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Chicago Noir: The Classics
"In this superior entry in Akashic's noir series, Meno offers nearly a century of Chicago crime fiction....Familiar bylines Max Allan Collins, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Sherwood Anderson, Fredric Brown, Patricia Highsmith (with an excerpt from her novel The Price of Salt ), Stewart M. Kaminsky, Sara Paretsky. Others may be less familiar to mystery specialists, but all turn in impressive performances."
-- Publishers Weekly , Starred review
"Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, and Sandra Cisneros are not crime-fiction writers, and yet their Chicago certainly embodies the individual-crushing ethos endemic to noir. Meno also includes stories from writers who could easily have been overlooked (Percy Spurlark Parker, Hugh Holton) to ensure that diverse voices, and neighborhoods, are represented. Add in smart and essential choices from Fredric Brown, Sara Paretsky, and Stuart Kaminsky, and you have not an anthology not for crime-fiction purists, perhaps, but a thought-provoking document all the same."
-- Booklist
"The fifteen short stories comprising Chicago The Classics , which are knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Joe Meno, are true gems of the noir literary tradition.... Chicago The Classics is a consistently entertaining and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections."
-- Midwest Book Review
"I've always enjoyed reading noir. Dark, ironic mysteries are a good read to me. Since this collection includes old classics as well as some new stories, I knew it would be good....I wasn't disappointed."
-- Journey of a Bookseller
" Chicago Noir The Classics does everything anthologies and noir are supposed to, but this title achieves an unheralded goal that deserves notice....This is wonderful diversity, coming both unexpected and unhearalded. Anthologies are supposed to convey a sense of having covered the territory, Joe Meno has. Ethnically diverse city, ethnically diverse plots. Better, Chicago Noir The Classics showcases diversity as normal, everyday. This adds inescapable satisfaction to a sense of the editor's having covered the territory."
-- La Bloga
"A worthy addition to the Akashic Books noir series."
-- Book Chase
Although Los Angeles may be considered the most quintessentially "noir" American city, this volume reveals that pound-for-pound, Chicago has historically been able to stand up to any other metropolis in the noir arena.
Classic reprints Harry Stephen Keeler, Sherwood Anderson, Max Allan Collins, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Fredric Brown, Patricia Highsmith, Barry Gifford, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sara Paretsky, Percy Spurlark Parker, Sandra Cisneros, Hugh Holton, and Stuart Dybek.
From the introduction by Joe Meno :
"More corrupt than New York, less glamorous than LA, Chicago has more murders per capita than any other city its size. With its sleek skyscrapers bisecting the fading sky like an unspoken threat, Chicago is the closest metropolis to the mythical city of shadows as first described in the work of Chandler, Hammett, and Cain. Only in Chicago do instituted color lines offer generation after generation of poverty and violence, only in Chicago do the majority of governors do prison time, only in Chicago do the dead actually vote twice.
"Chicago--more than the metropolis that gave the world Al Capone, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the death of John Dillinger, the crimes of Leopold and Loeb, the horrors of John Wayne Gacy, the unprecedented institutional corruption of so many recent public officials, more than the birthplace of Raymond Chandler--is a city of darkness. This darkness is not an act of over-imagination. It's the unadulterated truth. It's a pointed though necessary reminder of the grave tragedies of the past and the failed possibilities of the present. Fifty years in the future, I hope these stories are read only as fiction, as somewhat distant fantasy. Here's hoping for some light."
-- Publishers Weekly , Starred review
"Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, and Sandra Cisneros are not crime-fiction writers, and yet their Chicago certainly embodies the individual-crushing ethos endemic to noir. Meno also includes stories from writers who could easily have been overlooked (Percy Spurlark Parker, Hugh Holton) to ensure that diverse voices, and neighborhoods, are represented. Add in smart and essential choices from Fredric Brown, Sara Paretsky, and Stuart Kaminsky, and you have not an anthology not for crime-fiction purists, perhaps, but a thought-provoking document all the same."
-- Booklist
"The fifteen short stories comprising Chicago The Classics , which are knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Joe Meno, are true gems of the noir literary tradition.... Chicago The Classics is a consistently entertaining and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections."
-- Midwest Book Review
"I've always enjoyed reading noir. Dark, ironic mysteries are a good read to me. Since this collection includes old classics as well as some new stories, I knew it would be good....I wasn't disappointed."
