New Orleans in fiction
New Orleans is featured in a number of works of fiction. This article in an ongoing effort to list the books, movies, television shows, and comics that are set or filmed, in whole or part, in New Orleans.
Books and plays
- The Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans - Part 1 by David Lummis (2010)
- The Anti-Vampire Tale by Lewis Aleman (2010)
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)
- Blues and Trouble: Twelve Stories by Tom Piazza (first short story "Brownsville" is set in New Orleans)
- Chasing the Devil's Tail and sequels by David Fulmer (Jazz mysteries featuring Valentin St. Cyr)
- City of Refuge by Tom Piazza
- Clarimonde by Napier Bartlett (features a Creole tale and a description of New Orleans during the American Civil War)
- The Client (1993) and The Pelican Brief (1992) by John Grisham
- Cold Streak by Lewis Aleman (2008)
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
- Crescent City by Belva Plain
- The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card (features an alternate-history version of New Orleans in which it is controlled by the Spanish and called 'Nueva Barcelona' or 'Barcy')
- A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice
- Dinner at Antoine's, Crescent Carnival, and others by Frances Parkinson Keyes
- Faces in Time by Lewis Aleman (2009)
- Fantasy Lover and sequels, comprising The Dark-Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Fat White Vampire Blues and sequel by Andrew Fox
- The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice (1979)
- A Free Man of Color and sequels (The Benjamin January Mysteries) by Barbara Hambly
- Gone with the Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell (location of Rhett and Scarlett's honeymoon)
- The Grandissimes by George Washington Cable
- A Hall of Mirrors by Robert Stone
- Hoodoo Money by Sharon Cupp Pennington
- Interview with the Vampire and sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, by Anne Rice
- Junkie by William S. Burroughs
- Lafitte the Pirate by Lyle Saxon, the basis for the 1938 film The Buccaneer and the 1958 remake of the same name
- Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (Chapter XLI: "The Metropolis of the South")
- Liquor and sequels by Poppy Z. Brite
- Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice
- Manon Lescaut by Antoine François Prévost (features the early French colony at New Orleans at one point in the book)
- A Map of Moments by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon (forthcoming)
- Midnight Bayou and Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts
- Monsieur Motte by Grace King
- Mosquitoes (Novel) and Pylon (novel) by William Faulkner (the latter novel takes place in "New Valois," a thinly disguised New Orleans)
- Moth and sequels (Lew Griffin mysteries) by James Sallis
- The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (winner of the 1962 National Book Award)
- Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
- To My Senses, Recovery, Sacrifice by Alexandrea Weis
- Neon Rain and sequels (Dave Robicheaux mysteries) by James Lee Burke
- New Orleans, Mon Amour by Andrei Codrescu (collection of essays and short stories)
- New Orleans Mourning and sequels (Skip Langdon mysteries) by Julie Smith
- New Orleans Noir edited by Julie Smith (short stories by various authors)
- Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps, the basis for the 2004 film A Love Song for Bobby Long
- Paul Marchand, F.M.C. by Charles Chesnutt
- A Quiet Vendetta by R. J. Ellory
- Side Effects: A New Orleans Love Story by Patty Friedmann
- A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (1947 play, winner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for drama)
- Tranquility Denied by novelist A. C. Frieden
- Unmasked by Jody Gerbig
- Twelfth Night by Michael Llewellyn
- Vieux Carre by Tennessee Williams (play)
- Violets and Other Tales and The Goodness of Saint Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar-Nelson
- Voodoo Dreams and Voodoo Season by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- A Walk on the Wild Side by Nelson Algren, the basis for the 1962 film Walk on the Wild Side
- The three Frankenstein books by Dean Koontz, Kevin J. Anderson, and Ed Gorman ("Prodigal Son" 2005, "City of Night" 2005, "Lost Souls" 2010).
