Strung together like a handful of Mardi Gras beads thrown from a passing float, Labordeis tales reveal the bright and beautiful as well as the dim and gaudy sides of the city. Southern Living Offering innovative insights into such New Orleans mainstays as Carnival, Sports, and The Quarter, Laborde provides a look at aspects of Crescent City living usually reserved for residents. These essays include an Orleanian ode entitled, In Praise of the Potato Poor Boy and several explorations and explanations of Mr. Bingle, the only symbol of Christmas that is unique to New Orleans. These eighty-one vignettes originally appeared in Labordeis Streetcar column, which currently runs in New Orleans Magazine, a publication that the author also edits. [Edit review] [Delete review]