Paris Noir (Akashic Noir) [Paperback]

Aurelien Masson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008 | Series: Akashic Noir

 

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"The dank and sweaty crime scenes in Paris Noir…testify to the fact that the French invented “noir.” Among the jarring images in this story collection, Didier Daeninckx’s murky view of the after-hours scene in Porte Saint-Denis and Marc Villard’s gritty look at the sex trade in Les Halles are correctives to all those persistent romantic fantasies about the city.”—New York Times

Paris Noir takes you on a ride through the old medieval center of town with its winding streets, its ghosts, and its secrets buried in history. This is more than an homage to the crime genre, to Melville and Godard, it’s also a lush introduction to the very best in French fiction.

Brand-new stories from: Marc Villard, Didier Daeninckx, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Salim Bachi, Christophe Mercier, Jerome Leroy, DOA, Laurent Martin, Herve Prudon, Patrick Pecherot, Dominique Mainard, and Chantal Pelletier.

Aurélien Masson is the director of la Série Noire at Gallimard, one of France’s leading publishing companies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rarely has the City of Light seemed grittier than in this hard-boiled short story anthology, part of Akashic's noir series that began in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. The 12 freshly penned pulp fictions by some of France's most prominent practitioners play out in a kind of darker, parallel universe to the tourist mecca; visitors cross these pages at their peril, like the hapless hunk taken captive in Chantal Pelletier's kinky The Chinese Guy. As is usual for such volumes, the quality varies considerably among the selections made by Masson, young editor of Gallimard's Série Noire, but it's worth fast-forwarding through the few duds for direct hits like Christophe Mercier's Christmas, the poignant tale of a pair of doomed lovers on a snowy night in Pigalle, or Dominique Mainard's La Vie en Rose, in which a Piaf-worthy tragedy unfolds amid her old haunts in Belleville. Bull's-eye. (Nov.)
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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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Akashic Books; First Edition edition (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933354631
• ISBN-13: 978-1933354637
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Paris noir, August 8, 2011

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Jack the Ripper "Ted" (Brisbane Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Paris Noir (Akashic Noir) (Paperback)

Very interesting and different stories. Be prepared to read something different in writing styles. if you have been to Paris it is interesting to know some of the places visited. I think that the interruptation to English leaves a little to be desired.f