THE OYSTER DIARIES

Making sense of the vicissitudes and mysteries of middle age with wit, intelligence, and a firm grounding in the spirit of New Orleans.

“I was plagued by remorse, but my remorse seemed inspired by insignificant dumb things—things not really worthy of bona fide remorse. That didn’t make it any less painful or plague-worthy, as I was still riddled with disgrace on a minute-by-minute basis; so I decided to conduct a scientific study to analyze the cause.” The “study” undertaken by Delery Anhalt in the pages of Lemann’s deeply adorable new novel consists of journal entries made between February 2021 and September 2023. Raised in New Orleans, now living in Washington, D.C., with her husband and teenage daughters, Delery is called home when her father has a health crisis—one which had been staved off for quite a while by his marriage to Delery’s best friend, Amelia, whose “fierce and reverent love” for the man gave him a new lease on life. Delery’s beloved father is an intellectual whose version of revelry is not partying at Mardi Gras but studying Ancient Greek and Latin fricatives. Yet he is nonetheless devoted to his city and characters like Curry Carter, a friend who serves duck sandwiches and champagne from his mansion on St. Charles Avenue to the kings and dukes of Carnival as they parade by. As her father did in the 1950s, Delery will face a heartbreaking betrayal, and she will copy his approach of soldiering on. After all, houseguests, in-laws, sarcastic children, the presidential helicopter, and a volunteer job monitoring justice in New Orleans criminal courts must all be dealt with: “Annoyance turns to wrath if you’re not careful. Not that wrath is so bad.” Lemann’s 1985 novel, Lives of the Saints, which focuses on the “wastrel youth” period of life in New Orleans, is being reissued alongside this new book, the better to appreciate the wonderful character of Claude Collier, who reappears here as Delery’s dear old friend and first love.

This book is so funny that its poignant, elegiac side kind of sneaks up on you.