Johnny Temple
Author of USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series
Works by Johnny Temple
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- publisher
editor
bass guitarist - Organizations
- Brooklyn Literary Council
- Short biography
- [from Akashic Books website]
Johnny Temple is the publisher and editor in chief of Akashic Books, an award-winning Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction. Temple won the 2013 Ellery Queen Award; the American Association of Publishers' 2005 Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing; and the 2010 Jay and Deen Kogan Award for Excellence in Noir Literature. Temple plays bass guitar in the band Girls Against Boys, which has toured extensively across the globe and released numerous albums on independent and major record companies. He has contributed articles and political essays to various publications, including the Nation, Publishers Weekly, AlterNet, Poets & Writers, and BookForum. He is also the chair of the Brooklyn Literary Council, which works with Brooklyn's borough president to plan the annual Brooklyn Book Festival in September. He is the editor of USA Noir. - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Akashic books has an extensive series of these "noir" anthologies, each set in a different city or region. As the title suggests, this volume features selected standout stories from the previous books, excluding the ones set in places outside the US.
As with any collection of stories, I liked some of these better than others, but on the whole it's an extremely high-quality anthology. (And, at 500+ pages, quite a meaty one, as well.) Some of these pieces are heavy on the plot, but I'd say most show more of them put more emphasis on character and atmosphere and a sense of place. Pretty much all of them are well-written. And they share a remarkably consistent feel. These are stories about the downtrodden, the damaged, and the corrupt, of people who strive hopelessly for something better or who suffer quietly under their burden of desperation until it bursts forth into violence, people who fall prey to the ugliness around them or give in and become part of it. It's actually given me a new, much more well-defined sense of exactly what that word "noir" means. Because, clearly, this is what it means.
Definitely recommended, if this sort of thing sounds at all like something you'd be interested in. I might recommend not reading it through too quickly, though, as it can get pretty darned depressing.
Now, I just want to know when they're going to think of my home state and come out with a New Mexico Noir. Come on, guys! Breaking Bad has left a large gap to fill! show less
As with any collection of stories, I liked some of these better than others, but on the whole it's an extremely high-quality anthology. (And, at 500+ pages, quite a meaty one, as well.) Some of these pieces are heavy on the plot, but I'd say most show more of them put more emphasis on character and atmosphere and a sense of place. Pretty much all of them are well-written. And they share a remarkably consistent feel. These are stories about the downtrodden, the damaged, and the corrupt, of people who strive hopelessly for something better or who suffer quietly under their burden of desperation until it bursts forth into violence, people who fall prey to the ugliness around them or give in and become part of it. It's actually given me a new, much more well-defined sense of exactly what that word "noir" means. Because, clearly, this is what it means.
Definitely recommended, if this sort of thing sounds at all like something you'd be interested in. I might recommend not reading it through too quickly, though, as it can get pretty darned depressing.
Now, I just want to know when they're going to think of my home state and come out with a New Mexico Noir. Come on, guys! Breaking Bad has left a large gap to fill! show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.For readers of noir fiction, the Akashic Noir series represents a major literary phenomenon. Since 2004, Akashic Books has published over 60 anthologies of short stories, each of which contains works set in a particular city or neighborhood. “USA Noir” presents 37 stories that are billed as the “best” of the series, stories chosen by the publisher and editor of the series, Johnny Temple. Several of the chosen stories have been recognized with awards and prizes. Among the authors show more represented herein are such notable figures as Dennis Lehane, Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffery Deaver, Pete Hamill, and Lawrence Block, as well as a generation of new writers from whom works were solicited for the Akashic series. Settings of the tales are nationwide in scope, and include Boston, New Orleans, Brooklyn, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles, as well as less obvious choices for noir fiction as Cape Cod, Princeton, and Staten Island.
Readers schooled in the traditions of Raymond Chandler and James Cain will be surprised to find how far the genre has come. These tales contrast markedly with the formulaic (and sometimes parodied) tone and content of the early tradition – showing that the dark side of human nature and the sleazy underbelly of existence are not bounded by gender, age, or geography. The tone of these stories is often grim (to no surprise); and some were downright haunting, some were surreal, and a couple seemed needlessly violent or pointless. Overall, I found that the stories were best digested in small doses of 1 or 2 stories per evening.
As with any broad collection of short stories, readers will find some stories more appealing than others. For my part, I particularly appreciated the contributions by Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Don Winslow, Joseph Bruchac, and William Kent Kruger. In reading short stories, I rate them with zero to five stars (with anything over 3 stars being worth rereading someday, and with anything under 2 stars to be avoided). Below is a list of the stories in "USA Noir" with my own ratings. It's great to see that the noir genre is alive and well!
Dennis Lehane, “Animal Rescue” 2*
George Pelecanos, “The Confidential Informant” 3*
Susan Straight, “The Golden Gopher” 2*
Pete Hamill, “The Book Signing” 4*
Joyce Carol Oates, “Run Kiss Daddy” 3.5*
Terrance Hayes, “Still Air” 2*
Jerome Charyn, “White Trash” 1*
Maggie Estep, “Alice Fantastic” 2*
Bayo Ojikutu, “The Gospel of Moral Ends” 0*
Tim McLoughlin, “When All This Was Bay Ridge” 3.5*
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, “Crazy for You” 4*
Reed Farrel Coleman, “Mastermind” 3.5*
Karen Karbo, “The Clown and Bard” 1*
Michael Connelly, “Mulholland Dive” 3.5*
Megan Abbott, “Our Eyes Couldn’t Stop Opening” 3*
Lee Child, “Public Transportation” 2*
Jonathan Safran Foer, “Too Near Real” 3*
James W. Hall, “Ride Along” 3*
Elyssa East, “Second Chance” 3*
Don Winslow, “After Thirty” 4*
J. Malcolm Garcia, “Missing Gene” 1.5*
Julie Smith, “Loot” 1*
Domenic Stansberry, “The Prison” 2.5*
Joseph Bruchac, “Helper” 4*
Laura Lippman, “Easy As A-B-C” 3*
Pir Rothenberg, “The Rose Red Vial” 3*
Luis Alberto Urrea, “Amapola” 2.5*
John O’Brien, “The Tik” 0*
S.J. Rozan, “Lighthouse” 1*
Asali Solomon, “Secret Pool” 1*
William Kent Kruger, “Bums” 4*
T. Jefferson Parker, “Vic Primeval” 1*
Tim Broderick, “Feeding Frenzy” 0*
Bharti Kirchner “Promised Tulips” 0*
Lawrence Block, “If You Can’t Stand the Heat” 3.5*
Lisa Sandlin, “Phelan’s First Case” 3.5*
Jeffery Deaver, “A Nice Place to Visit” 3* show less
Readers schooled in the traditions of Raymond Chandler and James Cain will be surprised to find how far the genre has come. These tales contrast markedly with the formulaic (and sometimes parodied) tone and content of the early tradition – showing that the dark side of human nature and the sleazy underbelly of existence are not bounded by gender, age, or geography. The tone of these stories is often grim (to no surprise); and some were downright haunting, some were surreal, and a couple seemed needlessly violent or pointless. Overall, I found that the stories were best digested in small doses of 1 or 2 stories per evening.
As with any broad collection of short stories, readers will find some stories more appealing than others. For my part, I particularly appreciated the contributions by Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Don Winslow, Joseph Bruchac, and William Kent Kruger. In reading short stories, I rate them with zero to five stars (with anything over 3 stars being worth rereading someday, and with anything under 2 stars to be avoided). Below is a list of the stories in "USA Noir" with my own ratings. It's great to see that the noir genre is alive and well!
