Noir Fiction Book Display

In the spirit of summer pleasure reading, Watzek Library has a selection of noir fiction on display near its entryway. Noir fiction is a subgenre of the crime novel closely associated with the hardboiled school of detective fiction. In the case of noir fiction, the protagonist is typically not a detective, but rather a criminal or other morally ambiguous actor who gets drawn into some nefarious scheme motivated by money and romantic obsession. The outlook of these suspenseful page-turners tends to be dark and nihilistic, and their perspective is often warped by the psychological distortions of first person narrators.

The selection features mainstays of the genre by authors such as Cornell Woolrich, Jim Thompson, David Goodrich, James M. Cain, and Patricia Highsmith. Many of these works were published as dime store novels in the 1940s and 50s and later made into famous noir films such as Rear Window and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Some more recent takes on the noir subgenre are also included by authors such as Sara Gran, Gar Anthony Haywood, Scott Phillips, Urban Waite, and Cormac McCarthy.

Please stop by and check out a book or two for your summer reading enjoyment. The display will be up through the end of July.

The selection of books was curated by Watzek director Mark Dahl.