The Muse Is Always Half-Dressed in New Orleans: and Other Essays

by Andrei Codrescu

Codrescu's New Orleans is a layered world of masks that he removes without shrinking from either their horror or their demonic joy. This scented, vibrant, corrupt, dreamy city that "habla suneos" (speaks dreams) is Codrescu's fertile ground. New Orleans, background and foreground, dressed and undressed, is the story-source of Codrescu's novels, "Messi@," "Wakefield," and "The Blood Countess." You may have heard some of this on NPR, or seen some of the lacier underthings in Codrescu's fiction. NPR commentator and writer, Andrei Codrescu has also written "The Poetry Lesson," "The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess," and "whatever gets you through the night: a story of sheherezade and the arabian entertainments." New Orleans breathes slyly or quickly in all his stories.

Andrei Codrescu was born in Sibiu, Romania on December 20, 1946. He wrote poetry in Romanian literary journals under the name Andrei Steiu. He came to the United States on the 28th of March, 1966, and has since lived in Detroit, New York, San Francisco, Monte Rio, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. He has written poetry, memoirs and essays, and has translated Romanian and French poets into English. In 1989, Mr. Codrescu returned to Romania after twenty-five years and covered, for National Public Radio and ABC News, the bloody coup that overturned the Ceauşescu regime. Mr. Codrescu is a commentator for National Public Radio, professor of English at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and the editor of a journal of books and ideas, Exquisite Corpse. He wrote the movie Road Scholar, which won the Peabody Award.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Humor

199 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Andrei Codrescu is a poet, novelist, essayist, and NPR commentator. His many books include Whatever Gets You through the Night, The Postmodern Dada Guide, and The Poetry Lesson. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009.

Reviews

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. At first I was amazed by the sheer speed of Andrei Codrescu's prose; I felt like I was on a bus in a foreign city, hurtling through narrow and unfamiliar streets and just hanging on for dear life, but somehow enjoying it almost despite myself. The first essay in this book, "Against Photography", veers wildly between his parents' relationship, which disintigrated sometime in between his conception and his birth, the existential experience of having his photograph taken by his mother as a child, and growing up in socialist Romania. It is perhaps summed up by this sentence: "The photographer, who is the watcher, is always the parent, the subject is the child, and the end result is always Stalin." There is wit and verve, startling connectivity, and an almost refreshing lack of concern for expectations. I loved it.
The rest of the book was, for me, a slight letdown after the first essay. There were other selections that I greatly enjoyed--especially the ruminations on television culture (or lack thereof) and the travel essays at the very end--but there were also essays that literally gave me headaches, perhaps also an admirable talent to exercise within the span of five or six pages. The nimbleness that initially enthralled me eventually just made me feel tired, the way an extended adrenaline rush will leave you limp and drained. I'd read more of his writing, but perhaps as an essay at a time instead of an entire book at once. But I was impressed by his eruditeness, and I learned a lot (particularly about the Romanian revolution, although the presupposed levels of knowledge about that event were sometimes a bit beyond me, which I suppose is my own problem when you get right down to it), and that's worth the occasional bit of frustration.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I literally picked this up just because i saw the author was romanian and i’m happy that i did. His essays were very fun to read, especially the ones centered around him growing up in Romania and everything post communism. Robert Duvall as Stalin” was my favorite for sure. Codrescu is so funny and has very interesting perspective about mass media (especially photography) that were very fun to read about. Nota zece!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrei Codrescu's essays are simply a pleasure to read. He is erudite without being flashy or stuffy or condescending and clearly has a gift for language. This collection invites the readers to sit back, get comfortable and listen. I was entertained and educated, the best of both worlds when one is trying to get along in life.

Despite this collection being published in 1993, the writing and topics are relevant. My only knock is a slight one against the publisher for not putting the essay titles in the header of each essay page. However, that's a minuscule, somewhat persnickety nitpick on my part. My favorite essays included, "Happiness of the Mass-Media Man with asides on Death)", "A Kind of Love", and "Robert Duvall as Stalin: The True End of Communism." And it was not a quick think to mark these as standouts against the others because the others are standouts as well.

This fantastic book is one that I will return to again and again as I learn how to write my own personal essays. Codrescu's style is uniquely readable and non-exclusionary to any reader. This book gains a top and forward spot on my essay collections shelf. I could go on, but I don't want to waste your time when you could be reading this book.

[Sabrine Cutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read this collection of short essays...the first time was about 12 years ago. While I remember the general sense of the stories, it always amazes me how life and experience adds a new dimension. Would I have ever imagined I would have travelled and lived in Europe to make these short essays truly come to life 12 years ago...hardly.

I now remember the roots of my interest with Eastern Europe...the Romanian author spends a good deal discussing his childhood and politics. His view of the world and experience in the States as an outsider looking in resonated with me in my youth as a 2nd generation immigrant...but even more so that I have lived here and spoken to a few people who remember the times before the wall fell.

Truly a great writer in the sense of style and breadth of content in the short stories.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best when about New Orleans, especially if you just moved to New Orleans and you want to learn about New Orleans...

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an uneven collection of essays, some very fine, some rather opaque, some ephemeral and probably best forgotten, but they cover a wide variety of topics from the highbrow to the lowbrow, with some excellent observations about Romania, Brazil, New Orleans, and other places to boot, not to mention some humorous observations about the difficulties of being a vegetarian in a carnivore's world. As a poet, Codrescu has a knack for making unexpected comments, observations, turns of logic and phrase, and it is that which recommends this collection.

[Luke Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Photographs make it clear that a tragically unknowable reality capable of leaving traces on photographic paper was once present.”

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the author's essays, especially his more off-the-wall stuff. However, much of the material deals with the immediate aftermath of the iron curtain era and the evils of the mass media circa 1990 and feels a bit dated. He can be pretty funny and pretty profound, but tends to have a highly over-inflated sense of the importance of poets/poetry (imagine that!).

[Amy]

We sold our house! We are house hunting! We are moving! Soon! So, I'm releasing all BookCrossing books that I stumble upon so we don't have to pack/move/unpack them in whatever we find. We're downsizing, so the book collection gets thinned again.

Hopefully, I'll be able to find another copy of this book sometime.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrei holds up better on the radio than in print.

[Andrea]

Hit or miss. Some funny bits, thoughtful bits, but ultimately inconsistent.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this 4.5 really, simply because I think he's brilliant, but I enjoy him more transmitted through radio than print.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag, but generally quite interesting and always well written.