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New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence

San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1993
Photographs by Richard Sexton
Narrative by Randolph Delehanty
Book design by Charles Routhier, Storehouse Co.
Chronicle Books, 1993
222 pages, over 240 color photographs
ISBN: 0-8118-0074-1
Hardcover, $40 retail

Synopsis
From the combined standpoint of critical acclaim, sales popularity and influence, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is perhaps Richard Sexton's most successful book to date. Released in 1993, Elegance and Decadence is now in a fifth hardcover printing and there are now about 40,000 books in print.

New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is an ambitious photo-essay focusing on the historic architecture and neighborhoods of New Orleans, the effects of the passage of time on this historic landscape, and the lifestyles and trappings of some of the city's more eccentric, creative, and impassioned residents. With a distinctive embossed cloth spine and a dust jacket-less cover, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is presented as a photo album of the city. The only continuous narrative is the one told by the photographic images, with extended captions by co-author Randolph Delehanty. The photo-essay is comprised of four broad themes: URBAN FABRIC, INWARD VIEWS, VERDANT ENCLAVES, and CULTURAL REVELRY.

Many photo-essays have focused on the characterization of place. Within this genre, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence has been one of the most successful and enduring.

Reviews
New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is a dreamy poem of a book, a lovely evocation of the city's twin charms...Sexton's rich, evocative photographs in combination with Delehanty's text, discursive and witty, give a sense of how these spaces are loved and used.... This beautiful book is a toast to the way we live in New Orleans, a tribute to a lifestyle of insouciance and exuberance, touched by both spirituality and worldliness. In both word and image, Sexton and Delehanty have got it right; rarely has the city been loved both so wisely and so well.
- Susan Larson, Book Editor, Times-Picayune; Oct. 1, 1993

...a lush compilation of photographs focusing on age and the passage of time in this venerable city...resulting in a beautiful reflection of the seductive side of the city. It's a mix of cultures, a mix of antique with funk, a blend of the very old with a touch of the odd...
- Mary Beth Romig-Price; Arts & Letters; New Orleans Magazine, Oct. 1993

Our top ten gift books...New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is a gorgeous book that covers unexplored territory. Sexton's moody photographs capture the unique manner in which some of its residents live.
- Mary Daniels, Home Section, Chicago Tribune; Dec. 5, 1993

Signs of age and the patina of centuries are celebrated at every turn...This is the definitive volume for those who've wanted to visit sunny verandas and shotgun cottages in New Orleans.
- Diane Dorran Saeks, San Francisco Chronicle; Dec. 22, 1993

... it's a look into a city's soul.
- Madeleine McDermott Hamm, Houston Chronicle; Dec. 5, 1993

... the most sensitive look inside New Orleans since Lafcadio Hearn...New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence is certainly the best photographic book ever on the city.
- Dr. Patricia Brady, Director of Publications, The Historic New Orleans Collection and former president of New Orleans/Gulf South Bookseller's Association