-- Journey of a Bookseller
" Chicago Noir The Classics does everything anthologies and noir are supposed to, but this title achieves an unheralded goal that deserves notice....This is wonderful diversity, coming both unexpected and unhearalded. Anthologies are supposed to convey a sense of having covered the territory, Joe Meno has. Ethnically diverse city, ethnically diverse plots. Better, Chicago Noir The Classics showcases diversity as normal, everyday. This adds inescapable satisfaction to a sense of the editor's having covered the territory."
-- La Bloga
"A worthy addition to the Akashic Books noir series."
-- Book Chase
Although Los Angeles may be considered the most quintessentially "noir" American city, this volume reveals that pound-for-pound, Chicago has historically been able to stand up to any other metropolis in the noir arena.
Classic reprints Harry Stephen Keeler, Sherwood Anderson, Max Allan Collins, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Fredric Brown, Patricia Highsmith, Barry Gifford, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sara Paretsky, Percy Spurlark Parker, Sandra Cisneros, Hugh Holton, and Stuart Dybek.
From the introduction by Joe Meno :
"More corrupt than New York, less glamorous than LA, Chicago has more murders per capita than any other city its size. With its sleek skyscrapers bisecting the fading sky like an unspoken threat, Chicago is the closest metropolis to the mythical city of shadows as first described in the work of Chandler, Hammett, and Cain. Only in Chicago do instituted color lines offer generation after generation of poverty and violence, only in Chicago do the majority of governors do prison time, only in Chicago do the dead actually vote twice.
"Chicago--more than the metropolis that gave the world Al Capone, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the death of John Dillinger, the crimes of Leopold and Loeb, the horrors of John Wayne Gacy, the unprecedented institutional corruption of so many recent public officials, more than the birthplace of Raymond Chandler--is a city of darkness. This darkness is not an act of over-imagination. It's the unadulterated truth. It's a pointed though necessary reminder of the grave tragedies of the past and the failed possibilities of the present. Fifty years in the future, I hope these stories are read only as fiction, as somewhat distant fantasy. Here's hoping for some light."
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2015
19 people are currently reading
505 people want to read
About the author
Joe Meno
83 books486 followersJoe Meno is a fiction writer and playwright who lives in Chicago. A winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, the Great Lakes Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Society of Midland Author's Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the Story Prize, he is the author of seven novels and two short story collections. He is also the editor of Chicago Noir: The Classics. A long-time contributor to the seminal culture magazine, Punk Planet, his other non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times and Chicago magazine. He is a professor in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 19, 2016
Good compilation of short stories. It is best read with a noir film accent in short staccato phrases. As someone from Chicago, this was a fun read to see how things have changed in various neighborhoods over the years!
February 2, 2016
Meh. Collection of short crime set in Chicago. Not enough memorable stuff.
May 28, 2023
It’s a set of short stories, so I’ll do one line reviews for each
Introduction, Joe Meno: 3/5. Hokey and sophomoric- but fun and properly sets the tone
30 Seconds of Darkness, Harry Stephen Keeper: 3/5. A fun Holmes rip off in America but nothing more. Twist is predictable. Fun description of Rogers Park a 100 years ago.
Brothers, Sherwood Anderson: 5/5. Moody, dreamy. Not noir but something much better; suburban male melancholia c. 1921. Made me want to check out more of his stuff.
Kaddish for the Kid, Max Allan Collins: 2/5. The first modern entry did not impress. Narrator is infected w a speech pattern that seems like a caricature of Bogart voice. Story is semi interesting but too literally generic to enjoy.
The Man Who Went to Chicago, Richard Wright: 4/5. Wright’s words seemed to be sent from heaven after the amateur hour quality of the preceding story. Content is not noir but interesting still.
He Swung and He Missed, Nelson Algren: 5/5. Nothing but the best from my personal Chicago GOAT. Style, story, all there.
I’ll Cut Your Throat Again, Kathleen, Frederic Brown: 4/5. Reminded me of the Suspense! radio shows my dad used to listen to. Hokey memory loss plot line and twist aside, fun to follow.
The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith: 4/5. Live thought process ‘this seems familiar. Is that Carol like the movie Carol? *10 sec later* ‘ok this is definitely Carol’.
The Starving Dogs of Little Croatia, Barry Gifford: 3/5. Kind of a nothing story. Interesting but needed to be fleshed out.
Blue Note, Stuart M Kaminsky: 4/5. Fun story, builds an interesting world. As is often the case with noir historical fiction, a bit too one the nose (black gang leader telling all his operators to read The Fountainhead lol)
The Whole World is Watching, Libby Fischer Hellmann: 2/5. After an impressive run, this did not impress. Stereotypical and full of details ripped straight from CNN’s the 60s. Lacking creativity. Lucky I have an interest in the events.
