Memphis Noir
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“A collection of stories celebrating the underbelly of the city, its ghosts, and the characters that give Memphis its rich patina of blues.” —Memphis Flyer
The Home of the Blues knows how darkness can permeate a person’s soul—and what it can drive you to do. It’s the soundtrack to a city that’s made up of equal parts hope and despair, past and present, death and rebirth. On the streets of Memphis, noir hits the right note.
Memphis Noir features stories by city standouts Richard J. Alley, David Wesley Williams, Dwight Fryer, Jamey Hatley, Adam Shaw, Penny Register-Shaw, Kaye George, Arthur Flowers, Suzanne Berube Rorhus, Ehi Ike, Lee Martin, Stephen Clements, Cary Holladay, John Bensko, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Troy L. Wiggins.
“A remarkable picture of contemporary Memphis emerges in this Akashic noir volume . . . Something for everyone.” —Publishers Weekly
“Covers train cars and Beale Street, hoodoo and segregation, Nathan Bedford Forrest and, of course, Graceland, and even includes a graphic novella.” —Memphis Flyer
“Captures the subtlety of the Memphis ethos, where blacks and whites, rich and poor, are intimately entwined. The collection—fifteen stories by some of the city’s finest writers—bleeds the blues and calls down the dark powers that permeate this capital of the Delta.” —The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
“The new anthology Memphis Noir is replete with murders, ghosts, gangsters, a sharp-toothed baby, Boss Crump, and high water on the bluff.” —Memphis Magazine
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A remarkable picture of contemporary Memphis emerges in this Akashic noir volume. Little of the alleged "new South" is apparent among the 15 tales included, but rather a Memphis still divided culturally, socially, and politically between black and white. One standout, Kaye George's "Heartbreak at Graceland," pays the obligatory homage to Memphis's Elvis Presley heritage, setting a powerful and definitely dark narrative in the late rocker's home. Also effective is Adam Shaw and Penny Register-Shaw's "The Never Never Is Forever," a miniature graphic novel set in the underworld of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Black Memphis and white Memphis collide in Troy L. Wiggins's "Tell Him What You Want" with unexpected results. As in other Akashic anthologies, the selections often carry more of a mainstream sensitivity than most genre fiction. Not every story will work for every reader, but there will probably be something for everyone.