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Publisher’s Weekly, December 15, 2005 (Starred review): “Baum, an empathetic storyteller, has nearly perfectly distilled the events, providing readers with a sensuous portrait of [New Orleans].”
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2009: “One of those rare occasions when journalism crosses the threshold of art.”
Booklist, January 1, 2009. (Starred review): “What gives this collection of stories its added punch is the way Baum uses the fictional techniques of literary journalism. . . . The underpinning of solid reporting makes all this believable and powerful.”
The New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 11, 2009. “One of the most moving -- and riveting -- books ever written about the rich and complicated life we live here.”
People Magazine, February 13, 2009: “Brilliantly reported. . . . Compassionate and clear-eyed. . . “
“Nine Lives is stunning work. As innovative as Tom Wolfe on hot rods and Truman Capote on a pair of murderers. Nine Lives is an instant classic of creative nonfiction.”
-- Robert Olen Butler, winner of the
1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The New York Times, February 18, 2009: “Nine Lives may be this young year’s most artful and emotionally resonating nonfiction book so far, and for that, to Mr. Baum, a belated New Year’s toast.”
Time, February 19, 2009: “With all that has been written about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, few writers have been able to capture the essence of New Orleans as skillfully as Baum.”
The Tucson Citizen: “This book is so well written it will leave you breathless.”
The Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2009: Dan Baum's extraordinary book . . . resembles a vast Victorian novel in its many-sided evocation of an entire world -- worlds, actually. . . .
The New York Times Book Review, February 22, 2009: “A splendid book. . . . Crowded with memorable characters. Baum continually serves up wonderful detail and phrasing.” (A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.”)
The Gambit (New Orleans), February 16, 2009: “Baum has created something more than a history. Nine Lives is a tapestry of improbable stories about an even more improbable place. New Orleanians will recognize it; more than that, they'll get it.”
The Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana), February 15, 2009: “One of the finest books to be written about Hurricane Katrina and its effect on New Orleans waited the longest to come out, most likely because of the immense research involved. But it's worth the wait.”
Dallas Morning News, February 22, 2009: “What makes these people so compelling is not where they live, nor that you know what lies ahead for them. It's about skill and craft.”
USA Today, February 26, 2009: “(Baum’s) style evokes the best aspects of John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), Tracy Kidder (The Soul of a New Machine) and Studs Terkel.
The New York Observer, February 26, 2009: “Mr. Baum has performed a remarkable service. . . , salvaging not just lives but entire communities in copious, stunningly rendered detail.”
The Boston Globe, February 28, 2009: “Absorbing, insightful. . . . The richness of Baum's research is everywhere on display.”
The Washington Post, March 1, 2009: “(Baum’s) technique brings to mind Robert Altman's film ‘Nashville’ . . . . He adroitly moves his subjects through parades, prison, divorces, sex changes, fancy balls and gun brawls.”
The Independent (Lafayette, Louisiana) “Baum’s eye for detail, his ear for language, and his compassionate spirit allow the nine speakers to come to life in a way few writers ever achieve.”
Nine Lives on The New York Times Extended Best-Seller List
Newsweek, March 7, 2009: “Terrific. . . . What emerges is a portrait of an entire city in all its quirky, backward beauty.”
San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2009: “Baum has told the story of modern New Orleans with sympathy, insight, and an appreciation for the cultural complexities that make the city, even in its current wounded state, a place well worth reading about.”
Unanimous Praise for Nine Lives:
Kingston (Massachusetts) Observer, March 11, 2009: “It would take a raid on a thesaurus to find enough superlatives to do justice to this incomparable work of journalism.”
OutSmart Magazine, March 7, 2009: “Nine Lives reads like a novel: It sucks you in with dramas, making you gasp every now and then.”
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, March 13, 2009: “By the end of Nine Lives, readers are left with a fascinating read, rich in detail, and a clearer understanding of the city that care forgot.”
The Texas Observer, March 20, 2009: “Does for New Orleans what John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil did for Savannah.... While Baum’s intertwined stories read like good fiction, they convey the same sense of reality as the late Studs Terkel’s oral histories.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 22, 2009: “Baum’s reporting, which focuses on nine longtime New Orleans residents, is superb. So is his writing.”
Ottawa Citizen, March 22, 2009: “Brilliant. . . . Stunningly detailed portraits. . . .”
Louisville Courier-Journal, March 21, 2008: “For anyone who wants to get an idea of how contemporary New Orleans actually works (or doesn't work), Nine Lives is a good place to start.”
North Andover (Massachusetts) Eagle-Tribune, February 22, 2009: “I loved how author Dan Baum unfolds each of his subjects' stories, telling most of them at a just-right pace, allowing one of them to blurt his own tale. I loved the brutal honesty between the pages, I loved the uniquely ‘New Orleans’ feel I got when I was reading. I just plain loved this book.”
Bluffton (South Carolina) Today: February 20, 2009: “I just plain loved this book. When you’re ready for a good set of stories, don’t miss this one.”
Newark Star-Ledger, February 20, 2009: “Baum creates a rich picture of the bonds and divisions of race and class in New Orleans through his unforgettable survivors.”
Cincinnati Enquirer, March 3, 2009: “Though the characters represent archetypes to a certain extent, they aren't cliches, and their heroic, grim, gut-wrenching and life-affirming stories ring true as the Saint Louis cathedral bells in Jackson Square.”
The Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2009: “ A wonderful, deeply textured story. . . the kind of hearty
repast that requires generous infusions of excellent reporting.”
Westword (Denver), March 23, 2009: “Nonfiction that
reads like epic fiction. . . “
Houston Chronicle, May 1, 2009: “Baum is a wonderful writer whose years of interviewing and research shed light on a complex, often misunderstood city.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 1, 2009: “That's the real power of "Nine Lives." In addition to explaining what makes New Orleans so weird, Baum puts an indelible face on her people.”
Winston-Salem Journal, June 14, 2009: “Masterful. . . You will find yourself eager to catch up on what's happened with their lives, to discover who's gotten married, who's gotten divorced and who's appeared on 60 Minutes.”
