The importance of New Orleans in American culture has made the city's place in the American imagination a crucial topic for literary scholars and cultural historians. While databases of bibliographical information on New Orleans-centered fiction are available, they are of little use to scholars researching works written before the 1980s. In The New Orleans of Fiction: A Research Guide, James A. Kaser provides detailed synopses for more than 500 works of fiction significantly set in New Orleans and published between 1836 and 1980. The synopses include plot summaries, names of major characters, and an indication of physical settings. An appendix provides bibliographical information for works dating from 1981 well into the 21st century, while a biographical section provides basic information about the authors, some of whom are obscure and would be difficult to find in other sources. Written to assist researchers in locating works of fiction for analysis, the plot summaries highlight ways in which the works touch on major aspects of social history and cultural studies (i.e., class, ethnicity, gender, immigrant experience, and race). The book is also a useful reader advisory tool for librarians and readers who want to identify materials for leisure reading, particularly since genre, juvenile, and young adult fiction—as well as literary fiction—are included.

This book is an overview of the many writers in the 20th century who were inspired by living in or spending long periods in New Orleans. It includes famous as well as lesser known authors and poets and gives brief biographical sketches of them. Also includes where they lived, where they hung out and what about the city influenced their work. Beautifully illustrated with a water color cover of Tennessee Williams' house and pen and ink drawings throughout. Cover flaps give the book a hand-crafted feel and look. This is a second edition. The book was first published in 2013 by Margaret Media, Inc.

Includes reports of the annual meetings.