With the Tennessee Williams literary festival happening now in New Orleans, I thought a post about literary travel would be appropriate. Many people who take a New Orleans vacation for the first time find it strangely familiar, its French Quarter instantly recognizable, its iconic streetcar tracks like a deja vous. The reason for this, in part, is because the Crescent City has inspired so much great literature that its image is pervasive in popular culture. With Big Easy writers ranging from classic southern stylist William Faulkner to current gothic blockbuster Anne Rice, the storied settings of New Orleans have been transmitted through words to a wide audience who close their book covers hungering for the real thing.
My favorite of all these books is one by John Kennedy Toole. His novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, both a celebration and condemnation of all of N’awlins’ dysfunctional yet endearing qualities. Although anti-hero, Ignatius Reilly, is the star of the book, it’s the French Quarter that often steals the show, with its colorful personalities, divey bars, and heroic hot dog vendors (and if you don’t agree that the hot dog vendors are heroic, I dare you to push one of those carts around in the sultry New Orleans heat one of these July days).
The French Quarter has also served as source material for such writers as:
1. The aforementioned Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire)
2. Truman Capote (Other Voices, Other Rooms)
3. Nora Roberts (Midnight Bayou)
4. Walker Percy (The Moviegoer)
5. Kate Chopin (The Awakening).
And the list goes on. If you’re interested in exploring the city’s literary heritage, I suggest you start with a visit to your local library—any of the authors mentioned above will make for great reading on the plane as you travel to New Orleans.