Skin Deep, Sara Paretsky: 3/5. Very promising opening falls short as it wraps up too quickly and too nicely. Want to read more of this VI character.
Death and the Point Spread, Percy Spurlark Parker: 3/5. Once again, a lot of promise. Struggles trying to tie a story about a fictional local in-city football team to a story about mob bookies. Didn’t feel particularly believably Chicago nor believably about college football. Still, fun images abound.
One Holy Night, Sandra Cisneros: 4/5. Seems misplaced but Cisneros is, of course, very talented. Liked the perspective.
The Thirtieth Amendment, Hugh Holton: 1/5. Suffers greatly from being perspective future fiction being read 30 years post facto. The world makes zero sense and he never tries to establish it. As a mystery or noir it’s predictable and dull. There’s no motivation behind any behavior, just incident report. Not surprising a cop wrote it.
We Didn’t, Stuart Dybek: 4/5. Interesting love story but ambiguity is frustrating. How old are these people? And beyond the body there’s little noir element. I still liked well enough.
Introduction, Joe Meno: 3/5. Hokey and sophomoric- but fun and properly sets the tone
30 Seconds of Darkness, Harry Stephen Keeper: 3/5. A fun Holmes rip off in America but nothing more. Twist is predictable. Fun description of Rogers Park a 100 years ago.
Brothers, Sherwood Anderson: 5/5. Moody, dreamy. Not noir but something much better; suburban male melancholia c. 1921. Made me want to check out more of his stuff.
Kaddish for the Kid, Max Allan Collins: 2/5. The first modern entry did not impress. Narrator is infected w a speech pattern that seems like a caricature of Bogart voice. Story is semi interesting but too literally generic to enjoy.
The Man Who Went to Chicago, Richard Wright: 4/5. Wright’s words seemed to be sent from heaven after the amateur hour quality of the preceding story. Content is not noir but interesting still.
He Swung and He Missed, Nelson Algren: 5/5. Nothing but the best from my personal Chicago GOAT. Style, story, all there.
I’ll Cut Your Throat Again, Kathleen, Frederic Brown: 4/5. Reminded me of the Suspense! radio shows my dad used to listen to. Hokey memory loss plot line and twist aside, fun to follow.
The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith: 4/5. Live thought process ‘this seems familiar. Is that Carol like the movie Carol? *10 sec later* ‘ok this is definitely Carol’.
The Starving Dogs of Little Croatia, Barry Gifford: 3/5. Kind of a nothing story. Interesting but needed to be fleshed out.
Blue Note, Stuart M Kaminsky: 4/5. Fun story, builds an interesting world. As is often the case with noir historical fiction, a bit too one the nose (black gang leader telling all his operators to read The Fountainhead lol)
The Whole World is Watching, Libby Fischer Hellmann: 2/5. After an impressive run, this did not impress. Stereotypical and full of details ripped straight from CNN’s the 60s. Lacking creativity. Lucky I have an interest in the events.
Skin Deep, Sara Paretsky: 3/5. Very promising opening falls short as it wraps up too quickly and too nicely. Want to read more of this VI character.
Death and the Point Spread, Percy Spurlark Parker: 3/5. Once again, a lot of promise. Struggles trying to tie a story about a fictional local in-city football team to a story about mob bookies. Didn’t feel particularly believably Chicago nor believably about college football. Still, fun images abound.
One Holy Night, Sandra Cisneros: 4/5. Seems misplaced but Cisneros is, of course, very talented. Liked the perspective.
The Thirtieth Amendment, Hugh Holton: 1/5. Suffers greatly from being perspective future fiction being read 30 years post facto. The world makes zero sense and he never tries to establish it. As a mystery or noir it’s predictable and dull. There’s no motivation behind any behavior, just incident report. Not surprising a cop wrote it.
We Didn’t, Stuart Dybek: 4/5. Interesting love story but ambiguity is frustrating. How old are these people? And beyond the body there’s little noir element. I still liked well enough.
December 29, 2019
Solid 3 stars for this group of short stories in the Noir series.
In particular, I liked how the stories/authors were broken up into different eras: Jazz Age, Noir and Modern Crime. Some of the authors were not known, while others familiar - which is what always makes these books fun. For example, an easy read by Percy Spurlark Parker and a rather weird story by Sherwood Anderson - which may not (really) be weird (for him).
DD@Phila
In particular, I liked how the stories/authors were broken up into different eras: Jazz Age, Noir and Modern Crime. Some of the authors were not known, while others familiar - which is what always makes these books fun. For example, an easy read by Percy Spurlark Parker and a rather weird story by Sherwood Anderson - which may not (really) be weird (for him).
