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D.C. Noir #1
D.C. Noir 2: The Classics
Classic reprints from: Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Jean Toomer, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others.
George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.
George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.
326 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
27 people are currently reading
321 people want to read
About the author
George P. Pelecanos
59 books1,629 followersGeorge Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Read
May 12, 2015Classic reprints from: Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Jean Toomer, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others.
George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.
October 18, 2008
I've actually only read three of the stories in this collection so far--"The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us" by George Pelecanos, "A Rich Man" by Edward P. Jones, and "Wonderwall" by Elizabeth Hand--but they were all fantastic stories, really wonderful stuff.
November 25, 2014
Love the Noir city series. This, in particular, was a surprise as it featured a very old fav - Ross Thomas whose books I inhaled during the 1980s. It was fun to read him again. I also like that the City Noir series is revisiting some (cities) with Classics versions and pulling from earlier published authors - like Ross Thomas.
What I like best about City Noir series is that it will take me years to plow through them. Isn't that good news?
DD@Phila
What I like best about City Noir series is that it will take me years to plow through them. Isn't that good news?
DD@Phila
July 3, 2009
The selections that had the greatest impact on me were the grittiest, James Grady's "Kiss the Sky" (1996) and an excerpt from Cast a Yellow Shadow, by Ross Thomas, from 1967.
December 27, 2015
As good as they come
I have found that some of the stories in the "classic" noir series can be dated, even a little boring. Maybe it's not the fault of the author's but wanting more action, femme fatale, and murder. Not the case with this collection. I REALLY enjoyed every story and even found myself looking up all the author's I didn't know afterword. Well worth it!
I have found that some of the stories in the "classic" noir series can be dated, even a little boring. Maybe it's not the fault of the author's but wanting more action, femme fatale, and murder. Not the case with this collection. I REALLY enjoyed every story and even found myself looking up all the author's I didn't know afterword. Well worth it!
August 19, 2017
I love the idea of this book and I loved some of the stories. Pelecanos did a fantastic job of selecting stories from early 20th century to present-day that take place all over the DC area.
There's an entire series of books like this focused on cities all over the US and coming soon, cities from around the world. I'm excited to delve into the others.
There's an entire series of books like this focused on cities all over the US and coming soon, cities from around the world. I'm excited to delve into the others.
July 28, 2015
A collection of stories set in D.C. from 1900 to 2006, by various authors, known and unknown. Forget the noir aspect – that’s mostly marketing. Some good writing here, some good D.C. ambience, some writers worth pursuing. Julian Mazor, James Grady, Benjamin M. Schutz are standouts.
Currently reading
August 20, 2008more to dc than the west wing. Noir short stories reveal a complex city on and off the hill.
December 27, 2008
This anthology is a great sampler of literature by DC authors. It covers the real city - all those neighborhoods beyond Capitol Hill and K Street. Includes a fine piece by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
January 4, 2009
If you know DC, this is a must for you. I read about 2 stories every night on vacation.
Read
January 8, 2009Excellent
Want to read
July 1, 2009Too many other books to read so I'll get this back from the library another time.
p. 127
p. 127
July 18, 2009
A collection of short stories from DC-native writers spanning from 1900 to the present. The early stories have a lot of racial undertones to them. Fun, and interesting, reading so far.
July 30, 2013
A very mixed bag. Not all the stories are classic noire. Methinks the editor rounded up some fellow authors to round out the collection.
August 8, 2014
A collection of very good short stories
December 2, 2016
Broad definition of noir.
February 10, 2019
It's a fun and neat idea, but I'm not sure this was my favourite collection of stories. One or two really gripped me, but ended before I felt I got closure. The others were often a bit of a slog. They were also older stories, not really set in a time I know. That may have had something to do with it. I'm still intrigued by the other two I have (Boston and Marseille).
May 23, 2020
Like any other collection of short stories, some are very good and others are meh. But overall I enjoyed them. The final story about a cop who shoots a kid on a traffic stop is particularly poignant. But several were confusing and complicated in terms of plot and morals.
September 8, 2023
Very hit and miss on each story, the original DC Noir anthology was more consistent in each story being high quality and/or interesting.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews