21: Letters from New Orleans, Rob Walker

I read most of these on the web before, but I couldn't readily find the full text on the web anymore, and I wanted to re-read an essay about the song St. James Infirmary, so I bought it from an amazon reseller.

There are many amusing bits, delivered in a sometimes dry and sometimes bemused or even bewildered tone:

I got the impression that the Hot Eight [a jazz combo] might be an unruly bunch in general, one reason being that we saw them a couple of times and there were never eight of them—only six or seven showed up at a time.

and describing his first carnival parade:

[...] meaning the crowds are modest in size and mellow in temperament. Still, they want beads. At first I hadn't thought the whole bead thing would be that interesting. But it's impossible—when the beads start flying off the floats, and everyone around you is hollering for and catching them—it's impossible not to want to catch some beads yourself. You get swept up in it. And you holler and you rake in beads, and you lean over to catch strands that would have tumbled into the hands of a child and you pretend not to realize what you've just done.

[...]

Tourists. They were starting to get belligerent. COME ON MAN GIVE ME SOME BEADS. BEADS! BEADS! COME ON! BEADS! I NEED BEADS!

Hilarious.

The book has deep, thoughtful, philosophical, and, frankly, somewhat boring bits, but they're easily glossed. And the essay on St. James Infirmary is interesting.