25 Books to Understand New Orleans

In order to love New Orleans, you have to understand New Orleans, and before I understood New Orleans, I found it to be an endlessly frustrating, barely functioning city that left me with more questions than answers.

Why can’t I put ketchup on my poboy? Why on earth is “Burgundy” pronounced that way? What are Mardi Gras Indians and why are they black? Why is my water bill $800?

In seeking the answers to these and many more questions about the Crescent City, I stumbled across several volumes that held the missing pieces of the puzzle that is New Orleans.

Several years and countless hours of poring over rare books passed before I came to love New Orleans for all its quirks, for all its flaws. An impossible city, one that shouldn’t have been plopped smack in the middle of a swamp prone to flooding, but I digress…

This list primarily features non-fiction by locals and adopted locals as well as a few works of fiction that just ring true. Most of these books center New Orleans in the 20th century because this is the time period that interests me most. Many on this list cover Hurricane Katrina, arguably one of the city’s darkest moments, which was my research starting point and a subject I believe we all ought to study closely so that history never repeats itself.

Below, you will by no means find a comprehensive list of books to read about New Orleans. Instead, this is a collection of tomes that has helped to grow my understanding, and in turn, my love, for the City that Care Forgot. 

Full disclosure: I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase through links in this post. Many of these books are available on Amazon, at your preferred independent bookstore or in your local library. Rarer volumes may be found on eBay. I urge you to shop your values!

Mr. New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend by Matthew Randazzo V and Frenchy Brouillette 

My absolute favorite book about New Orleans by far, told from the perspective of one of the most interesting figures of the last century in New Orleans, Frenchy Brouillette. A Cajun turned New Orleanian, Frenchy associated with petty criminals, high ranking mobsters and madams, always managing to find a way to hustle a buck and then lose it all. An absolutely gripping tale of the beginning of the end of the good ole days in New Orleans.

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broome

The personal is political, and that old adage rings true in The Yellow House, a memoir by a New Orleanian who grew up in the ill-fated New Orleans East. The prodigal daughter returns to her city after Katrina and explores how her own identity intersects with the city her family calls home. I love when journalists write memoirs because they bring such a high level of research to the subject matter, themselves. 

Uptown/Downtown: Growing Up in New Orleans by Elsie Martinez and Margaret LeCorgne

I unearthed Uptown/Downtown at an estate sale, and what a treasure I stumbled upon! Two parallel stories of New Orleans, told by two friends, one who grew up in affluent Uptown New Orleans and the other who grew up “back of town” in the early 20th century. By now you may be able to tell that this is my favorite era of the city to read about.

Fabulous New Orleans by Lyle Saxon

I have a particular soft spot for Lyle Saxon’s writing about New Orleans. Like me, he was born in Baton Rouge and then spent the rest of his life in New Orleans, trying to understand the city he loved so much by writing about it. His written caricatures of New Orleans in the early 20th century are some of my favorites, and his journalistic and loving observations of my favorite city were pivotal in documenting its rich heritage.

New Orleans Unmasqued by S. Frederick Starr

A collection of “affectionate sketches,” both in words and in illustrations, this book captures New Orleans in short, digestible bursts and covers subject matter ranging from tourism to politics to food and everything in between. A perfect book to keep on your nightstand and turn to when you need a little epithet of New Orleans to rest your weary soul.

Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans by Jed Horne

Found in an estate sale, this large picture book of images from Katrina is one I never thought I’d actually read, but it contains more than just damning photos of the suffering that took place in 2005. I found many helpful charts, maps and timelines inside that helped me wrap my head around what actually happened that fateful weekend in August 20 years ago.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

For five days after Katrina made landfall, doctors, nurses and patients at New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital were trapped without power, without water and with few lines of communication to the outside world. I get chills just typing this. There’s nothing I can tell you that will prepare you for the horrors this book details, but it’s a necessary read. A story that continues to raise medical ethics questions and will break your heart for everyone involved.

