Coming Soon: September 18, 2026
Upon checkout, please select either shipping, or pickup in store options.
Preorder Pickup: You may pick up your copy at the Shop at the Collection between September 18 and October 18.*
Preorder Shipping: Books will begin to ship out Saturday, September 19.
*Any preorders not picked up after 30 days will be restocked and you will be refunded to your original form of payment.
About the Book
Fiendishly creative, sharply observant, and deeply devoted to his city, Matthews was among the most influential cartoonists and writers in New Orleans. Throughout four decades his art and writing appeared in almost every local magazine and newspaper, teaching New Orleans new ways to listen to itself and laugh at itself. Along the way, he helped found or influence some of the most important local cultural entities invented by his generation: Jazz Fest, Tipitina's, and WWOZ.
Matthews is best known for his cartoon characters Vic and Nat'ly, two irreverent bar owners from the Nint' Ward who rank alongside Ignatius J. Reilly and Blanche DuBois in the pantheon of fictional New Orleanians. As a critic, Matthews earnestly pursued authenticity. In his later years, he spilled thousands of words articulating what he saw as the depreciation and corruption of New Orleans's cultural capital. He died in 2021, but his legacy lives on in the young writers he helped mentor, the cartoonists he inspired, and in the yellowing clippings of Vic and Nat'ly still found taped to refrigerators throughout New Orleans.
Matthews once wrote, “Be witty. Be nasty. Be silly. Don’t be boring.” That ethos animates every page.
- Hardcover
- 10.5 × 11.5 in., 336 pp.
- 200 color images, 200 b&w images
- ISBN 978-0-917860-97-3
Coming Soon: September 18, 2026
Upon checkout, please select either shipping, or pickup in store options.
Preorder Pickup: You may pick up your copy at the Shop at the Collection between September 18 and October 18.*
Preorder Shipping: Books will begin to ship out Saturday, September 19.
*Any preorders not picked up after 30 days will be restocked and you will be refunded to your original form of payment.
About the Book
Fiendishly creative, sharply observant, and deeply devoted to his city, Matthews was among the most influential cartoonists and writers in New Orleans. Throughout four decades his art and writing appeared in almost every local magazine and newspaper, teaching New Orleans new ways to listen to itself and laugh at itself. Along the way, he helped found or influence some of the most important local cultural entities invented by his generation: Jazz Fest, Tipitina's, and WWOZ.
Matthews is best known for his cartoon characters Vic and Nat'ly, two irreverent bar owners from the Nint' Ward who rank alongside Ignatius J. Reilly and Blanche DuBois in the pantheon of fictional New Orleanians. As a critic, Matthews earnestly pursued authenticity. In his later years, he spilled thousands of words articulating what he saw as the depreciation and corruption of New Orleans's cultural capital. He died in 2021, but his legacy lives on in the young writers he helped mentor, the cartoonists he inspired, and in the yellowing clippings of Vic and Nat'ly still found taped to refrigerators throughout New Orleans.
Matthews once wrote, “Be witty. Be nasty. Be silly. Don’t be boring.” That ethos animates every page.
- Hardcover
- 10.5 × 11.5 in., 336 pp.
- 200 color images, 200 b&w images
- ISBN 978-0-917860-97-3