San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics (Akashic Noir) (v. 2) [Paperback]

Peter Maravelis (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Akashic Noir | Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Classic reprints from: Ambrose Bierce, Frank Norris, Mark Twain, Jack London, Dashiell Hammett, Fletcher Flora, Bill Pronzini, Joe Gores, Janet Dawson, Oscar Peñaranda, Seth Morgan, Craig Clevenger, and others.

Peter Maravelis is a native San Franciscan with a life-long involvement in the art and literary scenes. He programs the events calendar at City Lights Bookstore and is editor of the first volume of San Francisco Noir. He’s been known to occasionally moonlight with private investigators.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This classics entry in Akashic's noir anthology series boasts an impressive roster of names, including such standard authors as Mark Twain, Jack London, Ambrose Bierce and Dashiell Hammett. Unsurprisingly, Hammett, one of the fathers of American hard-boiled fiction, supplies the best story, The Scorched Face, which sets his Continental Op on the trail of two missing women. Marcia Muller's Deceptions makes good use of the Golden Gate Bridge's appeal to potential suicides in a short but gripping exploit of her series PI, Sharon McCone. Readers looking for lesser-known talent will welcome Janet Dawson's Invisible Time, which presents a grim view of life on the streets for two young people. Don Herron's gritty Knives in the Dark, with its Chandler-like plot line, convincingly depicts Prohibition-era tough guys. As usual, the overall caliber of the writing in this reprint volume is superior to the average all-original book in the series. (Feb.)
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About the Author

Peter Maravelis is a native San Franciscan with a life-long involvement in the art and literary scenes. He programs the events calendar at City Lights Bookstore and is editor of the first volume of San Francisco Noir. He?s been known to occasionally moonlight with PIs. He was the editor of the first volume of San Francisco Noir.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Akashic Books (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933354658
• ISBN-13: 978-1933354651
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior entry in the series, July 20, 2009

By 

Connie M. Alvarez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics (Akashic Noir) (v. 2) (Paperback)

Personally, I found this anthology great reading all the way through. I have a long history with SF, so that might help. True, the old classics are wonderful, but the excerpt from "Homeboy" alone ("Street Court") is worth the price of the book. Vollman's nightmarish "The Woman Who Laughed" is another standout from an author who is arguably the greatest living writer in the US. This surreal gem ironically captures the reality of the Tenderloin street. Joe Gores's take on the death penalty is tone-perfect, and persuasively argues that this barbaric holdover diminishes everyone. And it doesn't get any more "noir" than Fletcher Flora's 1953 story, "The Collector Comes After Payday," or Bill Pronzini's "Souls Burning." In general, this is an exceptionally strong collection in the "Noir" series, and that has a lot to do with the fact that, even today, SF is Noir City. Just look down any alleyway, in Chinatown, in the Mission, South of the Slot, the Tenderloin...its all there, and always has been.

0 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Half Excellent/Half Worthless, March 1, 2009

By 

Been There "World Traveler" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics (Akashic Noir) (v. 2) (Paperback)

As the first reviewer indicated, this book is divided into sections. The 4 stories in the first section are fabulous. The Hammett stories in the second section (I don't have the book handy, so cannot remember if there was one or two Hammett stories) are also well done. The next several stories are awful; terribly hard reads. These did not seem to be in any way related to the "noir" concept and are the more recently written stories beginning in the 1980s. These people are "writers"? Sorry, I don't think so, much less "noir" writers. I was so disgusted that I didn't read any further. Why waste my time? I am not sure when (or if) I will pick the book back up and finish reading it. My suggestion is to borrow it from your local library and read the first (and older) stories. Now those were writers who understood (in the pre-video/computer/TV/Cable age) how to tell a story! Because only a handful of the 17 stories were of the true noir caliber, I could only give this book One Star.