My favourite short noir stories
This is my list of my favourite short noir stories. If you enjoyed them half as much as I did, then you're in for a treat!
Emergency, Denis Johnson
If you are looking for a story that gives you a front seat into the human soul, then look no further than Emergency by the National book award winner of Tree of Smoke and twice Pulitzer prize shortlisted, Denis Johnson. This story comes from his infamous short story collection Jesus's Son which became a movie starring Jack Black and where Johnson himself gives a cameo as the man who got stabbed in the eye in Emergency.
Emergency is by far my most reread short story. There is something in it which is like listening to a sage's psychedelic dream. Emergency offers the perfect mix of comedy and tragedy. I think that's part of its magic. Scenes like when Georgie who is on drugs sweeps the floor of the operating room or the one where a man walks three blocks with a knife in his eye planted there by his wife because he was peeping on his neighbour. You get the feeling that the drugs consumed in this short story hide a massive amount of pain.
There are two personal reasons to make this story very special. I have a very soft spot for how the knife was taken out of the patient's eye in this story as I witnessed a similar event when I was volunteering in the field hospital in the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square, where senior surgeons where debating how to take out a sniper bullet stuck in a patient's neck. In the midst of their debate, a medical student stretched his hand and extracted the bullet.
The second personal story is how the first blurb for my debut novel, Guns and Almond Milk, was from the talented writer, Richard Thomas, who gave me a praise I am sure I don't deserve by mentioning Jesus's Son and Guns and Almond Milk in the same sentence. It remains a very dear blurb to my heart. Richard happens to be the one who told me about Jesus's Son and how he was sure I would like it. He wasn't wrong.
2. The age of reason, WILL CHRISTOPHER BAER
This is a dark fairy-tale for adults. A supernatural encounter that two medics have upon responding to a house call. WCB have a style of his own. Some writers are excellent at metaphors and similes, many are good and others are trying to be good. But only one can do it the way WCB does it.
WCB is know for his Phineas Poe series. If you want to know more, there's no one better than his friend and equally talented writer, Craig Clevenger to tell the story https://open.substack.com/pub/craigclevenger/p/religiously-cold?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=su0f2
You can find the Age of Reason here to read for free in The Coachella review.
3. It's Six am, Do You Know Where You Are? by Jay McInarny
Labelled as the Voice of a generation. Jay McInarny is the Teacher of writers as influential as Chuck Palahniuk.
Writing in the 2nd person is rarely done right. Some managed to do it like ablutions, but the one resurrected it was Jay McInerny.
You can find it masquerading as the first chapter of Jay's first novel, Bright Lights, Big City or in the short story collection How It Ended. Interestingly, only in the audio version (with completed stories), not the kindle version! This is because this short story is an example of novels that started as a first version which we will meet another example to it later in this article.
Published in 1982, this short story is a reflection of the angst of the 80s generation. An editor liked something he wrote but didn't find it suitable and asked him if he had something else. So, He wrote it overnight. I guess this kindles some hope in those of us who are closest writers.
If you want to find more information about Jay written by himself, read it here.
4. Father, Son and Holy Rabbit, Stephen Graham Jones
This is one of those rare stories that Leaves a mark on your heart forever. A father, a son and a rabbit are left in the cold in a blizzard. How can these three character and one setting mix together to become this memorable story is a testament to the skill of Stephen Graham Jones as much to the power of love between a father and a son.
You can read this short story for free here (I'm assuming this is a legal source, otherwise I wouldn't have added here)
5. The Pugilist at Rest, Thom Jones
This is a story I have to read every few months. a member of a rare club. One of the best blurbs I have for my book, coming from Kirkus book of the year writer, Lee Durkee, is a one comparing my work to Thom Jones. I first knew about Thom Jones from Chuck Palahniuk’s recommendation at the end of his insightful book about the writing craft, Consider This. I didn't get to read him at that time though. Until a fellow writer in another famous writer class, William Boyle, told me that a short story I have read reminded her of Thom Jones Cold Snap short story. I dove into his short story collection, Night Train, and the rest is history.
I'm influenced the most in my writing by war, mental health, aid work but all this indirectly discusses the human condition like most writers. One of the few writings you don't feel pretentious when you talk directly about the human nature itself is this writer as exemplified in this timeless short story.
This story also talks about what matters in life and what the society consider heroism to be. All through
Jorgeson, the marine soldier in the Vietnam war, and his narrator friend. Jorgeson and his artistic tendencies and 'real heroism' in the face of death and the narrator and his boxing and fake military achievements.
The vast majority of Jones' stories are interlink with the thoughts of his favourite philosopher Schopenhauer. So if you're an optimist, these stories are not for you.
6. Numbers Game, Craig Clevenger
I can say a lot about Craig but suffice to say, one of his three novels was a direct inspiration for me to write my own. His first two novels are examples of how the distinction between literary and commercial is artificial and how if you are a really talented writer, like Craig, you can combine voice, theme and plot with equal measures for the magic recipe.
With Craig Clevenger every word counts. He treats the reader like an adult. That said, the more you concentrate, the more you'll be rewarded with more layers of meaning.
You can listen to this short story for free, narrated by the author's husky voice here.
7. Animal Rescue, Dennis Lehane
Sometimes, many mediocre novels are excellent short stories. This is a case in point. Don't get me wrong, Dennis Lehane is one of my all-time favourites. But to be honest, The Drop is not at the top of his writing for me, despite being an excellent short story. There was a movie of course, The Drop.
What happens when a puppy leads the big bully to cross paths with the perfect victim. Only to realize that such victim could, or could not be, the bully's kryptonite. Another plus for this short story is that I always have a soft spot for protagonists who are socially awkward.
You can find this highly entertaining short story in USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series or in Boston Noir collection.
8. The Clown and Bard, Karen Karbo
Another entry from USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series . The story is about the cultural divide between a man and a woman who fall in and off love. A unique voice that teaches us the Socratic way of showing the mistakes of the other by extremely agreeing with them until they see for themselves the absurdities of their actions.
Style is the master element here. I had to look Karen Karbo up not believing that someone with this talent is not a best selling household name. She turned to famous alright but not as much as she should be in my opinion. Another reason is that most of her writings are non fiction. Chuck Palahniuk mentioned once that Karen Karbo came to his writing class before he published Fight Club and she was the one who advised him to give a personality to the gun that his alter ego threatens him with in the famous stand off scene in the story. 'A gun is never a gun.'
9. Busto is a Ghost, Gerlad Kersh
Gerald Kersh is almost unknown now. He is a very different. Both high appraisers and high critics can agree on this.
He focuses on the lives of people in the fringe of the society. He makes you face the two types of choices we have towards miseries of life, either to laugh or cry. Gerald Kersh is was not only the one to laugh but to make all of us does. That's how genius he is.
I will leave you with this sentence of this short story which you can find in The Best of Gerald Kersh collection: "Pio Busto used to cross himself before a lithograph of the Mona Lisa. He thought it represented the Virgin Mary. But in any case it was generally believed that Busto had no soul to save."
10. Lebenstraum by Christopher Fowler
Lebenstraum is additional territory deemed necessary to a nation, especially Nazi Germany, for its continued existence or economic well-being.
This short story is a microcosm of societies in turbulent times. An old woman who takes pity and a young man and woman who is pregnant. They end up, along with their elk, taking control of her life and house. Sounds familiar? Whether you're talking about occupation or parasitic lovers, Christopher Fowler puts his hand on the pulse with this beautiful piece.
You can find it in Exit Wounds anthology.
