Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City
by Nicholas Christopher
On This Page
Description
Acclaimed novelist and poet Nicholas Christopher explores the cultural identity of film noir in a seamless, elegant, and enchanting work of literary prose. Examining virtually the entire catalogue of film noir, Christopher identifies the central motif as the urban labyrinth, a place infested with psychosis, anxiety, and existential dread in which the noir hero embarks on a dangerously illuminating quest. With acute sensitivity, he shows how technical devices such as lighting, voice over, and show more editing tempo are deployed to create the film noir world. Somewhere in the Night guides us through the architecture of this imaginary world, be it shot in New York or Los Angeles, relating its elements to the ancient cultural archetypes that prefigure it. Finally, Christopher builds an explanation of why film noir not only lives on but is currently enjoying a renaissance. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information

20+ Works 1,821 Members
Nicholas Christopher was born in New York City and educated at Harvard where he studied poetry with Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. He is the author of sixteen books, including the novels Veronica, The Soloist, and Tiger Rag. His selected poems, Crossing the Equator, was published in 2004, and his first novel for children, The True Adventures show more of Nicholas Zen, was published last year. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Constance, and teaches at Columbia. show less
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 791.43655 — Arts & recreation Recreation, sports, and performing arts Movies, TV, Video Motion pictures, radio, television, podcasting Motion pictures Special aspects of films; film adaptations, film genres {class specific films in 791.437} Films dealing with humanity Social themes
- LCC
- PN1995.9 .F54 .C54 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Drama Motion pictures
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 126
- Popularity
- 256,196
- Rating
- (3.86)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
























































