As a former resident and one fairly aware of the local music scene of the time, I found this book very interesting. Also, to include unsavory aspects about New Orleans without completely trashing her- I appreciated that. ( )

Sublette writes this story from a very interesting perspective. He's a Southerner--he was born in the South, and as you'll read here he has lots and lots of vivid memories of growing up in the South in the ~1960s. But he's also very much a New Yorker--he's lived there for years and a lot of his sensibilities are formed by being a New Yorker.

He's also steeped in the music of the African diaspora to a degree well beyond the degree to which all of us have been. And music is not at all a bad vehicle to tell this story.

So Sublette's an outsider with all kinds of knowledge (and access) that makes him a very special outsider.

As the published review notes, this is a highly personal look at pre-Katrina New Orleans, but I can hardly think of a better personal view to take in. ( )

A history and personal memoir of race, the American South, and New Orleans in particular.