On the Nightstand

Feux Rouges - Georges Simenon
Street 8 - Douglas Fairbairn
Cockfighter - Charles Willeford
Lost Weekend - Charles Jackson

Street 8

He was ahead of his time. People had no idea what he was talking about, they still don't.

Les Standiford

on

Street 8

Douglas Fairbairn

1977

Classic Obscure Hardboiled

Street 8 - Douglas Fairbairn

Gypsy Good Time - Gustav Hasford

Texas Wind - James Reasoner

The Jones Men - Vern E Smith

Wax Apple - Tucker Coe

Dogs of Winter - Kem Nunn

Arizona Kiss - Raymond Ring

Feux Rouges - Georges Simenon

Nobody Move - Denis Johnson

You Play the Red and the Black Comes Up - Eric Knight

LA Diaries - James Brown

The Dishwasher - Dannie Martin

Florida Noir

John D. MacDonald
Gil Brewer
Charles Willeford
Douglas Fairbairn
James Hall
Elmore Leonard
Charles Williams
Thomas McGuane
Barry Gifford

Night Moves
Body Heat
Miami Blues
Cat Chaser
Blood and Wine
Key Largo
Cockfighter
Absence of Malice

Top Twenty Hardboiled/Noir

     Here's the books i would nominate as my favourites. Some a little bit left-field and loosely fitting in terms of the Hardboiled or Noir fiction label.

Friends of Eddie Coyle- Geo V Higgins
Postman Always Rings Twice- James M Cain
The Grifters- Jim Thompson
The Hunter- Richard Stark
Long Goodbye- Raymond Chandler
Street 8- Douglas Fairbairn
New Hope for the Dead- Charles Willeford
The Getaway- Jim Thompson
Fat City- Leonard Gardner
Unknown Man no-89- Elmore Leonard
Red Harvest- Dashiell Hammett
They Shoot Horses Don't They- Horace McCoy
The Burglar- David Goodis
Nightmare Alley- William Lindsay Gresham
In Cold Blood- Truman Capote
Fast One- Paul Cain
Asphalt Jungle- WR Burnett
Pick up- Charles Willeford
Cool hand Luke- Donn Pearce
The Hustler- Walter Tevis

            There's some obvious others lurking in the shadows, around the edges .... like James Lee Burke, Chester Himes, Ellroy, Pelecanos, Woolrich, Block, Ross MacDonald, Moseley, Jason Starr, Derek Raymond and some one-offs like Falling Angel- Hjortsberg and You play the Red and the Black Comes Up.

Best recently read stuff

Best recently read novel would prob be Street 8 by Douglas Fairbairn highly recommended for it's original storyline and unpredictable nature- it reminds me of Willefords Miami setting for the Hoke moseley series.

 Also despite being aware of George Pelecanos for a while i'm just working my way through his Washington dc Derek Strange books- Best so far is Hard Revolution set amidst the '68 city riots.

Having just started this blog here's a number of slabs of Noir reading (some very loosely Noir)

The Burglar-David Goodis
My Dark Places-James Ellroy
Nightwebs-Cornell Woolrich
Doghouse Roses-Steve Earle
Music of Chance-Paul Auster
Unknown man no-89-Elmore Leonard
Big Gold Dream-Chester Himes
Jones Men-Vern Smith
Playback- Raymond Chandler
Shoedog-George Pelecanos
They shoot horses don't they- Horace McCoy
Rope Burns-FX O'Toole
The Hustler-Walter Tevis
Grifters-Jim Thompson
Pick up-Charles Willeford
Papers of Tony Vietch-William Mcllvaney
In cold blood-Truman Capote
Fat City -Leonard Gardiner
Narrowback-Michael Ledwidge
Looking for a Street-Charles Willeford
Fast One-Paul Cain
Post Office- Charles Bukowski
L.A Diaries-James Brown
Mr Blue-memoirs of a renegade- Edward Bunker
You play the Red and the Black comes up- Eric Knight


Best recently viewed Noir DVD's

Consequences of Love (Italian)
Third Man
No country for old men
Red Lights (Feux Rouges) (French)
Rock'n Rolla
Spartan
Odd Man Out
Blast of Silence
Red Badge of Courage
Rope
Key Largo
Strangers on a Train
Red Belt
State of Play (uk tv series)
Glengarry Glen Ross
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Un Flic (French)
After Hours
Just Another Love story (Danish)
Rear Window
The Verdict
Music of Chance
Body Heat
Armee des Ombres (French)
Low winter Sun (uk tv movie)