1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose

A portrait of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina written by beloved TImes-Picayune columnist Chris Rose. Blending gutting truths and humor, the author details his boots-on-the-ground experience of the storm and its water-logged aftermath. Another journalist blessing us with critical and loving takes on New Orleans.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

An absolutely chilling tale of post-9/11 paranoia and the implications it had for one Syrian-American New Orleanian in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This story follows Abdulrahman Zeitoun, owner of a respected painting business in New Orleans who stayed for the storm and was unjustly arrested and detained in horrifying conditions waiting for justice he feared may never come. Don’t Google this guy until after you read the book, trust me.

New Orleans Architecture: The Esplanade Ridge by Mary Louise Christovich, Sally Evans, Roulhac Toledano, Betsy Swanson

This is a collection that features each of the neighborhoods of the city, detailing the buildings and homes and those that occupied them throughout New Orleans’ history.My dad gifted me the Esplanade Ridge volume because I got really obsessed with the area when I lived near the Fairgrounds. But any lover of history and architecture would benefit from exploring this series.

Frenchmen Desire Good Children And Other Streets Of New Orleans by John Churchill Chase

Driving around New Orleans, one of the most notable things is our street names. So much of the past still exists in our quirky street names and their often baffling pronunciations. This book answered so many of my long held questions about the origins of these names.

The Story of the Riverfront at New Orleans by Raymond Martinez

Found at an antique mall, this book details New Orleans’ history as the last stop along the Mississippi during the height of the steamboat era through to the heyday of New Orleans’ shipping industries in the 1960s. What appears to be a dry text on an outdated industry actually contains colorful snippets of the people who fought for New Orleans’ shipping industry, some of whom put up their own money to improve the much dilapidated wharves in the 20th century. 

Snippets of New Orleans by Emma Fick
Speaking of snippets, I would be remiss not to include this beautiful and sociological rendering of New Orleans. Written and illustrated by artist (and my former roommate and friend) Emma Fick, this book explains New Orleans and its strange customs the way only a local can, with humor and heart. It’s a book I gift to every New Orleans transplant I befriend. 

Lost Bread by Ronnie Virgits

I think you’ll love this collection of vignettes penned by beloved local legend Ronnie Virgits, a journalist and New Orleans native who is probably most known for his beautiful odes to his hometown as an Emmy-award winning features reporter for WDSU as well as WWL-TV. He tells of a New Orleans long gone but still very much alive in the minds of those who experienced it. 

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

I first attempted to read John Kennedy Toole’s seminal work in high school, before I moved to New Orleans, and it just didn’t land for me. Reading it with fresh eyes as an adult and New Orleans resident, I recognized the references and the sense of place this book conjures for those who know and love the city. One of two works of fiction to make this list, I included it here because it reads damn near like non-fiction. 

In the Land of Dreamy Dreams by Ellen Gilchrist

This collection of short stories is the only other work of fiction included in this list, and it’s because this Mississippi born author sets several of her stories in a New Orleans you’ll certainly recognize with characters that feel eerily familiar. Dark and meandering, Gilchrist’s stories have that distinctive Southern Gothic flavor that permeates the fiction born of this place. 

Celebrating with St. Joseph Altars: The History, Recipes, and Symbols of a New Orleans Tradition by Sandra Scalise Juneau

St. Joseph Altars trace their roots from Sicily all the way to New Orleans, where Catholicism continues to inform the cultural traditions of South Louisiana. These authors painstakingly collected stories, traditions and unique recipes that make up the annual celebration of this feast still celebrated across the city today. I can’t wait to make my own St. Joseph Altar for the first time this year!

The Last Madam: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld by Christine Wiltz

Last on my list, the Last Madam could have been great, but was a bit of a dud for me personally. I feel the author got her hands on a fabulous story but didn’t do a great job of painting a portrait worthy of her subject matter, the larger than life Norma Wallace, New Orleans’ last madam. I’ve included it here because it’s an interesting glimpse into the tragic life of one of the greats of the early 20th century. 

Have you read any of these books about New Orleans? Do you have any in mind that I should add to my list? Let me know in the comments!