From Behind the Mask: Essays on South Louisiana Mardi Gras Runs

"A series of sixteen essays that discuss and analyze the rural Mardi Gras run celebrations of south Louisiana. In the first half of this book the reader gets an overview of Mardi Gras over the years and across the countryside of southwest Louisiana, where each community enacts the festival in its own unique way. Collectively, these essays present the rules of a seemingly lawless game, an indispensable overview of an enormously intricate complex of traditional behavior. In the second half, Barry shares accounts of his personal experiences as a participant observing and running Mardi Gras"--