New Noir

by John Shirley

Stories deal with the impact of television on self-image, the mental breakdown of a prostitute on crack, drug addiction, and modern city life

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

John Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.

He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.

His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.

He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.

John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.

John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Sharon Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am delighted by small and oddly shaped books, and this one fits the bill, made even cooler with its lurid cover art (and each story has its own corresponding illustration). Inside are twisted little tales of nasty people doing terrible things to other nasty people. Each story has its own charm, that is, if you can bring yourself to consider topics such as drive-by shootings, prostitution, and heroin addiction charming (and those are just some of the lesser evils going on here). This stuff is really out there, at times crossing over into Chuck Palahniuk levels of shock and disgust. Ironically, some of the prose is undeniably beautiful, despite the downright wicked and grotesque subjects and characters, and I found myself going back and re-reading passages to just feel the poetry of the words slipping & sliding around in my head a little while longer. Make no mistake, the people you'll meet in this book, and the things they do are genuinely ugly and abhorrent, and yet, I found myself smiling as things kept going from bad to worse. I have not read any of John Shirley's other works yet, though City Come a-Walkin' has been on my "to-read" list forever, and now, having had a little taste of his work, I'm jonesing to read it and more of his books soon.

[Ridge Cresswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone just loaned me this.. It was a quick read, a handful of short stories. They all deal with incredibly screwy subject matter and incredibly strange situations. I love it. The only complaint I would have is that some of the ideas could have been expanded upon, but I suppose it's better to be left wanting more.

[🐴 🍖]

on the whole i think jerry bumpus is better at this kinda thing (see, e.g., "mr. tangible" in dawn of the flying pigs) but "world's smallest man" hits that sweet spot on the skin-crawl-y --> pathos axis something fierce. scariest use of a lamp in fiction perhaps. interesting to consider, too, that "jody and annie on tv" was published a year before natural born killers was released...

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Noir (1993) by John Shirley is a collection of six degenerate neo-noir short stories. The stories in order: 'Jodie and Annie on TV'; Excellent...a modern day (1993) So-Cal-trash couple get their kicks...'I Want to Get Married, Says the World's Smallest Man'; Excellent...very funny, a tiny guy gets hitched to the wrong woman...there will be blood!. 'Equilibrium'; Sucks. 'Skeeter Jane'; Pretty good...percentage-wise don't mosquitoes pack the biggest package? 'Recurrent Dreams...'; Sucks. 'Just Like Suzy'; Excellent...Outrageously degenerate & sick, sick, sick...and very funny! Over-all 3.5 outta 5.0...

[Hex75 · Rating 4 out of 5]

storie metropolitane sporcate da uno humor nero e politicamente scorretto, come delle sceneggiature per un ciclo di "ai confini della realtà" approvato da burroughs. a molti queste storie potrebbero fare l'effetto di un calcio nello stomaco, e se ne sconsiglia la lettura alle anime più sensibili. a me ha fatto momenti angoscianti a risate, e forse lo scopo dell'autore era proprio quello. a volte si fa un po' fatica a leggere, ma quando si arriva in fondo si è felici di avercela fatta, in un modo o nell'altro...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic John Shirley. That last story, wow...