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 BOHEMIAN
NEW ORLEANS: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press
(University Press
of Mississippi) by Jeff Weddle. 220 pages. After committing a crime
and jail time, Jon Edgar Webb became a published author and was a small
success. In 1938, he met Louise Madaio and together they criss-crossed the
country until they settled in New Orleans. Using his mild popularity in
the writing world, Webb was able to set up a network of writers who
contributed to what he envisioned as a great literary magazine. It worked.
Throughout the 1960’s, Jon Edgar Web and ‘Gypsy Lou’ Webb turned the
literary world on its head with the magazine “Outsider” and with a
couple of published books, including the first ever by one Charles
Bukowski, who they plucked from relative obscurity. Fueled by the duo’s
sweat, all of Loujon Press’s material was hand cranked on small printing
presses located smack dab in the middle of wherever it was they called
home. Amazingly, through pain and sickness, the couple remained together
and publishing ‘til Jon’s death in 1971.
Wow, talk about a
biographical look at a couple that stretches from devoted love to things
that I am sure Jon Edgar Webb rather not be known. Jeff Weddle wonderfully
and interestingly transforms the reader into a fly on the wall witnessing
the lives of Jon and Gypsy Lou. What I found most admirable about the
couple was there unconditional love for each other and their insane
devotion to their publishing work. Not only did they publish the magazine
and books, they did so in a way that was far different than anything done
by anyone else. I have to wonder how much more they may have accomplished
if they actually stayed in one place for longer than a year; god they were
busy bodies. Mainly focusing on the Webbs, of course, Weddle also weaves
in many people who touched their lives. While a lot of time is spent
detailing the Webb/Bukowski dealings, Weddle refuses to take the easy road
and capitalize on Bukowski’s name and fame: attention is paid to
everyone. The handful of photographs certainly helps put faces with the
words and the list of contributors to each “Outsider” is a great
touch. It’s amazing the earthquake two can cause with a printing press
in their living room. – Denis Sheehan
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