Some 15,000 tomes line the shelves at Octavia Books in New Orleans, La., yet
nearly half of the titles on the store's bestseller list (for the week
ending September 16) are about the same subject: Hurricane Katrina.
Others illuminate the history and geography of New Orleans. "I would
say the majority of the books we sell here are not local books, but the
majority of the bestsellers right now are," said Octavia Books owner
Tom Lowenburg.
Octavia Books suffered minor damage during the hurricane and was back in operation five weeks after the storm. Located in uptown New Orleans and not on a major tourist thoroughfare, the store's customer base is primarily local residents. Of those customers, "some people want more information about the storm," said Lowenburg. "And some people simply want something to help them escape right now."
Those looking for information about the storm and its effects are turning to books displayed on themed tables such as Path of Destruction by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein, both Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, and The Great Deluge by historian and Tulane University professor Douglas Brinkley. Ranking one spot above Brinkley's book in the No. 3 spot is Breach of Faith by Jed Horne, an editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, who received a Pulitzer Prize for his part in the paper's coverage of Hurricane Katrina. At No. 7 on the list is 1 dead in attic, a collection of Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose's writings that appeared in the paper in the months following the hurricane. All proceeds from the self-published book are being donated to two local charities: ARTDOCS, which provides medical care for musicians and artists, and Tipitina's Foundation, which teaches high school students about the music business and also provides instruments to the New Orleans public school system.
Other New Orleans-related bestsellers include the hefty (and pricey) volume Geographies of New Orleans. Five years in the making by geographer Richard Campanella, who appeared at Octavia Books earlier this month, it combines historical sources with custom-made maps, graphs, photos and satellite images that explore the landscape of New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina. In the memoir Song for My Fathers, former Time Paris bureau chief Tom Sancton recalls his youth in New Orleans in the 1950s and '60s when he learned to play traditional jazz from a group of older black musicians. Hurricane Katrina hit the city mere days before Phillip Collier's Missing New Orleans was scheduled to go to press, and staffers of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art took the final galleys of the pictorial book (which features vintage postcards and photographs of New Orleans) with them for safe-keeping when they evacuated the city.
The novel Last of the Red Hot Poppas is one of three fiction titles on the list. Its appearance in the No. 1 spot is due in part to a reading and signing with local author Jason Berry that took place at Octavia Books last week. Part political satire, part whodunit, it's the debut novel for Berry, who has written several nonfiction works. Geraldine Brooks' March has been selling steadily at the store, and Pat Conroy's early, semi-autobiographical novel The Water Is Wide owes its bestseller status to a local reading group that selected it as a book club pick.
"Our customers have made us feel appreciated," said Lowenburg. "I think people are very supportive of local businesses right now in New Orleans because of what's happened. They understand how fragile the economy is, so they're purposely shopping locally."
Whether it's an attempt to understand the devastating consequences of an act of nature, a look back at the musical heritage of the Big Easy or the desire for an escapist read, Lowenburg is happy to assist his customers in finding what they want. "It's a very interesting time to be a bookseller in New Orleans," he said. "A good bookstore is at the heart of a community, we believe, and we try to fill that role even in a troubled time like this. And New Orleans is having a troubled time, there's no doubt about it."--Shannon McKenna
Octavia Books' bestsellers during the week ended Saturday, September 15:
1. Last of the Red Hot Poppas by Jason Berry (Chin Music Press, $24.50, 0974199524)
2. Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics before the Storm by Richard Campanella (Center for Louisiana Studies, $49.50, 1887366687)
3. Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne (Random House, $25.95, 1400065526)
4. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley (Morrow, $29.95, 0061124230)
5. Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein (Little, Brown, $25.99, 031601642X)
6. The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy (Bantam, $7.99, 0553268937)
7. 1 dead in attic: Post-Katrina Stories by Chris Rose (CR Books, $13, 0977771504)
8. Phillip Collier's Missing New Orleans by Phillip Collier et al. (Ogden Museum of Southern Art, $39.95, 0977254402)
9. March by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, $14, 0143036661)
10. Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White by Tom Sancton (Other Press, $24.95, 159051243X)
Octavia Books suffered minor damage during the hurricane and was back in operation five weeks after the storm. Located in uptown New Orleans and not on a major tourist thoroughfare, the store's customer base is primarily local residents. Of those customers, "some people want more information about the storm," said Lowenburg. "And some people simply want something to help them escape right now."
