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Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children: . . . and Other Streets of New Orleans!
"John Chase has taken what in lesser hands would have been a dull recounting of fact and made a delightfully accurate yet breezy book." -New Orleans Times-Picayune
"History in its most painless form . . . lightened not only by cartoons but by narrative approach."
-New York Herald Tribune
The history of New Orleans is a street-level story, with names like Iberville, Terpsichore, Gravier, Tchoupitoulas, and, of course, Bourbon, presenting the city's past with every step. The late John Churchill Chase eloquently chronicles the origins and development of the most fascinating of American cities in this humorous read.
Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children details the interesting stories of the developers and families as well as the infamous and famous people, places, and events from which the city's names and character are drawn. First published by now-defunct New Orleans publisher Robert L. Crager in 1949, the book remains funny and informative, generally accepted as a standard reference about the Crescent City.
"History in its most painless form . . . lightened not only by cartoons but by narrative approach."
-New York Herald Tribune
The history of New Orleans is a street-level story, with names like Iberville, Terpsichore, Gravier, Tchoupitoulas, and, of course, Bourbon, presenting the city's past with every step. The late John Churchill Chase eloquently chronicles the origins and development of the most fascinating of American cities in this humorous read.
Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children details the interesting stories of the developers and families as well as the infamous and famous people, places, and events from which the city's names and character are drawn. First published by now-defunct New Orleans publisher Robert L. Crager in 1949, the book remains funny and informative, generally accepted as a standard reference about the Crescent City.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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421 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 22, 2011
As a resident of the city Post-Katrina (five years now), I am almost to a point I can legally call myself a "New Orleanian". In so doing I am able to do certain things that tourists arent allowed to: bad-mouth the city, join a krewe, cook authentic dishes, etc. But with all that I will risk it to do the thing you arent allowed to do EVER: put tradition into question. I am going to call bullshit on this book!
Dont get me wrong, a book about New Orleans by a New Orleanian is required by law itself to be nothing but bullshit. It must be written as a collection of outrageous stories, half-truths, quarter-truths (PUN INTENDED) folklore, hyperbole and the like. This book delievers on every account. And if you don't dare to call this book non-fiction, this its actually quite entertaining. Sure the names and dates and places are basically all true, any history book can corroborate that! It is the tale woven around that is so laughably biased towards the fictional, it all seems so believable.
New Orleans: you gotta love it and hate it. Its the greatest city in America and the most god-awful. You could even say "sur le plus beau, sur le plus triste, paysage d'America". My time here may actually be coming to a final end. One I have been shouting since I got here, but this time, for real, I mean it! To prepare myself for this journey, before coming out, I read the second printing of Lyle Saxon's Fabulous New Orleans. If that is the austere version of the tall-tale New Orleans-style, then this is the working class, plebiscite version.
So, I loved and hated this book. The stories are entertaining and rich with the local flavor. On the otherhand, the racism and low-brow, high-wit humor associated the narrative can be ascerbic to some. All this comes along with the terrority. If you cant handle that mixed bag, this may not be the book nor the place for you.
Dont get me wrong, a book about New Orleans by a New Orleanian is required by law itself to be nothing but bullshit. It must be written as a collection of outrageous stories, half-truths, quarter-truths (PUN INTENDED) folklore, hyperbole and the like. This book delievers on every account. And if you don't dare to call this book non-fiction, this its actually quite entertaining. Sure the names and dates and places are basically all true, any history book can corroborate that! It is the tale woven around that is so laughably biased towards the fictional, it all seems so believable.
New Orleans: you gotta love it and hate it. Its the greatest city in America and the most god-awful. You could even say "sur le plus beau, sur le plus triste, paysage d'America". My time here may actually be coming to a final end. One I have been shouting since I got here, but this time, for real, I mean it! To prepare myself for this journey, before coming out, I read the second printing of Lyle Saxon's Fabulous New Orleans. If that is the austere version of the tall-tale New Orleans-style, then this is the working class, plebiscite version.
So, I loved and hated this book. The stories are entertaining and rich with the local flavor. On the otherhand, the racism and low-brow, high-wit humor associated the narrative can be ascerbic to some. All this comes along with the terrority. If you cant handle that mixed bag, this may not be the book nor the place for you.