- The epic fiction Jitterbug Perfume (1984) by Tom Robbins uses modern day New Orleans as one of 4 major settings along with 8th century Bohemia, modern day Seattle, and modern day Paris
Authors who have repeatedly or frequently used New Orleans as a setting for their fiction include James Lee Burke, Poppy Z. Brite, Truman Capote, Nancy A. Collins, Barbara Hambly, Lafcadio Hearn, Frances Parkinson Keyes, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Anne Rice, James Sallis, Julie Smith, Alexandrea Weis and Tennessee Williams.
Comic books and graphic novels
- In the Marvel Comics fictional universe, New Orleans is the home city for the X-Man Gambit, as well as the guilds of Thieves and Assassins; as well as the leader of the latter guild, Bella Donna Boudreaux.
- The nonfiction webcomic A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge is about six real-life residents of New Orleans and their experiences before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.
- In the DC Comics fictional universe, New Orleans has been given a neighboring city, St. Roch, Louisiana, serving as an occasional home to the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
- The Marvel Comics heroine Monica Rambeau, known as Captain Marvel II and Photon, is from New Orleans.
- In the Marvel Max comic Hellstorm—Son of Satan, post-Katrina New Orleans is the setting.
Film
Television
Longstreet
A crime drama series about a blind insurance investigator that was broadcast on the ABC in the 1971-1972 season. The series was set in New Orleans, but was actually filmed in Los Angeles.
Frank's Place
A CBS comedy-drama series that chronicled the life of Frank Parrish (Tim Reid), a well-to-do professor at Brown University, who inherits a New Orleans restaurant, Chez Louisiane. The series received the Television Critics Association award for outstanding comedy series in 1987, as well as an Emmy for best writing in a comedy series. However, it only lasted for one season (1987–88). Although set in New Orleans, the series was actually filmed in Los Angeles.
K-Ville
A short lived crime series that debuted in 2007, which focused on the New Orleans police department in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The series also centers around two New Orleans police detectives, Anthony Anderson as Marlin Boulet and Cole Hauser as Trevor Cobb, who were partners that "have conflicting ideas about how to handle the city's problems."
Treme
An American drama that premiered in April 2010, centers around residents of New Orleans, including musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians, and ordinary New Orleanians trying to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The series also explores New Orleans culture including and beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.
The Big Easy
USA network TV series (1996–97) adapted from the film of the same name.
Orleans
This short-lived 1997 CBS series starring Larry Hagman was set in and partially filmed in New Orleans.
Star Trek
The Simpsons
The X-Files
The X-Files character Monica Reyes worked for the FBI in New Orleans before becoming John Doggett's partner.
Other television references
Several episodes of television series have referenced the city:
- An episode of Jem and the Holograms was set in New Orleans.
- Season 9 (2000) of The Real World was set in New Orleans. Season 24 (2010) of The Real World was also set in New Orleans.
- In a 2001 episode of Seven Days, Parker goes to New Orleans to prove that his friend, who is scheduled to be executed, is innocent.
- In a 2003 episode of The Drew Carey Show, Drew and his buddies set off on a road trip to New Orleans to find a girl he met after placing an ad on a beer bottle.
- In a 2004 episode of Las Vegas called "New Orleans", Danny, Ed and Sam head to New Orleans in search of a big gambler who owes the casino money.
- In a 2005 episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the detectives pursue a child molester who kidnapped three young sisters from New Orleans after their parents were killed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
- In a 2005 episode of Bones, Dr. Temperance Brennen and Agent Seely Booth head to New Orleans to help identify bodies found after Hurricane Katrina. The plot revolves heavily around the underground voodoo practices in the city.
- In a 2007 episode of Boston Legal, Denny Crane and Alan Shore visit New Orleans to defend a doctor accused of euthenizing patients.[1]
- Monica Dawson a character on the NBC television series Heroes lives in New Orleans. Her parents were killed in Hurricane Katrina.
Theater and opera
Videogames
See also
External links