NOIR CITY: Current and Classic Noir Mystery and Crime Fiction
By Walden Pond Books
By Walden Pond Books
Presented by the Film Noir Foundation, NOIR CITY, the world's most popular film noir festival, celebrates its 20th anniversary January 20 - 29, 2023, at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre - right down the street from Walden Pond Books.
Walden Pond Books will be displaying and selling a choice selection of noir books - new, used, and rare - at the Grand Lake Theatre Fridays through Sundays, January 20 - 22 and January 27 -29. We hope to see you there!
YOU'VE SEEN THE MOVIES? NOW READ THE BOOKS!
This list is our pick of the most acclaimed noir fiction and nonfiction. Herein you'll find classics by the old masters, new releases from the best of the neo-noir authors of the 21st century, and the most essential books about noir film and fiction.
- The list's title annotations offer a historical tour of noir fiction and film, with the "old masters" on Page One followed by choice examples of modern noir authors on Page Two.
- Not all of the books listed here have been made into films, but those that haven't certainly deserve to!
- The list concludes with our pick of the best anthologies of noir short stories and a number of essential histories, surveys, art books, and photography books.
The Big Book of the Continental Op
Dashiell Hammett
$27.00 $25.111923 - 1930: A short story in the October 1 , 1923 issue of "Black Mask" magazine introduced Hammett's character, the Continental Op, a nameless detective who tells his tale in the first person and would become the prototype for every hardboiled detective in noir fiction. That short story - "Arson Plus" - was so wildly popular with readers that the very next issue featured two more Continental Op stories. This volume contains all twenty-eight of the original stories, the original serialized versions of the two Continental Op novels - "Red Harvest" and "The Dain Curse" - and a previously unpublished short story. A "must-have" for any noir aficionado!
The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett
$16.00 $14.881929 - 1930: The September, 1929 issue of "Black Mask" magazine published the first chapter of a new serialized Hammett novel and Sam Spade was introduced to the world. The archetypal cynical private eye, Hammett's character is now probably indelibly associated with Humphrey Bogart, who played Spade in the iconic 1941 film directed by John Huston which co-starred Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Special Edition)
James M Cain
$16.00 $14.881934 - Still acclaimed as one of the best works of crime fiction of the 20th century, James M. Cain's novel of the consequences of an illicit love affair has been adapted for motion pictures seven times. The third filming (1946) starring Lana Turner and John Garfield is a film noir classic.
Double Indemnity
James M Cain
$16.00 $14.881936 - Originally serialized in eight issues of "Liberty Magazine", Cain's novella was adapted for the screen by Raymond Chandler and directed by Billy Wilder. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyk, and Edward G. Robinson, the 1944 film is often cited as having set the standard for film noir.
Thieves Like Us
Edward Anderson
$12.641937 - Edward Anderson's novel of a young convict on the run was made into the 1948 film noir classic "They Live by Night", starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell. [Noir City Film Festival screening: Thursday, January 26, 2023 @ 7:00 pm]
Brain Guy / Plunder
Benjamin Appel
$19.95 $18.551934 / 1952 - This new edition of two long-out-of-print novels by one of noir's masters received a rapturous response from literary critics upon the 2006 republication. Set in New York City, "Brain Guy" tells the tale of a rent collector turned criminal mastermind. The post-war "Plunder" is aptly titled: two AWOL American soldiers pillage and plunder their way through Manila, Philippines.
Sweet Money Girl/Life and Death of a Tough Guy
Benjamin Appel
$19.95 $18.551954 / 1955 - Two more of Benjamin Appel's novels cement his reputation as one of noir's best writers. Appel authored over forty books and hundreds of short stories, many of which cry out for film adaptations.
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
$16.00 $14.88One of the quintessential authors of noir fiction, Raymond Chandler introduced the private investigator Philip Marlowe to the world in his 1939 debut novel. Two movie adaptations: the 1946 Howard Hawks film starring Humphrey Bogart and the 1978 film starring another film noir icon, Robert Mitchum. Over the next two decades, Chandler delivered six more novels and a collection of short stories featuring Philip Marlowe, ensuring the Los Angeles detective's place in the pantheon of noir heroes.
Collected Stories of Raymond Chandler: Introduction by John Bayley
Raymond Chandler
$35.00 $32.551933 - 1958 - Twenty-five short stories by one of noir's grand masters culled from magazines such as "Black Mask", Dime Detective", "The Saturday Evening Post", and "The Atlantic Monthly".
The Bride Wore Black
Cornell Woolrich
$15.95 $14.831940 - Using the pseudonym William Irish, Woolrich turned from his previous mainstream fiction to produce his first noir novel. French director François Truffaut adapted the book into the 1968 film "La Mariée était en noir", starring Jeanne Moreau. This was one of Truffaut's first films shot in color, and many years later, the director stated that he regretted the "emotional tones" missed by not shooting it in black-and-white.
Four Novellas of Fear: Eyes That Watch You, The Night I Died, You'll Never See Me Again, Murder Always Gathers Momentum
Cornell Woolrich
$12.95Written during the early 1950s, these four Woolrich novellas prove that nobody could ratchet up tension and suspense like Cornell Woolrich! Dozens of films from his prolific output of novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen: His novel "The Black Curtain" was filmed as "Street of Chance" (1942) starring Burgess Meredith. His novel "Phantom Lady" became the first film (1944) produced by Alfred Hitchcock protégé Joan Harrison. His short story "It Had to Be Murder" was adapted into the 1954 Hitchcock classic "Rear Window" starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
High Sierra / The Asphalt Jungle
W R Burnett
$20.95 $19.481941 / 1949 - A noteworthy screenwriter as well as a novelist, Burnett and co-writer John Huston adapted his "High Sierra" into the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart. (The film's success led to Huston transitioning from screenwriter to director.) Burnett then adapted "The Asphalt Jungle" into the 1950 film directed by Huston and starring that other film noir icon, Sterling Hayden.
The Fabulous Clipjoint
Fredric Brown
$15.95 $14.831947 - After a decade of churning out hundreds of short stories for the pulp magazines of the era, Fredric Brown won the 1948 Edgar Award for this, his first full-length novel. A page-turning tour through the seamy Chicago underworld, it is one of noir's masterpieces.
The Far Cry / The Screaming Mimi
Fredric Brown
$16.951952 / 1950 - Two more of Fredric Brown's works highlight his exceptional talent. "The Screaming Mimi" was adapted into the 1958 film "Screaming Mimi" starring Anita Ekberg and Gypsy Rose Lee. (Currently undergoing somewhat of a rediscovery, Fredric Brown remains one of the very few authors to achieve equal prominence as both a novelist and a short story writer in both mystery and science fiction genres with many of his works coming back into print. "What Mad Universe" and "Martians Go Home" are noteworthy examples of his science fiction novels.)
I, the Jury--My Gun is Quick--Vengeance is Mine!
Mickey Spillane
$18.00 $16.741947 / 1950 / 1950 - Beginning with "I, the Jury", Spillane's first three novels introduced Spillane's most famous character, the hardboiled detective with a permanent chip on his shoulder, Mike Hammer. Spillane's novels are among the most successful noir books ever published. Motion picture adaptations include the 1953 3-D film of "I, the Jury" starring Biff Elliot ("So raw... so big... so full of naked fury... it had to be filmed in 3-D!") and the 1957 film of "My Gun Is Quick" starring Robert Bray.
House of Flesh
Bruno Fischer
$13.951950 - Bruno Fischer was one of the most successful noir authors of the 1950s (the Golden Age of Noir Fiction). Readers of the time had never before encountered a novel so rife with psychological horror, but this, Fischer's first title for Gold Medal Books, was a runaway success selling almost two million copies.
The Killer Inside Me
Jim Thompson
$16.99 $15.801952 - Jim Thompson's tale of blackmail and revenge has been acclaimed as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written". In 1976, the novel was the basis for the neo-noir film starring Stacy Keach as the sociopathic deputy sheriff.