December 27, 2011
I've navigated thousands of streets in scores of cities round the world, only rarely stopping to ponder much how those street names have to say about their cities' stories, whether glorious or sordid. Nowadays many of us traverse modern cities cut into neat blocks by roads efficiently but boringly designated chiefly by numbers and letters, or states and presidents. (As in, "I'll meet you at the corner of 32nd and U, not Virginia and Jefferson.") Especially for those people, John Chases' book "Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children" will make you wish your city elders had the good sense to christen such tepidly named streets instead in honor of the famous or infamous folks who first founded your cities back when the roads weren't more than well-trod ruts in the dirt. Chase's book unveils the long and twisted history of New Orleans by revealing how its streets came to bear the names they do. For anyone who has wandered the serpentine thoroughfares and alleyways of New Orleans, or who wonders what forgotten tales the more singular street names of their own cities may tell, "Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children" is an enlightening and very entertaining read.
June 20, 2013
First published in 1949, its age shows at time, but the fact that it's still in print and recommended by locals is testament to its strength. Tells history of New Orleans through the quirky street names. Humorous and fascinating. It drags at times, especially later, but a good place to start if you're interested in local history. Helps to know street names. See my full review at
September 9, 2010
This book is obviously dated (language and prevailing social/political thought) and I imagine that some of those things impacted the lens through which some of this history is told. That said, this book is informative and interesting, especially for anyone who has walked the streets of New Orleans pondering their rich history.
December 8, 2016
Interesting enough, I suppose. But even as a regular visitor to New Orleans, I have a hard time following the geography, and with only hand-drawn cartoon maps, it is very hard to get a feeling for modern locations. Perhaps more recent editions have addressed this problem.
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November 23, 2013Finally I get to read it!
It was an easy, entertaining read about New Orleans history.
It was an easy, entertaining read about New Orleans history.
October 9, 2010
Is there a word that describes people who love all things New Orleans? I'm not sure. But I highly recommend this book to all fellow NOLAphiles.
April 7, 2024
This is a history of New Orleans as told through the names of its streets. The writer has a light narrative voice and a playful way of phrasing things. Due to the framing concept for the book, there are a lot of parts with fun and memorable stories...and then other slow sections where he's speeding through all the Faubourg/plantations that were subdivided and their streets named after the owner's family members. It's a good read, and you can always skim through any parts that don't grab you. It does make you feel more connected and familiar to the city, to know the stories behind the names. Mostly, it's mountingly hilarious how many things were named for stuff that never quite got done or built. There are more streets named for the things that AREN'T there than for the things that are!
May 8, 2018
Unlike the boringly numbered streets of New York City, most, if not all, streets in New Orleans have their own stories. From the era of indians and explorers to the french and spanish rule, there are so many colourful events and people to lending their names to the streets of New Orleans. Although many are undoubtedly named after prominent people of the time, there are some more interesting sorts of stories such as the mytery behind the name of Tchoupitoulas and Westwego, the only name of a place that can form a sentence.
November 15, 2023
If you love etymology & maps as much as I do, you will enjoy this book. I only gave it 3 stars because it's not written well, the maps weren't all that helpful (if you've never been to New Orleans, you might struggle a little) and there are a few racist moments in the beginning, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since it was written in 1949. Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a fun, easy read.
December 31, 2017
Interesting history - definitely from another time before civil rights/human rights but if you take that with a grain of salt, it is an interesting perspective of New Orleans history told as roads became named.
February 19, 2019
This was funny and very informative about the history of New Orleans. It reminded me a bit of Will Cuppy. Sadly I’ve never been to N.O. and don’t have a mind for French so I feel like a lot of it is going to drain right out of my head. 🤦🏻♀�
February 5, 2019
Hilarious and soo good!
February 18, 2024
Dated but intriguing read for a new local.
December 10, 2008
I adore New Orleans. It is a most fascinating city. I've been looking forward to this one for a while but had to finish my research projct and my degree and take the LSAT before I started anything nonfiction. This will be poignant, too, considering how little recovery there has been in N.O. since Katrina.
Update: Woah, this book was first written in the '40s, and the racist commentary about the Choctaws in the first couple chapters almost made me puke. This edition was published in 1979, but apparently there were others in 1997 and 2001. I hope they have edited that shit out since 1979. It's vile.
Final update: In the end, the racism and sexism that was "normal" for the time this was originally written was just too much. It soured the author's voice for me, which was otherwise charming and occasionally quite funny. Surely, they have remedied this situation in subsequent editions. I hope so, b/c it's a fun history of this wonderful, wonderful city.
Aside from all of that, just learning about how the city developed, how streets got named (and renamed), how lines were drawn and inevitably crossed was rather sobering for me in light of our current environmental crisis. Is this what humans (particularly male humans) inevitably do? Mark out territory. Conquer the wilderness (and whatever other people already happen to live there). Compete with others for glory and profit and legacy... I loathe modern expansion, white-flight subdivisions, gated communities, etc. But it's nothing new (except for the white flight aspect of it). Every part of the New Orleans that I love, that I think of as "city" was all suburb at one point. *sigh*
Update: Woah, this book was first written in the '40s, and the racist commentary about the Choctaws in the first couple chapters almost made me puke. This edition was published in 1979, but apparently there were others in 1997 and 2001. I hope they have edited that shit out since 1979. It's vile.
Final update: In the end, the racism and sexism that was "normal" for the time this was originally written was just too much. It soured the author's voice for me, which was otherwise charming and occasionally quite funny. Surely, they have remedied this situation in subsequent editions. I hope so, b/c it's a fun history of this wonderful, wonderful city.
Aside from all of that, just learning about how the city developed, how streets got named (and renamed), how lines were drawn and inevitably crossed was rather sobering for me in light of our current environmental crisis. Is this what humans (particularly male humans) inevitably do? Mark out territory. Conquer the wilderness (and whatever other people already happen to live there). Compete with others for glory and profit and legacy... I loathe modern expansion, white-flight subdivisions, gated communities, etc. But it's nothing new (except for the white flight aspect of it). Every part of the New Orleans that I love, that I think of as "city" was all suburb at one point. *sigh*
July 16, 2016
This book was recommended by a friend, as it would be useful in my research for a novel I'm writing. She was correct.
John Churchill Chase started out studying the history of New Orleans street names in order to use the information in speeches at his local Toastmasters Club in the 1940s. He subsequently became known as such an expert that he was offered a book contract, resulting in the 1949 first edition of this book. The current edition was published in 1959, with an additional chapter updating the book with corrections and new information. That is the book currently in print.
Chase's illustrations at the beginning of each chapter give a humorous look at some of the historic figures he talks about, and how their names came to be applied to various streets in New Orleans. There have been some additional street name changes since 1959 ... for obvious reasons, they are not included here. Still, it's an entertaining look at Louisiana's history through the streets of the Crescent City ... and helpful if you need to know (for instance) that Governor Nicholls Street used to be Hospital Street for obvious reasons, and part of Burgundy Street used to be Craps Street because of Bernard Marigny's fascination with the dice game.
John Churchill Chase started out studying the history of New Orleans street names in order to use the information in speeches at his local Toastmasters Club in the 1940s. He subsequently became known as such an expert that he was offered a book contract, resulting in the 1949 first edition of this book. The current edition was published in 1959, with an additional chapter updating the book with corrections and new information. That is the book currently in print.
Chase's illustrations at the beginning of each chapter give a humorous look at some of the historic figures he talks about, and how their names came to be applied to various streets in New Orleans. There have been some additional street name changes since 1959 ... for obvious reasons, they are not included here. Still, it's an entertaining look at Louisiana's history through the streets of the Crescent City ... and helpful if you need to know (for instance) that Governor Nicholls Street used to be Hospital Street for obvious reasons, and part of Burgundy Street used to be Craps Street because of Bernard Marigny's fascination with the dice game.
May 20, 2013
In a city with a history as rich and diversified as New Orleans even the street names have their origins rooted in corruption, glad handing, back stabbing and local legend. In John Chase’s Frenchman, Desire, Good Children�.and Other Streets of New Orleans! the task of tracking down the history of many of the streets in the historic areas of the crescent city. While the book is filled with nice tidbits and fun facts, it gets bogged down in a history lesson that tend to wander and repeat itself while causing the reader to loose interest in the subject of the chapter. There are a plenty of books out there that cover the history of New Orleans but few that cover topics like this one, but since this book decides to retread facts that are well known enough to those who are reading this book (assuming that those who are reading this book have a working knowledge of Southern Louisiana history) you must slog through about 75 to 100 extra pages to get the info you’re curious about. Best type of book that is used as a piecemeal reading approach rather than the traditional chapter-to-chapter reading.
August 30, 2010
I love New Orleans! And I'm currently reading two books that are recounting tremendous histories through a niche lense. In this book, John Chase relives the history of New Orleans through its eclectic array of street names. Not only was he a witty cartoonist, this book is a nice read (and you can also remember some of your high school history!)
UPDATE: I finished this book a-WHILE ago. And I was just married in the Big Easy back in June, so it was very cool to go back to this wonderful city with all the history and street names fresh in my mind. What a cool history book, and even better, what a cool way to recount it. I consider this great for history buffs, as well as leisurely reading.
UPDATE: I finished this book a-WHILE ago. And I was just married in the Big Easy back in June, so it was very cool to go back to this wonderful city with all the history and street names fresh in my mind. What a cool history book, and even better, what a cool way to recount it. I consider this great for history buffs, as well as leisurely reading.