DD@Phila
July 2, 2019
Good collection of Chicago based short stories- made better by my recent trip to Chicago: I recognized many of the places discussed. The best of the group: Sandra Cisneros, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, and Stuart Dybek.
January 6, 2024
This is my third of the "Noir" series, and the Chicago Noir did not stack up to the Cleveland or Boston books. There were some great short stories in the book but overall, no comparison to the drama and intrigue and surprises of the other volumes.
September 7, 2017
Very solid, as always.
October 29, 2017
pretty good collection of mysteries and hard boiled detectives and such
April 28, 2018
Sent book to Chris
June 18, 2018
I have never really delved into noir stories before, and this was a great read to get started! Looking forward to reading more anthologies in this series (Los Angeles, New York).
February 9, 2019
i personally disliked the modern crime ending but rejoiced in the discovery of the excerpt from the price of salt. happy ending lesbian pulp from the 50s, mind blowing!
April 25, 2020
Loved the Sara Paretsky story. I tried to read several stories but I'm not a noir fan.
January 23, 2022
Great collection with lots of variety.
May 20, 2023
Like most anthologies, some stories were excellent and some were less than stellar. The older stories (originally published pre-1990) tended to be the best.
April 26, 2016
Ostensibly these are supposed to all be noir stories. They are not. In some cases, they read as excerpts or first chapters... Some are really well written and, as usual, a collection of short stories is a great way to sample new and new-to-you authors.
I am puzzled by 1) why they said these were noir stories, and 2) why they said they were "classics" of that sub-genre.
Noirs are about people who realize that following the program will never get them what they crave. So they cross the line, commit a crime and reap the consequences. Or, they’re tales about seemingly innocent people tortured by paranoia and ass-kicked by Fate. Either way, they depict a world that’s merciless and unforgiving.
If the guy gets the girl at the end? Not noir. If you are telling me a slice-of-life, or hard-times story? Not noir.
I am puzzled by 1) why they said these were noir stories, and 2) why they said they were "classics" of that sub-genre.
Noirs are about people who realize that following the program will never get them what they crave. So they cross the line, commit a crime and reap the consequences. Or, they’re tales about seemingly innocent people tortured by paranoia and ass-kicked by Fate. Either way, they depict a world that’s merciless and unforgiving.
If the guy gets the girl at the end? Not noir. If you are telling me a slice-of-life, or hard-times story? Not noir.
October 31, 2015
An engaging and diverse collection of noir literature, though almost none of it is of the hard-boiled detective variety I'd been expecting. I do wish, however, that Chicago had a greater presence in some of these.
And for my own future reference, some authors introduced that I'd like to explore in future: Harry Stephen Keeler, Sherwood Anderson, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Hugh Holton.
And for my own future reference, some authors introduced that I'd like to explore in future: Harry Stephen Keeler, Sherwood Anderson, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Hugh Holton.
April 13, 2016
What could be better than an anthology of classic noir short stories from my personal second city?
The fact I picked this find up at the annual Tribune book sale makes it even better.
Some of my favorites are included. But it's also a great chance to become familiar with some new and historic practitioners of the art of writing gritty, hard-boiled mysteries featuring Chicago.
The fact I picked this find up at the annual Tribune book sale makes it even better.
Some of my favorites are included. But it's also a great chance to become familiar with some new and historic practitioners of the art of writing gritty, hard-boiled mysteries featuring Chicago.
November 9, 2015
An outstanding collection of crime noir from some of the greats -- Nelson Algren, Richard Wright, Sondra Cisneros, Patricia Highsmith, Sara Paretsky. In particular, Cisnero's story, "One Holy Night," stands out as a cut above the others, and certainly above what most people consider noir.
September 6, 2016
Noir for Chicago is almost as natural as the Chicago-style hot-dog. These short stories spanned almost a hundred years in writing, but the feel was a strong similarity. I got the book for the Algren short. Had a nice feel like O.Henry's Magi, but so many of the others were wonderful. Quick read
October 31, 2016
Excellent collection...reminded me of the old Alfred Hitchcock anthologies.
January 9, 2017
Nice introduction to crime stories, all set in Chicago. A mixed collection: some of the stories were great, while I found myself quickly flipping through a few that bored me.
November 26, 2015
Another fine collection of short fiction from the noir collection.
February 4, 2016
Should have been Chicago Gris.
April 7, 2017
Some corrupt, some good, some very good, and all Chicago
October 26, 2017
A mix of stories. Some clicked with me, some didn't. I liked the city theme.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews