Monday's Body of Work

50 Years Of Service

Noir fiction uses society’s seedier side as a way to inform plots, characters, settings. It is generally a swift, brooding experience, flush with curt dames, snappy declaratives and  rain-soaked fedoras. When it is done well, Noir fiction is a cavalier vehicle that allows an author to describe a particular social injustice, give it a name and drive it down a harrowing stretch of road. Naked Lunch, which recently turned 50, has elements of Noir. Read more in Pop Matters. James Ellroy is an undisputed master, as is PD James. And they each made the news today. Dennis Lehane sets his crime-laced fables in Boston’s rough and tumble neighborhoods. Recently he edited an anthology of Boston Noir. Speaking of Boston, Ronan Noone, an Irish cum American playwright, is enjoying applause in his adopted city. If Noir’s not your thing, skip over to The New Yorker, which reflects on Sam Haskins’ provocative photo essays. Or, if you’re hungry, the News-Gazette has a tasty read on the food writing of John T. Edge. Masterpiece Comics turns literary classics into cartoons, and a new book about raconteur Mario Savio is reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle. Finally, longtime language man William Safire died yesterday. His copy, insight and punchy attitude made the world a more rewarding place, for readers both on the left and the right side of his politics. — Kevin Murphy

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