Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans

Dan Baum

Random House Publishing Group, Feb 10, 2009 - History - 335 pages

BONUS: This edition contains a Nine Lives discussion guide.

Nine Lives is a multivoiced biography of a dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city, told through the lives of night unforgettable characters and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. Dan Baum brings the kaleidoscopic portrait to life, showing us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.

What people are saying

Review: Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans

User Review  - Lacey - Goodreads

At first I didn't understand why I was struggling so much to read Nine Lives. I now know the problem- I'm not invested in all the characters. I find myself breezing through a few of the sections, just ...

Review: Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans

User Review  - Mary - Goodreads

I loved this story about one of my favorite cities. It is gritty and real and captures the essence and richness of the culture of New Orleans. It showcased the good, the bad and the ugly of the city ...

About the author

DAN BAUM is a former staff writer for The New Yorker, and has written for numerous other magazines and newspapers. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.


From the Hardcover edition.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans
• Author: Dan Baum
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2009
• ISBN: 0385529600, 9780385529600
• Length: 335 pages
• Subjects: History / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)