The Getaway
Jim Thompson
$16.99 $15.801958 - A professional thief and his wife go on the run after a bank robbery goes horribly wrong. The twists and turns of their escape lead them (almost literally) to hell. The novel has been adapted into films twice: in 1972 (starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw) and in 1994 (starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger). Both films changed the novel's ending which critics had singled out for raves upon the book's first publication.
The Grifters
Jim Thompson
$16.99 $15.801963 - There is arguably no better fictional treatment of sociopathic con artists than this chilling masterpiece. The 1990 film produced by Martin Scorsese and starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening, is hailed as one of the best neo-noir films ever made.
Shoot the Piano Player
David Goodis
$15.001956 - This is the novel (original title, "Down There") that director François Truffaut adapted for his 1960 French New Wave film "Tirez sur le pianiste" ("Shoot the Piano Player"). The film's U.S. release had a significant influence on the aesthetics of the emerging 1960s American counterculture. An exemplary noir author, Goodis was a master at creating doomed, downtrodden outsiders in hopeless situations and this was evident in most of his work. Many of his books were adapted for motion pictures, the most notable being "Dark Passage" (1946), adapted for the 1947 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Patricia Highsmith
$15.95 $14.831955 - The first of Patricia Highsmith's five stellar novels featuring Tom Ripley, a high-functioning sociopath who justifies his crimes with the best of intentions. One of the most memorable anti-heroes in noir fiction, Ripley manages to get readers rooting for his success, no matter how heinous his deceits, frauds, and murders. Two motion picture adaptations: the 1960 French film "Plein soleil" ("Purple Noon") starring Alain Delon as Ripley, and the 1999 film (same title as the book) starring Matt Damon in the title role and co-starring Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Ripley's Game
Patricia Highsmith
$13.95 $12.971974 - The third of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels finds Tom Ripley in comfortable married middle age - but with all his amoral criminal talents still intact. Two neo-noir film adaptations: the 1977 film "The American Friend" starring Dennis Hopper and the 2002 film (same title as the book) starring John Malkovich.
The Sailcloth Shroud / All the Way
Charles Williams
$19.95 $18.551960 / 1958 - These are the only novels still in print by Charles Williams, regarded by many critics as one of the finest noir novelists of the 1950s and 1960s. "All the Way" was adapted to the 1960 film "The Third Voice" starring Edmond O'Brien. Williams' first two novels were "Hill Girl (1951) and "River Girl" (1951) - both outstanding examples of the "backwoods noir" subgenre and were wildly popular with readers of the time. Williams produced over 20 novels, many of which were adapted for motion pictures. Film treatments include his "The Wrong Venus" (1966), which became the 1968 film "Don't Just Stand There" (Williams also wrote the screenplay), and his "Dead Calm" (1963), which was adapted to the 1989 Australian film starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane.
The Black Mass of Brother Springer
Charles Willeford
$20.641958 - The author's original title was rejected and this was first published as "Honey Gal" at the insistence of Willeford's publisher who was uncomfortable with the novel's cynical take on religion and its portrayal of an interracial romance during the early years of the civil rights movement. Thankfully, the author's preferred title has now been restored. One of the best of the noir authors of the 1950s and 1960s, Willeford disappeared from the literary scene for well over a decade but came roaring back in 1984 with "Miami Blues", the first of four novels featuring the delightfully twisted Florida detective Hoke Moseley. Shortly after Willeford's death in 1988, "Miami Blues" was adapted for the screen as the 1990 neo-noir black comedy film starring Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
The Woman Chaser
Charles Ray Willeford
$15.991960 - Thankfully, one of Willeford's best novels is still in print, due to its adaptation into the 1999 neo-noir cult film starring Patrick Warburton as a used car dealer determined to make a movie his way, no matter what the cost. Thankfully, the movie remained true to the original novel.
A must-watch:
Related book lists from Walden Pond Books:
- The 2022 Edgar Award Nominees for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel
- The 2021 Edgar Award Nominees for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel
- The 2020 Edgar Award Nominees for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel
- SPIES, SPIES, SPIES: The Best of Current and Classic Espionage Fiction
- The Inspector Maigret Novels of GEORGES SIMENON
- EDGAR ALLAN POE: Works, Biographies, & Criticism