Tag: #Suspense

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.

This anthology spans more than a century of noir fiction set in the heart of the Big Apple—”17 sure winners” from Edith Wharton, Donald Westlake, and more (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

The island of Manhattan has been a breeding ground of crime, longing, and discontent since its earliest days as a city—and a natural setting for noir fiction since the genre was invented. And from Harlem to Greenwich Village to Wall Street, it has also been home to many a great writer. After the success of the first Manhattan Noir, dedicated to all-new stories, Lawrence Block combed through the borough’s long literary history to deliver this stellar collection of classics, even stretching the bounds of noir to include poems by Edgar Allen Poe and others. 

Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics features entries by Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, O. Henry, Langston Hughes, Irwin Shaw, Jerome Weidman, Damon Runyon, Evan Hunter, Jerrold Mundis, Edgar Allan Poe, Horace Gregory, Geoffrey Bartholomew, Cornell Woolrich, Barry N. Malzberg, Clark Howard, Jerome Charyn, Donald E. Westlake, Joyce Carol Oates, Lawrence Block, and Susan Isaacs.

Lawrence D. Zeilinger
4 out of 5 stars
24th Book One of Best in Series
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2008
Format: Paperback
Masterfully edited by Lawrence Block, Manhattan Noir 2 is a welcome addition to this terriffic series. Of its 17 short stories, what may have been Cornell Woolrich's last (first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1970) is by itself well worth the price of admission. This anthology features stories which first saw print over more than a 100-year time span, from 1891 to 2008. There also is a very short middle section with works by three poets. Poetry accounts for less than 5 per cent of my reading, but these are great. There is the predictable "Raven" by Poe and it isn't a stretch to include him as (perhaps the first) noir author. (What else but noir could you call say, "A Cask of Amontillado"? For the Love of God, Montressor!). But the two other poets represented are also excellent, especially the selections from Geoffrey Bartholomew's "The McSorley Poems" (2001) which made me want to seek out the entire volume. My favorite stories besides the Woolrich are Stephen Crane's very short "The Poker Game" (1902), Langston Hughes' "Spanish Blood" (1934). Damon Runyon's poignant "One-Eyed Johnny" (1941), and Evan Hunter's (Ed McBain's) gritty "The Last Spin" (1948) all in Part I, "The Old School". The stories in Part III are more modern, grouped under the heading "Darkness Visible". I liked all but one of these eight stories which range from 1969 to 2008. My three favorites were grand master Donald Westlake's "Love in the Lean Years", Joyce Carol Oates' "A Manhattan Romance" (which like two others feature a man running from the mob), and editor Lawrence Block's "In For a Penny". As always, kudos to Tim McLoughlin for creating this internationally acclaimed series. This book was released simultaneously with "D.C. Noir 2: The Classics" which is next on my must read list. Also forthcoming in the series are another 15 books, most of which have noir settings in foreign countries and are so titled.