Title: After The Mardi Gras
Description: After the Mardi Gras by R.S. Pierpoint is a collection of fictional pieces assembled in the form of three short books all featuring the city of New Orleans as a player and locale where myriad characters move in and out of the reading journey. At first the assembly of passages of various lengths and their lack of easily discernible relationship to each other can be a little disconcerting and it can be hard to find a common thread as various stories unfold but the richness of the prose and the vividly drawn characters eliminate any inclination the reader may have to abandon the effort. The stories within are rife with darkness, the kind that human beings are so capable and willing to exhibit but the work in it's entirety is more a meditation on the passing of time and the living of life. All of this comes to fruition in the form of narrated tales told and twice-told by individuals in charge of driving the story forward.

Part one, Twice Told Nazareth, the lengthiest section of the book, deals with the struggle for success in both life and love and ends up in a twisted tale of a satanic cult and the subversion of innocence. Part two, The Dark is Always the Same, the least cohesive section, combines the travails of a detective and his dealings with a family of questionable character with the farcical tale of Clownopolis, a land of clowns with its own set of laws and the bitter feud between two of its prominent members. Part three, Ratchethead, veers farthest (but not completely) away from New Orleans with the tale of a Portuguese ship's carpenter caught up in piracy and the exploration of a new land eventually leading him to an ancient land, a primitive people and the love of a beautiful maiden. As in life, love is what really saves the day and despite the dark goings-ons in these diverse tales, they manage to end with a spot of brightness and a certain amount of measured hope that there is value in the human race after all.

I enjoyed the rich descriptive prose skillfully employed by Pierpoint and found the descriptions of many of the places and areas that I just happen to be familiar with in my own life to be accurate in their depiction and expressive and picturesque in their execution. His characters are memorable and feel like they (actually?) exist in the tapestry of human history, both significant and inconsequential. If you're fond of tales that constantly interweave with each other, share characters in the oddest of circumstances and have any fondness for the wonderful city of New Orleans and the history and aura that surrounds it, I heartily recommend this book as an enjoyable read.