Fanboy Night at Octavia Books

I realize it has been much too long since my last post, but my excuse is that I have been working on processing the hundreds of great books I purchased last weekend in Shreveport, mostly at the Centenary College Book Bazaar. In my never-ending quest to bring the sophisticated consumer the best in used books, I travel to all corners of the great state of Louisiana, and the folks at Centenary put on as good a sale as anybody. But more on that shortly.

Despite my absorption in the literary treasures I came home with, I did manage to get to an event at Octavia Books this past Tuesday, September 15. Octavia is, of course, one of those glorious anachronisms nurtured in New Orleans like in few places. I speak, of course of the coelocanth of contemporary commerce, Bookstorious Independentus. In addition to a mindblowing/expanding selection of new books, the folks at Octavia are very active in showcasing local and touring writers. This night, the spotlight was on not one, not even two, but four writers, all of whom are involved in the upcoming HBO series Treme, which will highlight the historic New Orleans neighborhood through the prism of the local musical and restaurant culture.

Two of those attending, David Simon and George Pelecanos, collaborated on the previous series The Wire, which for me and thousands of others did nothing less than redefine what the medium of television drama was capable of at its best, as the deindustrialization of a major American city (Baltimore) was documented over the course of five seasons, with emphasis given to different classes and institutions (cops and criminals, teachers, journalists, politicians, dock workers). It was co-created by Simon, a former Baltimore Sun reporter, and Ed Burns, a former Baltimore cop, with Pelecanos and other prominent novelists (Dennis Lehane and Richard Price) contributing scripts. They will be joined on Treme by locals Lolis Eric Elie and Tom Piazza.

Elie was until recently a columnist for the Times-Picayune, a great newspaper that is more slightly diminished by his absence. When we moved here about 14 months ago, my wife and I immediately got a subscription to the paper, because that is the kind of weirdos we are. Cell phones and Facebook accounts and cable can wait, but we've got to have our paper in the morning. And the passion and intelligence and sense of history and love for the city exhibited by Mr. Elie provided a doorway for me to walk through as I began to navigate a city that had ceased to be merely exotic, several-times-a-year intoxicating nourishment, and was now home. Just one example: it was through one of Elie's columns that I learned of the life and career of Robert Tannen, whose work I viewed at the Ogden and have explored further since. Then, when I inevitable met Mr. Tannen at the Broad Street Bazaar, I was able to engage him in conversation without sounding like a total jackass.

Tom Piazza is the author of several books, including the novel City of Refuge (which he was gracious enough to sign for me, although I admitted I haven't read it yet) and Why New Orleans Matter, written shortly after Katrina. But I have read his great, short book True Adventures with the King of Bluegrass, about the late Jimmy Martin, and we talked about that for a while. Oh, for the New Orleans natives reading this, I should explain that Bluegrass is an indigenous American musical form that has the curious distinction of not originating in New Orleans. I know it's impossible to believe, but, as far as I know, they cannot trace it back to Congo Square, unlike jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, funk and so many other contributions. That's true, it does incorporate the banjo, just like early jazz, and, yeah, you're right, Jimmie Rodgers did record those sides with Louis Armstrong, but I still think it's a bit of a stretch (it's hard to reason with these people sometimes).

By the way, if you didn't see Piazza's opinion piece in the Times-Picayune a couple of weeks ago, you should check it out here: blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/09/house_thieves_on_a_grandscale.html#more
It is a passionate, plainspoken analysis of the attempted demolition of Charity Hospital and building of a flashy medical complex in its place. It is simply startling in its directness of language regarding an issue that is typically cloaked in obfuscating expert jargon.

I believe the televisual treatment of New Orleans is in very good hands. But I still can't justify paying for HBO. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to host me whenever Treme makes it debut? Anyone at all? Hello? Hello?.......