November 26, 2014
I really easy book to read on the basic historical nomenclature of it's streets and tidbits of insight of the people that colonized it and so on.
I had just visited New Orleans a couple of weeks ago and reading this made a good accompaniment since the history I had learned on a couple tours were still fresh in my head. Other than that you should visit New Orleans for it's full of history and still seeped in traditions of when it was colonized.
*My tour guide told our group of this book when we visited the Basin St. Station, and that's where I bought it. There's tons of other books on the history of New Orleans there as well!
I had just visited New Orleans a couple of weeks ago and reading this made a good accompaniment since the history I had learned on a couple tours were still fresh in my head. Other than that you should visit New Orleans for it's full of history and still seeped in traditions of when it was colonized.
*My tour guide told our group of this book when we visited the Basin St. Station, and that's where I bought it. There's tons of other books on the history of New Orleans there as well!
September 4, 2007
loved it. really increased my appreciation for the city, and taught me a bit about the bourbon dynasty in france, which has sparked my interest so much that after i get off of this nola books kick i'm on, i'm going to go on a france run. while the book is well written and interesting, i think its not recommended if you don't have some sense of where the streets are that chase is talking about. one thing that is pretty apparent is the time of publication - iirc, its 1946 - so much has changed in nola and so much has not. the book made me proud to be from nola.
February 12, 2016
So this is a fascinating depiction of the history of New Orleans through the lens of its disproportionately quirky street-names, which I loved learning about. That said, it's a relic of 1949 thinking about culture and race, meaning the history is laced with the same sort of historical perspective as that era, or arguably more like 1749. If you can stomach the cringey perspectives on pretty much everyone who is not a white wealthy landowner, then there's some interesting history here. Basically it's 5-star history from a 1-star perspective.
January 14, 2019
An entertaining account of the wild history of New Orleans, told through the names of her streets. Chase's narrative voice and beautifully hilarious cartoons make this a very quick and enjoyable read.
Upon re-reading: a bit more dry the second time around, but still a good, light read. Definitely took more note of the politically incorrect turns of phrase here and there; not entirely surprising given its first publication date but still sad that it shows its age.
Upon re-reading: a bit more dry the second time around, but still a good, light read. Definitely took more note of the politically incorrect turns of phrase here and there; not entirely surprising given its first publication date but still sad that it shows its age.
February 24, 2010
Good stuff for Louisiana History nerds and teachers. However, once you get to the last chapter, read it. In this chapter, he corrects all of the major errors through the whole book. Like, giant ones. Some that, when I was reading, jumped out at me as though something was wrong. And then that leads me to wonder, what the heck? Why wouldn't you just correct it? What if you only read select chapters and never got to the last one? Bad editing decision.
December 10, 2011
This is the book to read if you want to know why New Orleans has so many weird street names.
I used to live on Rampart Street, which used to be called Love Street. It was called Love Street because it was the street where many rich white men built houses for their free women of color mistresses and the children who were produced by these unions.
Fascinating history.
I used to live on Rampart Street, which used to be called Love Street. It was called Love Street because it was the street where many rich white men built houses for their free women of color mistresses and the children who were produced by these unions.
Fascinating history.
April 5, 2007
the history of the naming of the streets of new orleans - which have some pretty weird names so it does make you wonder. The stories are really neat and some are very odd. Who would think it is a good idea to name a street Elysian Fields? Would you like to live there?
July 27, 2010
Recommended by long time New Orleans resident, this book was a great introduction to this fasacinating city, its history, and where all the crazy street names came from. If you enjoy learning about origins of any nature then you would do well to pick up a copy.
March 5, 2011
This is one of the best books on New Orleans history I have read, and I've read a few. It's fascinating. If you've been to New Orleans, you've wondered about the unique street names, they are like no where else. Chase works them into a narrative of the history of the city from the beginning.
April 7, 2011
An essential New Orleans read. I think the history is exaggerated in a bunch of spots in order to get a laugh but I enjoyed every minute of the book and it inspired me to seek out more information about the history of NOLA.
May 10, 2013
I picked this book up while on a visit to New Orleans at the suggestion of one of the tour guides. It gives a detailed history of the foundation of this unique city. Needless to say, I fell I love with New Orleans and its history. As a note this book was written decades ago.
March 22, 2013
This is really an anecdotal history of New Orleans before the Civil War, error prone and noted for Chase's dislike of the Choctaw and the Bourbons. It gets dull towards the end but it is mostly a fun little ride.
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