French for Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras celebrates the Carnival season and the day before the Christian Lent holiday, Ash Wednesday. One popular theory is that Mardi Gras began as a high society ball for the people of New Orleans. The glamour, masks, and parades that we associate the holiday with today came later on. While some celebrate for the day, many continue to honor New Orleans and the traditions it brings long after the streets are cleared. As you prepare to join in on the festivities, take a look at these stories, old and new, about New Orleans and Mardi Gras that should have a spot on any NOLA fans’ bookshelf.
Singing Out Loud: A Memoir of an Ex-Mardi Gras Queen by Marilee Eaves
Born into an elite secret Mardi Gras society that runs New Orleans, Marilee Eaves struggles to fit in. Yet, when she ends up in a psychiatric unit, she discovers how much of herself she sacrificed to belong to a world that didn’t really want her there. In the midst of high-society culture, Eaves learns how to stand up and stay grounded while wrestling with her choices, a bipolar disease, and alcoholism.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Louis de Pointe du Lac, a vampire in New Orleans, tells the tale of his life from mortal to immortal. His story thrives through the streets of the fascinating city. Through his journey, he tells of his discovery of Claudia, a lost young child who later becomes a vampire. The two become a family, bonding over their hate for Louis’ maker Lestat. Together they yearn to find others like them. What started as a short story for Rice eventually became a novel filled with power, life experiences, sexuality, loss, and change.
Mardi Gras: The Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival by Errol Laborde
From Twelfth Night to Ash Wednesday, this guide becomes a definite for all things Mardi Gras. Intertwining the past and the present all within a vividly photographed book, Laborde, a New Orleans expert, covers topics like queens, carnival food, floats, dragons, and old lexicons that are unique to its history. The elaborate and eventful stories of neighborhood groups and royal societies are narrated throughout. This includes stories about individuals who made the carnival celebration what it is today.
New Orleans Carnival Balls: The Secret Side of Mardi Gras, 1870-1920 by Jennifer Atkins
After the parades are gone and the food is cleared, the Mardi Gras celebrations continue, unseen to the public eye. Banquet halls, theaters, and convention centers host post-parade events, where members enjoy the shared experience of the city’s values. Organizations from the mid-nineteenth century like Twelfth Night Revelers, Knights of Momus, and Krewe of Proteus still exist with mock coronations and live performances. Atkins draws back the curtain on the origin of these exclusive soirees. She brings to light these unique traditions hidden from outsiders.
Carnival in Louisiana: Celebrating Mardi Gras from the French Quarter to the Red River by Brian J. Costello
Costello brings together the stories behind the carnival traditions, stemming from his interactions with Mardi Gras and his research. His fascinating tour of the parades, balls, floats, and other events held throughout New Orleans go beyond the well-known locales for Mardi Gras. In this story, Costello travels across the state to explore each area’s festivities. He offers Mardi Gras readers and lovers an insider’s look at the customs associated with this holiday.
The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition by Kim Marie Vaz
Million Dollar Baby Dolls, one of the first women’s groups to mask during Mardi Gras, redefined the New Orleans’ tradition like never before. Around 1912, the Baby Dolls formed their organization. The league, filled with black women who would compete with other black women in a competition for Mardi Gras. Through one hundred years of photos, articles, and interviews, Vaz follows it all, capturing the crucial contributions these women brought to New Orleans and to the culture of Mardi Gras.
The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette
When the French lost the war in 1762, France turned over the Louisiana territory to Spain. This was a deal that was private even to the citizens of New Orleans. During this period, New Orleans became one of the most heavily African cities on the continent. Sublette, in his recount of the remarkable story of New Orleans’s first century, explores religious conflicts, the search for treasure, the spread of slavery, and the imperial war. The World That Made New Orleans journeys through the city. It explores a time before the city even became one, researching from the Spanish Silver to Congo Square.
Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum
Why do people from all over the world continue to flock to New Orleans? Looking into the lives of nine characters is one way to discover the answer. From Mardi Gras Kings to outside artists, Baum delves inside the dazzling, dream-like, and enchanting world where these people live. Will he uncover the mystery that lies within the city, or see the real heroine of the story is the city itself?
SparkPress2021-02-16T22:48:18+00:00February 16th, 2021|Categories: Holiday/Seasonal, Reading|Tags: book list, carnival, celebration, festivals, mardi gras, new orleans, parades, TBR|
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