Furniture, Football and Foreclosure

FURNISHING LOUISIANA

Creole & Acadian Furniture 1735-1835

By H. PARROTT BACOT, JACK D. HOLDEN & CYBELE T. GONTAR

With BRIAN J. COSTELLO & FRANCIS J. PUIG

Photographs by JIM ZIETZ The Historic New Orleans Collection, $95

Five authors from around the country have collaborated to create this remarkable history of a century of woodworking by Creole and Acadian artisans, produced in an incomparable volume by editors, Jessica Dorman and Sarah R. Doerries.

Whether or not you appreciate works by artisans of the past, you’re bound to be impressed with this incredible collection of historical treasures and Louisiana history. With over 500 pages of masterful text and 1,200 full-color illustrations, this six-pound plus masterpiece will be the most prized book on your coffee table or bookcase.

FROM BAGS TO RICHES

By JEFF DUNCAN Acadian House Publishing, $24.95

Sports writer Duncan kicks off (pun intended) an exciting reprise of the Saints Super Year, beginning in Chapter One with Gareth Hartley’s last-second field goal in the playoffs to go into overtime and win a trip to the Super Bowl. In between, he details the Saints’ history, beginning as an idea in the mind of Dave Dixon; gaining an NFL franchise; the building of the Superdome; the real fear that owner Benson would move the team to San Antonio; and the hiring of Coach Payton and QB Drew Brees. Intriguingly, he parallels the resurgence of the Saints with the Crescent City’s recovery from Katrina. He concludes with the thrill of their exciting Super Bowl victory.

ROOM

By EMMA DONOGHUE Little, Brown and Company, $14.99

Jack narrates this story of his life, all five years of it, confined, with his Ma, to one room. To him, this is the whole world and seems quite normal thanks to his Ma who teaches him, plays games with him and tucks him away in the wardrobe at night in case Old Nick paid a visit.

To Ma, it’s a prison where she’s been held for seven years since being kidnapped from her college campus. In this eleven by eleven cramped space she has given birth twice, the first baby stillborn. Then came Jack, delivered alone, and cared for in an extraordinary way by a young woman unprepared and untrained to be a mother. How long will they last in this room, she wonders.

SWAMPLANDIA!

By KAREN RUSSELL Knopf, $24.95

Swamplandia is a highly successful theme park off the Florida mainland, owned by “Chief Bigtree,” whose wife, Hilola, the featured attraction, dives nightly into a pool of 98 alligators and wrestles one into submission.

But when Hilola died of cancer and serious competition arrived in the form of “The World of Darkness,” the park went into decline. The chief went off on one of his mysterious jaunts; son Kiwi joined the competition; sister Ossie fell in love with a ghost and disappeared; leaving 13-year old, Ava, alone, until “Birdman” appears, and helps search for Ossie.

A terrific first novel by the already acclaimed 29-year-old author.

ENDGAME

By FRANK BRADY Crown Publisher’s, $25.99

From the moment his sister gave him a $1 chess set, 6-year old Bobby Fischer became obsessed with the game; constantly reading, studying and playing with all comers. He advanced quickly and became the youngest person to rank as a chess master. After winning the United States Chess Championship title at age 14 and scheduled to play World Champion, Boris Spassky, Bobby became petulant and petty, making outrageous demands of game sponsors and delaying the match.

Finally, they played; Bobby won, was crowned World Chess Champion and was given a hero’s welcome in New York City. He then, “lapsed over the years into a state of increasingly frequent paranoia” and ended his life as a recluse in Iceland.

THE FIFTH WITNESS

By MICHAEL CONNELLY Little, Brown Publishers, $27.99

Legal business is so bad, attorney Mickey Haller’s had to resort to representing homeowners threatened with foreclosure. When one of those clients is charged with the murder of the banker who wants to take away her house, Mickey abandons the backseat office of his Lincoln Towncar in favor of an office large enough to house the staff he’s assembled to defend her.

Even though all the evidence, including an eyewitness, points to her guilt, Haller, in a thrilling courtroom scene, pulls out all stops to prove her innocence.