From JohnByronKuhner:
In writing there are only two things, matter and treatment. In Abbott Joseph Liebling’s The Earl of Louisiana we have matter so interesting that it still holds the attention fifty years later in itself, and treatment so virtuosic one is tempted to proclaim Liebling a literary figure rather than a journalist.
As far as matter goes, all you really need to know is that this book is about Louisiana. Louisiana attracts nonfiction the way rotting trees attract fungus. A visit or two to Louisiana easily takes the place of what is today called imagination. Finding something interesting in Louisiana is like shooting a hanging possum with a shotgun. All you need to do is get close enough to see it.
Yes, indeed! I don't know how I stumbled upon JBK's blog, but I enjoyed reading his review and the quotes from Liebling's wonderful book. Here's a quote from the book on how Uncle
“Earl is like Huey on Negroes,” Tom said. “When the new Charity Hospital was built here, some Negro politicians came to Huey and said it was a shame there were no Negro nurses, when more than half the patients were colored. Huey said he’d fix it for them, but they wouldn’t like his method. He went around to visit the hospital and pretended to be surprised when he found white nurses waiting on colored men. He blew high as a buzzard can fly, saying it wasn’t fit for white women to be so humiliated. It was the most racist talk you ever heard, but the result was he got the white nurses out and the colored nurses in, and they’ve had the jobs ever since.”
Huey Long got the job done. If you want to understand politics in Louisiana, Liebling's book is a good place to start. Our present governor, Bobby Jindal, seems an anomaly, but in the long run, he may fit the pattern of Louisiana politics in a way that I can't see right now. Bobby is unusual in that he lacks both a sense of humor and a sense of irony. The only laughs I've had from him are when he's dead serious, making statements worthy of ridicule.
We in Michigan have had many governors like your present one. At least you can say you've had some characters!! :-)
ReplyDeleteCiss, we have our own special brand of politicians, and Jindal doesn't fit the pattern.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Mimi, I thought about that the other day. Here we have a huge figure - literally and figuratively - who goes by the nickname "Kingfish" and whose signature song is, God help us, Every Man a King! Yet, I would believe more firmly in, and take far more seriously anything that Huey Long said as opposed to anything that Bobby Jindal said.
ReplyDeleteThere's a problem in that for Jindal.
I learned early on that Huey must have been a man of substance, since all the men in my family hated him. (BTW, isn't that quote about how Huey--not Uncle Earl--integrated Charity nurses?)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ormonde. You're right. You always are.
ReplyDeleteYet, I would believe more firmly in, and take far more seriously anything that Huey Long said as opposed to anything that Bobby Jindal said.
ReplyDeleteMark, I would, too.
The Old South, that teaches you how to laugh and cry at the same time. Happy Labor Day. I'm making jambalaya (chicken, shrimp & Spanish chorizo) as I write. My first attempt. Smells excellent.
ReplyDeleteThe Old South, that teaches you how to laugh and cry at the same time.
ReplyDeleteLapin, absolutely.
Jambalaya with chicken, shrimp and Spanish pork sausage. Interesting combination. If it smells good, it should taste good.
My grandson and I just stopped a Monopoly game. Thank goodness! I believe it would never have ended. He won. We play with the same Monopoly game that his dad used. I saved all the board games, and they have come in handy with the grandchildren.