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Loading... Twin Cities Noir (Akashic Noir) (original 2006; edition 2006)by Julie Schaper (Editor), David Housewright (Author), Steve Thayer (Author), Judith Guest (Author), Mary Logue (Author) — 11 more, Bruce Rubenstein (Author), K. J. Erickson (Author), William Kent Krueger (Author), Ellen Hart (Author), Brad Zellar (Author), Mary Sharratt (Author), Pete Hautman (Author), Larry Millett (Author), Quinton Skinner (Author), Gary Bush (Author), Chris Everheart (Author)
Work InformationTwin Cities Noir by Julie Schaper (Editor) (2006)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Never a big fan of short stories, except early Hemingway's, I highly recommend this book. And, that's a little crazy since I never traveled to Minneapolis or Saint Paul and don't intend to. I do intend to explore this Noir Series that was totally a new discovery for me. I couldn't imagine how I had missed this whole collection of books each one targeted at a certain city across the globe. Wow! I just can't stress enough the magic of these Noir short stories. Now I guess I am on way to Boston Noir, Manhattan Noir and Istanbul Noir, etc. Gee! no reviews | add a review
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As recently as the mid-90s, Minneapolis was called Murderopolis due to a rash of killings that occurred over a long hot summer. St Paul was originally named after Pig's Eye Parrant - trapper, moonshiner and proprietor of the most popular drinking establishment on the Mississippi. In 1849, when Minnesota became a territory, the town leaders, realising that a place called Pig's Eye might not inspire civic confidence, changed the name to St Paul. Here the underside of the Murderopolis and St Paul is revealed from the inside out. No library descriptions found. |
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For some reason, Minnesota has a vibrant and growing community of mystery writers and I wanted to see some of this local color, as I am not a habitual reader of mysteries. While the stories varied in their depiction of Minneapolis and St. Paul (some used the city as mere backdrop, while others drew distinctive local color into their narratives), they are quite evocative of the culture of the Twin Cities and Minnesota in general, its diversity and idiosyncrasies both. A variety of styles are explored, from surreal, almost magic realist, to traditionalist film noir crime drama. A handful of period pieces set in the 1890s and 1930s (both very evocative periods) round it out, some go for humor and others for introspection, others for pure action, a good mix. At worst, the stories are only okay.
The new stories added for this edition bumped the collection up even more; each of these stories expand the theme, juxtaposing human pathologies like greed with the weirdness and the darkness of everyday life. Kaczynski's almost mystical depiction of the Minneapolis skyway defies genre. These stories join other worthy tales in the collection, including very popular writers William Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart, Pete Hautman, and Steve Thayer. I'd recommend this as a fun, quick, gritty read that explores the breadth of the flexible noir style and the quirks of Minnesota. ( )