Why New Orleans Matters

In Tom Piazza's Why New Orleans Matters, he walks us through what it is like to live in New Orleans and why moving there has made such an impact on his life. Piazza goes into great details about everyting he talks about, "I moved to New Orleans in 1994 and soon knew that it was home, for keeps, no matter what." (7) One thing I love that Piazza does in these first few chapters is making me feel like im right there with him learning people's different lifestyles. On page 18, he is telling us about a woman who works her butt off in her restaurant cooking most of the food on her own and telling us how she recieved an America's Classic Award. I really get to know this woman and how much of a hard worker she is when at the end Piazza tells us, "Six months later, during Hurricane Katrina, it flooded to the roof."
Piazza also explains how important music is down in New Orleans. Many traditions held will always have a bad attending. Piazza does a really good job of making me want to be there experiencing this way of life; a place where whether or not everyone knows each other, they treat each other with respect. There are people always on the streets with everyone and always something knew going on. It makes me wish I were able to have seen that womans reataurant before it were destroyed and experience seeing the "Wild Tchoupitoulas" in their chief like uniforms.