What is Brooklyn Noir 2: the Classics about?
Read “Pink Houses,” Tim McLoughlin’s contribution to Akashic’s Mondays Are Murder series.
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Featuring stories by: H.P. Lovecraft, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, Pete Hamill, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Irwin Shaw, Carolyn Wheat, Thomas Wolfe, Hubert Selby, Jr., Stanley Ellin, Gilbert Sorrentino, Maggie Estep, and Salvatore Lapuma.
From the introduction by Tim McLoughlin:
“The success of Brooklyn Noir, launched in the summer of 2004, surpassed all expectations. I’m pleased to say . . . Working on this volume has been a different task than the first, in that there was little interaction, from an editorial point of view, with the writers, some of whom are deceased. This time I felt more like an archeologist, mining volumes old and new, looking for treasure. The rule for the first Brooklyn Noir had been that each story had to be previously unpublished. Here, just the opposite. Brooklyn Noir 2 stories had to have been printed somewhere else before they hit the doorstep. That was about the only difference. I tried again to capture the special dread, tension, and solid writing that good dark fiction possesses. The scary feeling of watching the average Joe getting in over his head, or accidentally brushing up against something sinister on the way to work . . .
The tales cross all boundaries of past and present, well-known and unknown neighborhoods, literary and genre traditions. It all goes into that great cocktail shaker that is Brooklyn. As editor, I have the pleasure of picking the ingredients, mixing them, and serving them to you. And that makes me the luckiest bartender in the world. Enjoy.”
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Old School Brooklyn
“The Horror at Red Hook” by H.P. Lovecraft (Red Hook)
“Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” by Thomas Wolfe (Brooklyn Subway)
“Borough of Cemeteries” by Irwin Shaw (Brownsville)
Part II: New School Brooklyn
“Tugboat Syndrome” by Jonathan Lethem (Carroll Gardens)
“The All-Night Bodega of Souls” by Colson Whitehead (Fort Greene)
“The Only Good Judge” by Carolyn Wheat (Brooklyn Heights)
“Luck Be a Lady” by Maggie Estep (Kensington)
Part III: Cops & Robbers
“By the Dawn’s Early Light” by Lawrence Block (Sunset Park)
“The Best-Friend Murder” by Donald E. Westlake (Park Slope)
“The Men in Black Raincoats” by Pete Hamill (South Slope)
“The Day of the Bullet” by Stanley Ellin (Bath Beach)
Part IV: Wartime Brooklyn
“Tralala” by Hugert Selby, Jr. (South Brooklyn)
“The Boys of Bensonhurst” by Salvatore La Puma (Bensonhurst)
“Steelwork” by Gilbert Sorrentino (Bay Ridge)