Montana Noir
Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

“Montana may not have the back alleys so common to noir but it has western justice which can be quick, brutal and final and that is as satisfying as anything found in the urban streets that typically attract the dark beauty of the noir genre.” —New York Journal of Books

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book. Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

Brand-new stories by: David Abrams, Caroline Patterson, Eric Heidle, Thomas McGuane, Janet Skeslien Charles, Sidner Larson, Yvonne Seng, James Grady, Jamie Ford, Carrie La Seur, Walter Kirn, Gwen Florio, Debra Magpie Earling, and Keir Graff.

From the introduction by James Grady and Keir Graff:

"This anthology is a road trip through the dreams and disasters of the true Montana, stories written by authors with Montana in their blood, tales that circle you around the state through its cities and small towns. These are twenty-first century authors writing timeless sagas of choice, crime, and consequences…You’ll meet students and strippers, cops and cons, druggies and dreamers, cold-eyed killers and caught-in-their-gunsights screwed-up souls.

But mostly, through all our fiction here, you’ll meet quiet heroes and see the noir side of life that makes our Montana as real as it is mythic. No doubt the state’s beauty will still make the very idea of Montana Noir seem incongruous to some. Noir is black-and-white. Streets and alleys. Flashing neon lighting a rain-streaked window. But while noir was definitely an urban invention, it knows no boundaries. Noir is struggle. It’s doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. It’s being trapped. It’s hubris. It’s being defeated yet going on. Sometimes it’s being defeated and not going on.

That’s life everywhere. This is our Montana."

1125787284
Montana Noir
Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

“Montana may not have the back alleys so common to noir but it has western justice which can be quick, brutal and final and that is as satisfying as anything found in the urban streets that typically attract the dark beauty of the noir genre.” —New York Journal of Books

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book. Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

Brand-new stories by: David Abrams, Caroline Patterson, Eric Heidle, Thomas McGuane, Janet Skeslien Charles, Sidner Larson, Yvonne Seng, James Grady, Jamie Ford, Carrie La Seur, Walter Kirn, Gwen Florio, Debra Magpie Earling, and Keir Graff.

From the introduction by James Grady and Keir Graff:

"This anthology is a road trip through the dreams and disasters of the true Montana, stories written by authors with Montana in their blood, tales that circle you around the state through its cities and small towns. These are twenty-first century authors writing timeless sagas of choice, crime, and consequences…You’ll meet students and strippers, cops and cons, druggies and dreamers, cold-eyed killers and caught-in-their-gunsights screwed-up souls.

But mostly, through all our fiction here, you’ll meet quiet heroes and see the noir side of life that makes our Montana as real as it is mythic. No doubt the state’s beauty will still make the very idea of Montana Noir seem incongruous to some. Noir is black-and-white. Streets and alleys. Flashing neon lighting a rain-streaked window. But while noir was definitely an urban invention, it knows no boundaries. Noir is struggle. It’s doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. It’s being trapped. It’s hubris. It’s being defeated yet going on. Sometimes it’s being defeated and not going on.

That’s life everywhere. This is our Montana."

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Overview

Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

“Montana may not have the back alleys so common to noir but it has western justice which can be quick, brutal and final and that is as satisfying as anything found in the urban streets that typically attract the dark beauty of the noir genre.” —New York Journal of Books

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct location within the geographic area of the book. Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

Brand-new stories by: David Abrams, Caroline Patterson, Eric Heidle, Thomas McGuane, Janet Skeslien Charles, Sidner Larson, Yvonne Seng, James Grady, Jamie Ford, Carrie La Seur, Walter Kirn, Gwen Florio, Debra Magpie Earling, and Keir Graff.

From the introduction by James Grady and Keir Graff:

"This anthology is a road trip through the dreams and disasters of the true Montana, stories written by authors with Montana in their blood, tales that circle you around the state through its cities and small towns. These are twenty-first century authors writing timeless sagas of choice, crime, and consequences…You’ll meet students and strippers, cops and cons, druggies and dreamers, cold-eyed killers and caught-in-their-gunsights screwed-up souls.

But mostly, through all our fiction here, you’ll meet quiet heroes and see the noir side of life that makes our Montana as real as it is mythic. No doubt the state’s beauty will still make the very idea of Montana Noir seem incongruous to some. Noir is black-and-white. Streets and alleys. Flashing neon lighting a rain-streaked window. But while noir was definitely an urban invention, it knows no boundaries. Noir is struggle. It’s doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. It’s being trapped. It’s hubris. It’s being defeated yet going on. Sometimes it’s being defeated and not going on.

That’s life everywhere. This is our Montana."


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781617755798
Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
Publication date: 09/05/2017
Series: Akashic Noir Series
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

About The Author
JAMES GRADY was born and raised in Shelby, Montana. His first novel, Six Days of the Condor, became an iconic movie starring Robert Redford. He is the coeditor of Montana Noir.

KEIR GRAFF was born and raised in Missoula, Montana. He is the author of four novels for adults (most recently The Price of Liberty) and two novels for middle-graders. Graff now lives in Chicago and is the coeditor of Montana Noir.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Copper Power

“Red, White, and Butte” by David Abrams (Butte)

“Constellations” by Caroline Patterson (Helena)

“Ace in the Hole” by Eric Heidle (Great Falls)

Part II: The Hi-Line

“Fireweed” by Janet Skeslien Charles (Farm Country)

“Dark Monument” by Sidner Larson (Havre)

“All the Damn Stars in the Sky” by Yvonne Seng (Glasgow)

“The Road You Take” by James Grady (Shelby)

Part III: Custer Country

“The Dive” by Jamie Ford (Glendive)

“Bad Blood” by Carrie La Seur (Downtown Billings)

“Oasis” by Walter Kirn (Billings Heights)

“Motherlode” by Thomas McGuane (Jordan)

Part IV: Rivers Run

“Trailer Trash” by Gwen Florio (Missoula)

“Custer’s Last Stand” by Debra Magpie Earling (Polson)

“Red Skies of Montana” by Keir Graff (Lolo)

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