American Noir: 11 Classic Crime Novels of the 1930s, 40s, & 50s

Collects: CRIME NOVELS: AMERICAN NOIR OF THE 1930s & 40sThe Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. CainThey Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoyThieves Like Us by Edward AndersonThe Big Clock by Kenneth FearingNightmare Alley by William Lindsay GreshamI Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich990 pages • 978-1-883011-46-8 Library of America volume #94CRIME NOVELS: AMERICAN NOIR OF THE 1950sThe Killer Inside Me by Jim ThompsonThe Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia HighsmithPick-Up by Charles WillefordDown There by David GoodisThe Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes892 pages • 978-1-883011-49-9 Library of America volume #95This adventurous two-volume collection presents a rich vein of modern American writing too often neglected in mainstream literary histories. Evolving out of the terse and violent hardboiled style of the pulp magazines, noir fiction expanded over the decades into a varied and innovative body of writing. Tapping deep roots in the American literary imagination, the novels in this volume explore themes of crime, guilt, deception, obsessive passion, murder, and the disintegrating psyche. With visionary and often subversive force they create a dark and violent mythology out of the most commonplace elements of modern life. The raw power of their vernacular style has profoundly influenced contemporary American culture and writing.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.