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The Ritz of the Bayou: The New Orleans Adventures of a Young Novelist Covering the Trials of the Governor of Louisiana, with digressions on smoldering ... and other aspects of life in the tropic zone
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26In this “unjustly neglected” masterpiece, Nancy Lemann gives an atmospheric account of the New Orleans trial of the Governor of Louisiana for racketeering, fraud, and bribery. This 40th anniversary edition features a new introduction by critic James Wolcott and an afterword by the author.
New Orleans—born novelist Nancy Lemann returned to her hometown from Manhattan in 1985, tasked by renowned editor Tina Brown to cover Governor Edwin Edwards's two corruption trials for Vanity Fair. The work that emerged from this trip was less a straightforward account of the court proceedings and instead a masterful portrait of the politicians, their families, the lawyers, and the other reporters covering the trials, rendered in sparse, wry vignettes. Championed and edited by Gordon Lish, The Ritz of the Bayou is Lemann’s sole book of nonfiction and has attained lost classic status in the decades it has languished out of print.
In hazy, atmospheric scenes of cigar smoke—laden bars, heaping plates of oysters, and unchecked eccentricity and chaos, Lemann observes both the proceedings and a glamorous Gulf Coast gone shabby from humidity and time. She captures New Orleans’s particular “tropic zone,” where “the two great enemies of Louisianians are boredom and lack of style,” and its citizens choose charismatic leaders over ethical ones, writing, “Politics is not the place to look for saints.”
An account of government corruption and Southern character that transcends its moment, The Ritz of the Bayou is Lemann at the height of her powers. This edition reestablishes a classic of Southern literature, rewarding its longtime fans and introducing her talent to a new generation of readers.
New Orleans—born novelist Nancy Lemann returned to her hometown from Manhattan in 1985, tasked by renowned editor Tina Brown to cover Governor Edwin Edwards's two corruption trials for Vanity Fair. The work that emerged from this trip was less a straightforward account of the court proceedings and instead a masterful portrait of the politicians, their families, the lawyers, and the other reporters covering the trials, rendered in sparse, wry vignettes. Championed and edited by Gordon Lish, The Ritz of the Bayou is Lemann’s sole book of nonfiction and has attained lost classic status in the decades it has languished out of print.
In hazy, atmospheric scenes of cigar smoke—laden bars, heaping plates of oysters, and unchecked eccentricity and chaos, Lemann observes both the proceedings and a glamorous Gulf Coast gone shabby from humidity and time. She captures New Orleans’s particular “tropic zone,” where “the two great enemies of Louisianians are boredom and lack of style,” and its citizens choose charismatic leaders over ethical ones, writing, “Politics is not the place to look for saints.”
An account of government corruption and Southern character that transcends its moment, The Ritz of the Bayou is Lemann at the height of her powers. This edition reestablishes a classic of Southern literature, rewarding its longtime fans and introducing her talent to a new generation of readers.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published August 12, 1987
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173 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 23, 2020
"He didn't really have the big picture, he claimed, but just tried to put it all together the best he could..." (p. 151)
From the waiting line at the used bookstore, this little cutie caught my eye.
She's short, always an attractive feature in a book.
The dust jacket has bold colors and attractive font.
The paper is thick, substantial.
Writing is sectioned off into tidy little bits, perfect for my perpetually distracted and unfocused Quarantine brain.
I really enjoyed Ms. Lemann's writing. She crafts a sentence that would make my favorite English teacher give her happy little check marks. I got a great feel for New Orleans, a nice little refresher of the aura. Centered around a trial of a governor, I honestly had no idea which governor until late in the book. Ms. Lemann uses fantastic words seldom seen in current prose but repeats the clever turn at least twice very quickly. I'll blame my Quarantine brain but this made me feel like I was re-reading passages again and again. Two times this was with the word sangfroid, honestly a word not used nearly enough these days. If this book were a movie, the random fade ins and outs would cause a very low critic score but the nutty characters and clear scenes would cause a high-ish audience score.
From the waiting line at the used bookstore, this little cutie caught my eye.
She's short, always an attractive feature in a book.
The dust jacket has bold colors and attractive font.
The paper is thick, substantial.
Writing is sectioned off into tidy little bits, perfect for my perpetually distracted and unfocused Quarantine brain.
I really enjoyed Ms. Lemann's writing. She crafts a sentence that would make my favorite English teacher give her happy little check marks. I got a great feel for New Orleans, a nice little refresher of the aura. Centered around a trial of a governor, I honestly had no idea which governor until late in the book. Ms. Lemann uses fantastic words seldom seen in current prose but repeats the clever turn at least twice very quickly. I'll blame my Quarantine brain but this made me feel like I was re-reading passages again and again. Two times this was with the word sangfroid, honestly a word not used nearly enough these days. If this book were a movie, the random fade ins and outs would cause a very low critic score but the nutty characters and clear scenes would cause a high-ish audience score.
March 25, 2017
Rereading "The Ritz of the Bayou" thirty years after its publication is more than an exercise in nostalgia. It's a reminder of a time when Southern politicians were charismatic, powerful and Democratic, as exemplified in four time Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards. Edwards' first two racketeering trials were covered by novelist Nancy Lemann, a former New Orleanian transplanted to the Northeast. As a novelist, she reduces the two trials to vignettes and impressions rather than an extended detailing of the exhaustive trials, a smart move. Though such an approach does have the feel of an extended magazine piece at times. She does get to the heart of Edwards' appeal and why Louisiana voters were dazzled, indeed blinded by him. As such, "The Ritz" still stands as a cautionary tale. Recommended.
February 9, 2023
Nancy Lemann is a brilliant writer and this was a great read.
February 26, 2026
Why is this genius book out of print?
April 29, 2024
…In the South, you tend your own garden, in your corner of the world. You have to cultivate your own garden, and this is why, as it is well known, Southerners are eccentric…
Please read my review here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/msarki/...
Please read my review here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/msarki/...
March 10, 2026
Where has this book been all my life? If only all the news of the world were reported with vibes and vignettes. I wish I’d read this when I was 18.
February 14, 2020
Too bad realty tv wasn't a thing back then.
June 9, 2021
Might be my new favorite book about politics, even though it's really a comical true crime book.
October 28, 2023
I love her
August 26, 2023
Where has this book been? How can it have been written in 1986 and I've never heard of or found it?
There's no way you can write about a certain state's certain governor's criminal trials and it come out bad- but she aced it. It helps that it's a non-fiction account, but also it could be that she's a native of New Orleans, and it could be that she's also the daughter of a lawyer. But do it -she did. It is fabulous from the settings, to the cast of (real & familiar) characters down to the searsucker suits that LA lawyers and legislators are oddly (still) fond of. The air is alternately hot and sultry or blowing in the wake of the latest hurricane, the bars and joints and dives are familiar and real and the people, well they're our people. And the governor, close to 40 years after the book was written, we all know the results of the final trial, the goings on, the after that and the finale, if indeed his story will ever end.
There's no way you can write about a certain state's certain governor's criminal trials and it come out bad- but she aced it. It helps that it's a non-fiction account, but also it could be that she's a native of New Orleans, and it could be that she's also the daughter of a lawyer. But do it -she did. It is fabulous from the settings, to the cast of (real & familiar) characters down to the searsucker suits that LA lawyers and legislators are oddly (still) fond of. The air is alternately hot and sultry or blowing in the wake of the latest hurricane, the bars and joints and dives are familiar and real and the people, well they're our people. And the governor, close to 40 years after the book was written, we all know the results of the final trial, the goings on, the after that and the finale, if indeed his story will ever end.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews