A collection of 36 of the very best hardboiled stories filling more than 500 pages and arranged decade by decade, commencing in the 1920s and finishing up-to-date in the '90s. All of the usual suspects are present: Hammett, Chandler, Cain (both James M and Paul), Burnett representing the early years, with Goodis, Himes, Gil Brewer, Mickey Spillane, John D MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, and others standing in for the '40s and '50s. The later years are represented by the likes of Jim Thompson, Andrew Vachss, James Ellroy, Lawrence Block and Ed Gorman.

The editors are experts in their field, and an excellent feature of the book is the one- or two-page biographical overview of each author, preceding their work. The book also sports a useful long introduction by the editors which attempts to define the sub-genre of hardboiled crime fiction and to set it into proper context. In this task they succeed well, and the entire book is a delight to browse through and dip into -- to sample again the old favourites and also to learn about the lesser known. An essential buy for the lover of the hardboiled. ( )

Representative stories from the beginning of the genre/form until the book's publication (1995), organized by decade. Heavy on the 1930s and 1950s. By page count, about half the book comprises what I think of as hard-boiled crime, 3/4 of which are in the first half of the book. The other stories, not so much. They're good, mostly, but hardly hard-boiled, as most people understand the term.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is evident in the introductory essay, where they spend three and a half half-assed, contradictory pages failing to describe what makes a hard-boiled crime story. They float a number of terms, some familiar to lit-crit and some not. They don't detail the application of the familiar ones to the hard-boiled story, and they don't even define the unfamiliar ones. They even seem to lump 'hard-boiled' and 'noir.' So, in the remainder of the essay, which is basically a 15-page publishing history of the genre/form/whatever (they use both words, apparently interchangeably), when they say that this author or that period expanded the definition or broadened the genre/form/whatever, I was left wondering, WTF? Because as far as I can tell, most of the later (mid-1950s on) stories that are included can only be included if one uses a (to my mind) overly broad definition of hard-boiled, which they do, but they never tell you what their definition is. They just paste on the hard-boiled label to suit themselves. All of this is particularly ironic given their complaint in the first paragraph of the intro essay about the misuse and misunderstanding of the hard-boiled label and genre/form/whatever.

In summary: good stories, bad anthologizing. ( )

A really excellent anthology. An informative introduction of around fifteen pages to set it up for you, and there are also good introductory passages to each story that tell you something about each author, and set the scene for the work.

Reading this has been a very pleasing and enlightening experience as far as the title goes.

Interestingly, the only lame story, that could perhaps have stayed in literary journal land as it is rather dull was followed by two ripper five star wild stories in a row. For SF fans, you will find a Leigh Brackett story here.

The stories proceed in chronological order, decade by decade, from Hammett to Gorman.

Really well done, and to the publishers too, for putting this out. Another good Oxford University Press lengthy retrospective.

At a 3.71 average, and the extra material I'd call this a 4.75 plus.

Hard-Boiled : The Scorched Face - Dashiell Hammett
Hard-Boiled : Round Trip - W. R. Burnett
Hard-Boiled : Mistral - Raoul Whitfield
Hard-Boiled : Backwash - Frederick Nebel
Hard-Boiled : Trouble-Chaser - Paul Cain
Hard-Boiled : Fruit Tramp - Daniel Mainwaring
Hard-Boiled : Brush Fire - James M. Cain
Hard-Boiled : Human Interest Stuff - Brett Halliday
Hard-Boiled : Waiting for Rusty - William Cole
Hard-Boiled : I'll Be Waiting - Raymond Chandler
Hard-Boiled : Marijuana and a Pistol - Chester Himes
Hard-Boiled : Who Said I Was Dead? - Norbert Davis
Hard-Boiled : Nor Iron Bars - John D. MacDonald
Hard-Boiled : Dock Walloper - Benjamin Appel
Hard-Boiled : Three-Ten to Yuma - Elmore Leonard
Hard-Boiled : The Bobby-Soxer - Jonathan Craig
Hard-Boiled : Black Pudding - David Goodis
Hard-Boiled : Guilt-Edged Blonde - Ross Macdonald
Hard-Boiled : Mama's Boy - David Alexander
Hard-Boiled : The Screen Test of Mike Hammer - Mickey Spillane
Hard-Boiled : Home - Gil Brewer
Hard-Boiled : So Pale So Cold So Fair - Leigh Brackett
Hard-Boiled : A Piece of Ground - Helen Nielsen
Hard-Boiled : The Merry, Merry Christmas - Evan Hunter
Hard-Boiled : Forever After - Jim Thompson
Hard-Boiled : The Old Pro - H. A. DeRosso
Hard-Boiled : The Saturday Night Deaths - Michael Kerr
Hard-Boiled : Graveyard Shift - James M. Reasoner
Hard-Boiled : Deadhead Coming Down - Margaret Maron
Hard-Boiled : To Florida - Robert Sampson
Hard-Boiled : It's a Hard World - Andrew Vachss
Hard-Boiled : Junior Jackson’s Parable - James Hannah
Hard-Boiled : Bonding - Faye Kellerman
Hard-Boiled : Gravy Train - James Ellroy
Hard-Boiled : Batman's Helpers - Lawrence Block
Hard-Boiled : The Long Silence After - Ed Gorman

Orgy killzone negative Con Op coverup bull.

4 out of 5

Those Toledo flatfeet are too bent for us Chicago gangsters, boss.

3.5 out of 5

Bad wind and bullets in on the lam bar showdown.

3.5 out of 5

I'm just a governer-elect robbing gigolo.

4 out of 5

No talent for blackmail, either.

3.5 out of 5

He ain't no peach with a hole in him.

3 out of 5

Save him, kill him, very annoying.

3.5 out of 5

Ranger justice engineering.

4 out of 5

Miss twice and hope to die.

3.5 out of 5

"I could maybe give nine guesses. And twelve of them would be right."

3.5 out of 5

This is a stickup, dope.

3.5 out of 5

Not everybody, apparently.

3 out of 5

You can have him, boys. However, he does have a submachine gun. Go for your lives.

4 out of 5

No trouble, please.

3.5 out of 5

Working hard for the money. Bullets flying honey.

4 out of 5

Just a pro, unless you act funny.

3.5 out of 5

If you left me alone when I got out of the slammer, I wouldn't have had to make you kill each other.

4 out of 5

Mom, I'm running out of family, here. Tell her Mr. Archer.

4 out of 5

She went down like a two dollar really smart witness.

3.5 out of 5

Back up, make sure you got him.

3.5 out of 5

A local crimelord has a problem when the body of a reporter enemy's old lover is dumped on the newsman's doorstep.

4 out of 5

Too good to be true is a real killer, farmboy.

4.5 out of 5

Happy person lights out.

4 out of 5

Husbands, a pain in the neck.

3 out of 5

Need a non-soft killer again.

4 out of 5

Finishing off the bad loose ends, captain.

4 out of 5

Seven-eleven cleanup experience.

4 out of 5

Trucking along racking up the X's.

3.5 out of 5

Holiday cracker clearout.

3 out of 5

I think I'll let you have my spot in it.

3.5 out of 5

Organ Walls.

2.5 out of 5

Professionally not bored.

5 out of 5

Love me, love my bull terrier.

5 out of 5

The Copyright Protection Case.

3.5 out of 5

Disease shooter decision.

4 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/09... ( )

A pretty damn definitive collection on the subject--working so hard to include all the greats that an unpublished screen test written by Spillane is in there, because he didn't do short stories. The lesser-known hidden gems are also definitely worth your time.