Film Noir 2010" rel="lightbox[pics3331]" href="http://filmsnoir.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/the_encyclopedia_of_filmnoir_2010.jpg">
A long overdue fourth edition of Film Noir: An Encyclopaedic Reference to the American Style co-edited by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward, James Ursini, and Robert Porfirio (3rd Edition 1992) is slated for April 2010 and can be pre-ordered for US$26.40 from Amazon. This classic reference has been completely revised, expanded, redesigned, and retitled The Film Noir Encyclopedia.
I have found the third edition an invaluable reference on American film noir and neo-noir, though the authors’ insistence that film noir is a purely US phenomenon leaves some large gaps. Alain Silver’s reviews are superior to those of the other editors and can be wonderfully enlightening. I hope two common weaknesses in the previous editions, significant errors in plot outlines and pedestrian and over-blown reviews by some co-editors, will be remedied in the new edition.
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Hi! Tony,
I know what book will added on my Shelfari next…(Great noir colour combo…red and black!)
…The jacket cover is just screaming out to my…“Shelfari” add me to your shelf… I hear you, I hear you already!
Thanks, for the heads-up!
Take care!
DeeDee
Yes DeeDee, it is a great cover, so redolent of noir. Reminds me of that graat poster for The Killers:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879102802/pictureshowma-20#reader_0879102802
The above is an excellent book of seminal essays especially violence and The Bitch Goddess . Looking forward to the upcoming read avidly also.Another excellent essay on British Film Noir. Film Noir Reader II
Also I thought interesting (Shearer(45)) the idea of Noir as cathartic. And his mention that newsreels of atrocities proliferated at this time and the public desired an “escape” into violence.
Great news! Thanks for the heads up.
Ed’s book looks great too Tony, but the Film Noir encyclopedia is simply a must. I will b eordering my copy ASAP!
“I have found the third edition an invaluable reference on American film noir and neo-noir, though the authors’ insistence that film noir is a purely US phenomenon leaves some large gaps…”
Tony, I must admit that is kind of “scary”…What? “The belief by Silver, and Ursini,that film noir is a purely US phenomenon.”
I don’t agree with their “conclusion” at all…
…period.
DeeDee ;)
I’ve always been a fan of film noir but my interest deepened as I researched my novel SO DARK THE NIGHT. This encyclopedia looks like a gorgeous new addition to noir scholarship and it’s on my wishlist. One book that was invaluable to me as a resource was Nicholas Christopher’s SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT. Mr. Christopher is a superb novelist and poet and his treatment of noir movies and themes is well-thought out and respectful. LOVED that book…
Hi Cliff. Thanks for the recommendation for SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT. I will seek it out.
Congratulations on the publication of SO DARK THE NIGHT. Please feel free to post a buy link here.
Tony
Tony, what a kind offer. Here’s a link to ordering info on my blog:
http://cliffjburns.wordpress.com/orders
SO DARK THE NIGHT is noir and hard-boiled and, I hope, a good read for those who think the book biz is only releasing stale, over-worked formula. The spirits of Val Lewton and James Crumley and Raymond Chandler live on.
Keep up the fine work, chum…