Those looking for information about the storm and its effects are turning to books displayed on themed tables such as Path of Destruction by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein, both Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, and The Great Deluge by historian and Tulane University professor Douglas Brinkley. Ranking one spot above Brinkley's book in the No. 3 spot is Breach of Faith by Jed Horne, an editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, who received a Pulitzer Prize for his part in the paper's coverage of Hurricane Katrina. At No. 7 on the list is 1 dead in attic, a collection of Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose's writings that appeared in the paper in the months following the hurricane. All proceeds from the self-published book are being donated to two local charities: ARTDOCS, which provides medical care for musicians and artists, and Tipitina's Foundation, which teaches high school students about the music business and also provides instruments to the New Orleans public school system.
Other New Orleans-related bestsellers include the hefty (and pricey) volume Geographies of New Orleans. Five years in the making by geographer Richard Campanella, who appeared at Octavia Books earlier this month, it combines historical sources with custom-made maps, graphs, photos and satellite images that explore the landscape of New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina. In the memoir Song for My Fathers, former Time Paris bureau chief Tom Sancton recalls his youth in New Orleans in the 1950s and '60s when he learned to play traditional jazz from a group of older black musicians. Hurricane Katrina hit the city mere days before Phillip Collier's Missing New Orleans was scheduled to go to press, and staffers of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art took the final galleys of the pictorial book (which features vintage postcards and photographs of New Orleans) with them for safe-keeping when they evacuated the city.
The novel Last of the Red Hot Poppas is one of three fiction titles on the list. Its appearance in the No. 1 spot is due in part to a reading and signing with local author Jason Berry that took place at Octavia Books last week. Part political satire, part whodunit, it's the debut novel for Berry, who has written several nonfiction works. Geraldine Brooks' March has been selling steadily at the store, and Pat Conroy's early, semi-autobiographical novel The Water Is Wide owes its bestseller status to a local reading group that selected it as a book club pick.
"Our customers have made us feel appreciated," said Lowenburg. "I think people are very supportive of local businesses right now in New Orleans because of what's happened. They understand how fragile the economy is, so they're purposely shopping locally."
Whether it's an attempt to understand the devastating consequences of an act of nature, a look back at the musical heritage of the Big Easy or the desire for an escapist read, Lowenburg is happy to assist his customers in finding what they want. "It's a very interesting time to be a bookseller in New Orleans," he said. "A good bookstore is at the heart of a community, we believe, and we try to fill that role even in a troubled time like this. And New Orleans is having a troubled time, there's no doubt about it."--Shannon McKenna
Octavia Books' bestsellers during the week ended Saturday, September 15:
1. Last of the Red Hot Poppas by Jason Berry (Chin Music Press, $24.50, 0974199524)
2. Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics before the Storm by Richard Campanella (Center for Louisiana Studies, $49.50, 1887366687)
3. Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne (Random House, $25.95, 1400065526)
4. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley (Morrow, $29.95, 0061124230)
5. Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein (Little, Brown, $25.99, 031601642X)
6. The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy (Bantam, $7.99, 0553268937)
7. 1 dead in attic: Post-Katrina Stories by Chris Rose (CR Books, $13, 0977771504)
8. Phillip Collier's Missing New Orleans by Phillip Collier et al. (Ogden Museum of Southern Art, $39.95, 0977254402)
9. March by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, $14, 0143036661)
10. Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White by Tom Sancton (Other Press, $24.95, 159051243X)