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"San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics"

(Reviewed by Guy Savage MAR 7, 2009)

“There are more things in San Francisco’s Chinatown than are dreamed of in Heaven and earth. In reality there are three parts of Chinatown—the part the guides show you, the part the guides don’t show you, and the part that no one ever hears of. It is with the latter part that this story has to do. There are a good many stories that might be written about this third circle of Chinatown, but believe me, they never will be written—at any rate not until the “town” has been, as it were, drained off from the city, as one might drain a noisome swamp, and we shall be able to see the strange, dreadful life that wallows down there in the lowest ooze of the place—wallows and grovel there in the mud and the dark”

Dark Passage, Sudden Fear, and The Maltese Falcon are all noir films set in San Francisco, and if you’ve seen these marvelous classic noir titles, you will recall how this unique city with its easily identifiable landscapes adds to the atmosphere of the films. While these films could have been set in a thousand other cities, the fact that they were set in San Francisco serves to enhance the urban nightmares within their stories. Whether it’s Vincent Parry desperately escaping from San Quentin, Myra Hudson running down deserted San Francisco streets as she attempts to evade her maniacal husband, or the laconic Sam Spade walking through the fog, for noir fans these names and these scenes conjure the very essence of San Francisco--a city built for noir. And this brings me to Akashic Books and San Francisco Noir 2--one in a series of noir collections that pay homage to the cities that lend themselves to the genre. San Francisco Noir 2 includes some classic noir tales, some modern stories, and a few that technically pre-date noir, but that still have the noir flavor of the genre. The book’s introduction by Peter Marvelis provides a brief history of San Francisco and an overview of the genre.

The book is divided into four sections with 17 stories total. The first section, Barbarous Coast (a play on the term "Barbary Coast") is composed of stories from Ambrose Bierce, Frank Norris, Mark Twain and Jack London. The three other sections are Shadows in the Fog, The Isle of Broken Dreams and Desolation Angels. There are names here you will recognize (Dashiell Hammett, for example) and names that may be new to you. Stories from Marcia Muller and Janet Dawson prove that noir is not exclusively male territory (fans of Megan Abbott, dubbed Queenpin by Noir Czar Eddie Muller already appreciate the fact that the female can be deadlier than the male). One story, The Collector Comes After Payday (one of my favorites) is written by Fletcher Flora, a writer whose stories appeared in Dime Detective and who also was a ghost writer for a couple of Ellery Queen novels.

Each story focuses on a different area within San Francisco--Chinatown, Market Street, Nob Hill, and Union Square, and the city always figures into the story--sometimes in rather sinister ways as in Norris’s The Third Circle, originally published in 1897. Norris’s story is particularly enjoyable, even though it does cater to the very worst notions of white women seduced by both Opium and the wily Chinese men who provide it. After all, we know that in reality it was the British who forced Opium down the Chinese throats and not the other way around, but Norris’s 1897 story is a relic of those archaic, racist fears. The biggest problem I have with Chinatown these days isn’t Opium but the fact that shops and restaurant put turtles on the menu. But that’s another story.

At the other end of the spectrum is Craig Clevenger’s 2009 story The Numbers Game, and this author’s machine gun style and use of language show just how much things have changed but how crime, corruption and noir remain timeless. For the noir fan this book is a feast to be savored slowly, and while it’s not necessary to be familiar with San Francisco to enjoy this book, knowing and loving this city definitely adds to the enjoyment.

• Amazon readers rating: from 2 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

Books in the Akashic Noir Series (Alphabetical Order):

• Baltimore Noir edited by Laura Lippman (May 2006)
• Boston Noir edited by Dennis Lehane (Nivember 2009)
• Bronx Noir edited by by S.J. Rozan (August 2007)
• Brooklyn Noir edited by Tim McLoughlin (June 2004)
• Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics edited by Tim McLoughlin (June 2005)
• Chicago Noir edited by Neal Pollack (2005)
• D.C. Noir edited by George Pelecanos (February 2006)
• D.C. Noir 2: The Classics edited by George Pelecanos (February 2006)
• Delhi Noir by Hirsh Sawhney (August 2009)
• Detroit Noir edited by E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking (November 2007)
• Dublin Noir : The Celtic Tiger vs. The Ugly American edited by Ken Bruen (March 2006)
• Haiti Noir edited by Edwidge Danticat (January 2011)
• Havana Noir edited by Achy Obejas (October 2007)
• Indian Country Noir edited by Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez (June 2010)
• Istanbul Noir edted by Mustafa Ziyalan and Amy Spangler (November 2008)
• Las Vegas Noir edited by Jarret Keene and Todd James Pierce (May 2008)
• London Noir edited by Cathi Unsworth (August 2006)
• Lone Star Noir edited by Bobby Byrd and Johnny Byrd (October 2010)
• Los Angeles Noir edited by Jarret Keene and Todd James Pierce (May 2008)
• Los Angeles Noir 2: The Classics edited by Denise Hamilton (April 2010)
• Manhattan Noir edited by Lawrence Block (April 2006)
• Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics edited by Lawrence Block (September 2008)
• Mexico City Noir edited by Paco Ignacio Taibo II (February 2010)
• Miami Noir edited by Les Standiford (November 2006)
• Moscow Noir edited by Natalia Smirnova & Julia Goumen (June 2010)
• New Orleans Noir edited by Julie Smith (April 2007)
• Orange County Noir edited by Gary Phillips (April 2010)
• Paris Noir edited by Aur�lien Masson (November 2008)
• Philadelphia edited by Carlin Romano (November 2010)
• Phoenix Noir edited by Patrick Milikin (November 2009)
• Portland Noir edited by Kevin Sampsell (June 2009)
• Richmond Noir edited by Andrew Blossom, Briand Castleberry & Tom De Haven (March 2010)
• Rome Noir edited by Chiara Stangalino and Maxim Jakubowski (February 2009)
• Queens Noir edited by Robert Knightly (January 2008)
• San Francisco Noir (October 2005)
• San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics (February 2009)
• Seattle Noir edited by Curt Colbert (June 2009)
• Toronto Noir edited by Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore (May 2008)
• Trinidad Noir edited by by Lisa Allen-Agostini and Jeanne Mason (August 2008)
• Twin Cities Noir edited by Julie Schaper and Steven Horwitz (June 2006)
• Wall Street Noir edited by Peter Spiegelman (June 2007)

 

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Book Marks:

• Chapter excerpt for San Francisco Noir
• PopMatters review of San Francisco Noir
• Intuitive Intertexstualiy review of San Francisco Noir 2
• MostlyFiction.com review of New Orleans Noir
• MostlyFiction.com review of Boston Noir
• MostlyFiction.com review of Mexico City Noir
• MostlyFiction.com review of Moscow Noir
• MostlyFiction.com review of Philadelphia Noir

 

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About the Author:

Peter Maravelis is a native San Franciscan with a life-long involvement in the art and literary scenes. He programs the events calendar at City Lights Bookstore and was editor of the first volume of San Francisco Noir. He's been known to occasionally moonlight with PIs.