Reviews for Magic Gardens

The average rating for Magic Gardens based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-07-06 00:00:00 James Whitley Another great book by Clarkson

Review # 2 was written on 2015-05-30 00:00:00 Mitchell Winneker 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.