Mexico City Noir

by Paco Ignacio Taibo II

Book Overview

"Set across Mexico City in a variety of neighborhoods, the stories feature a cast of characters as diverse as the city, from homeless people to young children to innocent passersby. This is a strong collection, both for the way it showcases outstanding short fiction in the noir style and for the way it demonstrates how a strong sense of place can drive a narrative." --Booklist

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933354909
• ISBN13: 9781933354903
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Snow White beats Dr.Frankenstein

This small collection is quite a fast read. It is filled with completely different styles and the translation is very good. It has a lot of interesting typical "mexicanisms" (spanish local terms) and all the stories endings will keep you at the edge of your seat, leaving you to resolve many and others keep your mind spinning. The difference in styles will sometimes make it difficult for you to finish a story and quickly move to the next. But that is good too. I don't believe the level of talent across writers or stories is the same. It is a little bit more than taste, it has to do with depth. Nothing wrong with it, just that -in my opinion, out of the 12 stories I believe nine are excellent and three are just fillers. That is why I rate them 4/5. I particularly liked the most modern stories since they all are somewhat contemporary. I think the titles and the way they were classified is not the best. As a Mexican living in this great city I find most details impressively familiar and easy to relate with. So if you have been in Mexico City this book will make you feel you came back and knew a little bit more than you wanted to do in person. The noir 'genre' or 'sub-genre' if such, requires you to fill in many blanks and that's what makes it so interesting. I believe this aspect is very well executed across the different stories in this short book. All of them, even the fillers. My personal favorites of the 12 stories are Myriam Laurini's and Oscar de La Borbolla's. They are so real and depict the everyday life of this city so right they are quite compelling. Right at the end of the introduction, which I think is excellent -you'll see why Snow White beats Dr.Frankenstein. Highly recommended.