Coming Out the Door for the Ninth Ward

by Nine Times Social and Pleasure Club

Beginning with their own childhoods in the Desire Housing Project, Nine Times take the reader on a journey through their Motown Sound at Carver games, DJ's in the courts, and sandlot football. It continues as the Housing Authority of New Orleans begins to demolish the Desire, and Nine Times begins to parade in the Ninth Ward. Written by the members during the year after Katrina, Nine Times writes about their lives, their parades, the storm and the rebuilding process. Through interviews, photographs, and writing, Nine Times brings readers into their world of second lines, brass bands, Magee's Lounge, and the ties that bind.

247 pages, paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's impossible to to justice to this book in a review so I'll just say a few words about what it meant to me. I found this book in the bookshelf at my house (a previous tenant had left it there, don't know who), and read a few pages at a time over about six months. The reason for this was that I wanted to stretch out my appreciation as I felt I was going to develop over time myself, having lived in New Orleans for three years now. I found it to be a really interesting insight into the Ninth Ward and also other parts of town- I wasn't aware that the city was divided into Uptown/Downtown until reading this book, or what the differences were between the two. The people in this book are similar to the people I work with, and in one case one of the people in the book is actually the nephew of one of our regular customers. I could go to the corner and jump on the bus and be in the ninth ward. The book taught me about second lines, and it also taught me a little about how Katrina affected the culture of the city. The history of the Desire project is very interesting, and I enjoyed reading the interviews. I could hear the people's voices. It made me laugh out loud sometimes, too.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an amazing celebration of life in new orleans, past and present -- buy it read it, tell a friend

[Jeaninelegato]

I think this is creative writing from ninth ward residents post-katrina. heard about it on NPR and I've always been intrigued..

[Antiabecedarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

OF COURSE!!!!