to tell you.
Actually, it’s not hard to imagine after reading this review in the Memphis Flyer – or to imagine a more candid assessment of NOLA before-and-after than Julia provided in responding to the Q&A.
My publisher wanted a book about New Orleans that would have staying power. I don’t know if I’ve done that. It is very much a description of a place before, during, and after. In a way, I’m hoping it stands up as a love letter. Continue reading “Mississippi writer pens Katrina story – twice!”