Dennis Lehane, “Animal Rescue” 2*
George Pelecanos, “The Confidential Informant” 3*
Susan Straight, “The Golden Gopher” 2*
Pete Hamill, “The Book Signing” 4*
Joyce Carol Oates, “Run Kiss Daddy” 3.5*
Terrance Hayes, “Still Air” 2*
Jerome Charyn, “White Trash” 1*
Maggie Estep, “Alice Fantastic” 2*
Bayo Ojikutu, “The Gospel of Moral Ends” 0*
Tim McLoughlin, “When All This Was Bay Ridge” 3.5*
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, “Crazy for You” 4*
Reed Farrel Coleman, “Mastermind” 3.5*
Karen Karbo, “The Clown and Bard” 1*
Michael Connelly, “Mulholland Dive” 3.5*
Megan Abbott, “Our Eyes Couldn’t Stop Opening” 3*
Lee Child, “Public Transportation” 2*
Jonathan Safran Foer, “Too Near Real” 3*
James W. Hall, “Ride Along” 3*
Elyssa East, “Second Chance” 3*
Don Winslow, “After Thirty” 4*
J. Malcolm Garcia, “Missing Gene” 1.5*
Julie Smith, “Loot” 1*
Domenic Stansberry, “The Prison” 2.5*
Joseph Bruchac, “Helper” 4*
Laura Lippman, “Easy As A-B-C” 3*
Pir Rothenberg, “The Rose Red Vial” 3*
Luis Alberto Urrea, “Amapola” 2.5*
John O’Brien, “The Tik” 0*
S.J. Rozan, “Lighthouse” 1*
Asali Solomon, “Secret Pool” 1*
William Kent Kruger, “Bums” 4*
T. Jefferson Parker, “Vic Primeval” 1*
Tim Broderick, “Feeding Frenzy” 0*
Bharti Kirchner “Promised Tulips” 0*
Lawrence Block, “If You Can’t Stand the Heat” 3.5*
Lisa Sandlin, “Phelan’s First Case” 3.5*
Jeffery Deaver, “A Nice Place to Visit” 3* show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.I have read three volumes in the Akashic Noir series and found each one (from Baltimore to Richmond to Venice) simply disappointing, with little to offer beyond crime story novelty and geographical curiosity. Book after book seemed to be built from a collection of available writers; anyone with a few professional credits and a "yeah, I bet I can do that" attitude was getting in.
This best-of collection has the benefit of finally exposing the handful of diamonds this endeavor has produced. show more Quickly scan the contributors' bios and it is clear why. This is a large set of stories by experienced novelists and short story writers, many heavily awarded in the mystery and crime fiction field. The journalists dabbling in fiction and colorful local characters' contributions are left in the place-bound souvenirs where they belong. This book is what you've wanted out of Akashic Noir ever since you learned it existed.
This is one small downside worth mentioning, although easy to take given the size of this book: Some of the stories by the bigger selling writers don't belong. Michael Connelly's seems not more than an excuse to use research discarded from a higher profile project. T. Jefferson Parker's "Vic Primeval" is puzzlingly awful. show less
This best-of collection has the benefit of finally exposing the handful of diamonds this endeavor has produced. show more Quickly scan the contributors' bios and it is clear why. This is a large set of stories by experienced novelists and short story writers, many heavily awarded in the mystery and crime fiction field. The journalists dabbling in fiction and colorful local characters' contributions are left in the place-bound souvenirs where they belong. This book is what you've wanted out of Akashic Noir ever since you learned it existed.
This is one small downside worth mentioning, although easy to take given the size of this book: Some of the stories by the bigger selling writers don't belong. Michael Connelly's seems not more than an excuse to use research discarded from a higher profile project. T. Jefferson Parker's "Vic Primeval" is puzzlingly awful. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.I'm not sure what I expected when I requested this book. Actually - I do know...I had the idea that anything with "noir" would be some kind of Sam Spade detective collection. That led me to question why I was requesting it- I'm not a big detective novel fan.
Fortunately, my understanding of noir was a little off. The stories, each with its own dark twists and turns for the most part, didn't deal with detectives. The handful that did were still enjoyable. The talent was pretty much level show more throughout, making the collection a nice read. I'd recommend this collection and based on the strength of the talent here, even though it's a "best of the best" situation, I'd probably pick up the collections from the different regions - or at least areas I know personally. show less
Fortunately, my understanding of noir was a little off. The stories, each with its own dark twists and turns for the most part, didn't deal with detectives. The handful that did were still enjoyable. The talent was pretty much level show more throughout, making the collection a nice read. I'd recommend this collection and based on the strength of the talent here, even though it's a "best of the best" situation, I'd probably pick up the collections from the different regions - or at least areas I know personally. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
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- 2
- Members
- 100
- Popularity
- #190,119
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
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