225BatonRouge.com

Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Sean Penn lent megawatt star-power to tell one of Louisiana’s greatest stories, a reminder of the great fiction that has bubbled from our swampy state.

Early Oscar buzz already surrounds All the King’s Men, scheduled to open Sept. 22. The story of politician Willie Stark parallels the rise and fall of former Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long.

“I’m eager to see what bad boy Sean Penn does with the original bad boy of Louisiana politics,” says Jim Bennett, an LSU professor of creative writing. “The earlier [movie] version hasn’t aged well, and neither has Huey.”

The movie may inspire a new generation to read Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, All the King’s Men. The book is culturally significant to Louisiana’s history since the characters and themes plunge deep into the moral and ethical fiber of how politicians and voters created Louisiana’s uniquely volatile political atmosphere.

All the King’s Men is an indispensable work. Professor Bennett also suggests any well-versed Louisianan should read the following—or at least keep them on the bookshelf for guests to see.

THE AWAKENING BY KATE CHOPIN

Edna Pontellier is smothered by her social obligations to be a model wife in the New Orleans’ Creole community during the 19th century. Edna liberates herself by escaping control of her husband and fulfilling her own needs. The novel describes class distinctions, roles and expectations of women in New Orleans during that period.

THE MOVIEGOER BY WALKER PERCY

Percy’s 1961 novel tells the story of a young stockbroker living in a New Orleans suburb who embarks on a search to find the meaning of his existence before his 30th birthday.

A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES BY JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE

Ignatius J. Reilly, is a slothful-but-intelligent man who is extremely well versed in theology, geometry, philosophy and other scholarly subjects. Yet he is unable to function in 1960s-era modern society outside the confines of his mother’s house, where he still resides at age 30. The book offers a rich depiction of New Orleans, its dialect and the unique personalities who speak it.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN BY ERNEST GAINES

The narrator interviews a fictitious 110-year-old African American woman in the summer of 1962. She was born a slave in Louisiana before the Civil War and lives through many significant events in the history.