Lives of the Saints

Bookshelves
Written By Lori Theisen

Why I picked it up?
Lives of the Saints has been on my shelf forever. It’s a book that made me laugh out loud, wonder at language and want to meet the characters. One of the characters is the city of New Orleans, which has always held a magical place in my heart. From the culture, the food, the dark days of Katrina, New Orleans has always been an exotic place that is still uniquely American.

Who would I pass it on?
A good friend of mine’s daughter who Alex moved to New Orleans a few years ago for a change a pace and build a new life. She is wonderfully imaginative, vested in her community and would easily fit into Nancy Lemann’s New Orleans.

About the Author
Nancy Lemann was born in New Orleans and is the author of six books, including The Ritz of the Bayou (republished in 2026 by Hub City Press), Malaise, and, most recently, The Oyster Diaries (published in 2026 by New York Review Books).

Same Shelf
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole (1980)



Lori Theisen
Lori Theisen is a co-founder and managing editor of The Literary Cafe. A journalism major before she got swept up into the world of corporate marketing, she always wanted to indulge her passion of books, culture and food.
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