Paris Noir

All original stories from Paris’ finest authors, all translated from French.

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

Brand-new stories by: Didier Daeninckx, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Marc Villard, Chantal Pelletier, Patrick Pécherot, DOA, Hervé Prudon, Dominique Mainard, Salim Bachi, Jérôme Leroy, Laurent Martin, and Christophe Mercier.

From the introduction by Aurélien Masson:

“Paris is a city that lives, and thus dies, every day. No point hiding behind history or war memories. What is a threat to Paris, to its noir dimension even, is potential “museumification,” the possibility of the city turning into a big theme park. In Paris, after all, everything is still there. All you have to do is look around with eyes wide open . . .

Beyond the lights, beyond the cafés and bars, Paris is sometimes like a grave. It’s a city you run away from, or at least dream of running away from. But on every street corner, the past jumps at your throat like a grimacing hyena . . .

You don’t inhabit your city, you dream it. All I can do now is invite you to enter the dream.”

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The most uneven of the international entries in the series, Paris Noir brings together a collection of bleak and violent stories that attempt to show the dark side of the City of Lights. Modern issues of race and class, particularly among immigrants, feature heavily, as do prostitutes, thieves, and corrupt cops. Although most of the stories certainly capture the desperation at the heart of noir, they lack the strong sense of place that should be central to this geographically driven series. One notable exception is the story The Revenge of the Waiters, by Jean-Bernard Pouy. Thumbs up for noir; thumbs down for Paris. –Jessica Moyer

About the Author

AURÉLIEN MASSON was born in 1975 and quit academia at the age of twenty-four to take a trip around the world. After three years as an editorial assistant for la Serie Noire at Gallimard, one of France’s leading publishing companies, he became the series director. Masson is currently an editor at Les Arènes. He is the editor of Paris Noir.