Boston Noir 2: The Classics

“What is noir and what is not inhabits a gray area. Its definition is continually expanding from the previous generation’s agreed-upon notion that noir involves men in fedoras smoking cigarettes on street corners. Noir alludes to crime, sure, but it also evokes bleak elements, danger, tragedy, sleaze, all of which is best represented by its root French definition: black. We used this idea as our guide for this sequel to the best-selling Boston Noir anthology . . . The commonwealth is an endless source of fascinating landscapes: the autumnal light spreading across the Charles River; the ice floes in the wintry Boston Harbor; a spring air tantalizing leaves in Harvard Yard; the salty taste of summer as sunbathers peer into the horizon, shielding their eyes from the glare, squinting into the middle distance. Beyond the postcard fabric, though, lies a community populated by broken families, criminal minds, voyeurs, and outsiders. They look like you and me. These are their stories.” Table of Contents Introduction Part I: Broken Families “The Marriage Privilege” by Chuck Hogan (West Roxbury) “Night-Side” by Joyce Carol Oates (Quincy) “Home Sweet Home” by Hannah Tinti (Route 128) “Surrogate” by Robert B. Parker (Watertown) Part II: Criminal Minds “Mushrooms” by Dennis Lehane (Dorchester) “Lucky Penny” by Linda Barnes (Beacon Hill) “Blanche Cleans Up” (excerpt) by Barbara Neely (Brookline) “The Balance of the Day” by George V. Higgins (Roxbury) “Bait” (excerpt) by Kenneth Abel (South Boston) Part III: Voyeurs & Outsiders “Townies” by Andre Dubus (Merrimack River) “Driving the Heart” by Jason Brown (Boston General Hospital) “The 5:22” by George Harrar (Kendall Square) Infinite Jest (excerpt) by David Foster Wallace (Brighton) “At Night” by David Ryan (Back Bay)