A Century of Noir: Thirty-two Classic Crime Stories [Mass Market Paperback]

Various (Author), Mickey Spillane (Editor), Max Allan Collins (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Thirty-two stories of stunning ingenuity. Thirty-two writers of legendary genius. One hundred years of crime fiction in a one-of-a-kind collection.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shamus-winner Max Allan Collins and crime-novel king Mickey Spillane team up to co-edit A Century of Noir: Thirty-two Classic Crime Stories, a collection that includes tales by the aforementioned as well as by luminaries such as Chester Himes, James M. Cain, Donald E. Westlake, Sara Paretsky and Evan Hunter. It may not actually span a century, but this volume offers plenty of blood, booze and cigarette smoke in worlds populated by flinty men and fetching women.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451205960
• ISBN-13: 978-0451205964
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not much noir here, February 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Century of Noir: Thirty-two Classic Crime Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

I guess the editors decided that noir sells, the problem is there's not much noir here. Of the 30 some odd stories in this book, maybe a third of them could be considered noir. I guess the editors expanded the definition to any crime story. There are some good stories here, particularly by Carroll John Daly, Mickey Spillane, David Goodis, Max Allan Collins and Norbert Davis, but there's also a lot of mediocre stuff (most of the stories in the second half of the book range from fair to awful). Even terrific writers like Lawrence Block are represented by pretty bad stories (and as bad a Block's story is it's not even remotely noirish). I don't know, I have to think that if Spillane and Collins took this book more seriously they could have come up with a better representation of noir fiction. Even a noir master like James M. Cain is represented by a mediocre story that doesn't even classify as noir.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Past of Crime, August 17, 2003

By 

J. Bowman "Bookworm" (Fresno, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Century of Noir: Thirty-two Classic Crime Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

Two of the hard crime genre's most famous writers pull together a great collection of short stories and novellas, showcasing the evolution of detective fiction over the course of the last century. Thirty-two writers get a story apiece, spinning yarns about gumshoes, mobsters, and murderers, along with lawyers, cons, and singers. The heros and villians run the gamut, but the common thread is that against all odds, good does triumph, somehow.

The novellas are definitely what make this book what it is. I wouldn't have minded if some of the shorter works had been stripped and replaced with a few more novellas and novellettes. Those were the ones that earned the title 'noir' - Carroll John Daly, Leigh Brackett, John D. MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, William Campbell Gault, Max Allen Collins. But I did greatly enjoy a few of the shorter works as well, notably Kaminsky's "Busted Blossoms" and Goodis' "The Plunge".

Included with each story is an introduction to the author. I intend to look some of them up in the future, certainly; I was surprised at how many are still alive and writing.

The only real problems I had with it were that it was missing several very important authors, especially the older ones. Perhaps because of that, it seems overly skewed toward more modern fiction, tending to be less noir and more subdued. Some stories I didn't care for, and some I was ambivalent about, but overall it was a varied and entertaining collection.

If you've any interest in crime fiction, check this out. It's a great introduction to the field, and like many variety collections, you're bound to like a good bit of whatever suits your tastes.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent stuff, November 23, 2009

By 

Noir Fan (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Century of Noir: Thirty-two Classic Crime Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

All fans of noir will love this. There is something for everyone, even those not tuned into noir.