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caterina's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A very mixed bag, and I would only consider it worth a read if you have a connection to Berkeley. As someone new-ish to the area, it was a fun way to encounter familiar places and think more about what makes Berkeley, Berkeley.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
mdkha's review
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Berkeley Noir is a mixed bag, as all anthologies are. So rather than complain about how this story or that one didn't hit for me I'd rather talk about the ones that did.
Or one in particular, Jason S. Ridler's story "Shallow and Deep". It's been approximately a year since I read that story and I still think about it. A story about the making and selling of deep-fake porn, commissioned for a single patron, and the camera man who films the necessary footage for the deep-fake as a side gig from his primary job as a teacher/tutor.
It's a dark story that doesn't over stay its welcome, doesn't overexplain, and leaves you with this unsettled feeling in your gut that maybe you have stumbled into this profoundly vulnerable moment, one you shouldn't have. It's a story about shifting and unclear power dynamics, of the way wealth and age and gender mediate and transform those dynamics. I've reread the story four or five times and I'm still not sure I've really come to grips with it. Every reading leaves me still feeling like I'm not finished yet.
Or one in particular, Jason S. Ridler's story "Shallow and Deep". It's been approximately a year since I read that story and I still think about it. A story about the making and selling of deep-fake porn, commissioned for a single patron, and the camera man who films the necessary footage for the deep-fake as a side gig from his primary job as a teacher/tutor.
It's a dark story that doesn't over stay its welcome, doesn't overexplain, and leaves you with this unsettled feeling in your gut that maybe you have stumbled into this profoundly vulnerable moment, one you shouldn't have. It's a story about shifting and unclear power dynamics, of the way wealth and age and gender mediate and transform those dynamics. I've reread the story four or five times and I'm still not sure I've really come to grips with it. Every reading leaves me still feeling like I'm not finished yet.
tonstantweader's review
4.0
Berkeley Noir is an anthology of noir short stories that take place in Berkeley, that famous next-door neighbor of San Francisco known for its protests and activism. In many ways, this anthology fulfills all the stereotypes of Berkeley while challenging them and subverting them with other stories. I think the editors, Jerry Thompson and Owen Hill, did a superb job of selecting stories.
Rather than organizing their stories by some emotional theme, they went for simple geography. The different sections of the anthology are grouped by locale and yet that creates a sort of emotional geography of its own as different neighborhoods have different vibes.
I loved “Hill House” the housesitting nightmare and the self-sacrificing love and grief of “The Tangy Brine of Dark Night.” One of my favorite stories is “Lucky Day” about a relatively new employee of the Berkeley Public Library. “Eat Your Pheasant, Drink Your Wine” has a truly original narrative voice. That’s true of “Every Man and Every Woman Is a Star” as well and now I have got to read more by Nick Mamatas. Susan Dunlap’s “The Law of Local Karma” will feel familiar and solid to fans of Dunlap which I am. “Dear Fellow Graduates” is one of those short stories with a punch line and I loved it. I thought “Frederick Douglass Elementary” was thought-provoking and all-too-real. “Righteous Kill” feels very topical as it has a unique solution to gentrification.
There were only two stories I did not care for. “Identity Theft” was simply too horrific for me despite being well-written. I admire the skill and shrink from the subject. However, nothing can save “Boy Toy” which felt like nothing more than the taxonomy of sailing. Here’s the thing, some people do research and it informs their writing. Others do research and it becomes their writing. It seems as though the author took an illustrated diagram of a sailboat and decided to use every specialized word in it. It did not contribute to the story, it detracted.
I liked Berkeley Noir a lot. I love the Akashic Noir series and my favorites in the series are those where the authors feel no need to show off by stretching the boundaries of noir and instead seek deeply into noir fiction. In my opinion, going deep into traditional noir shows more understanding than stretching noir out of its traditional space. This Thompson and Hill did very well. It’s no blemish on this that I did not like every story. Liking every story in a multi-author anthology would be weird and indicate the editors didn’t do a good job of including diverse points of view and stories. I expect to dislike at least one story in every anthology with multiple authors. As usual, this newest addition to the Noir series is excellent.
I received an e-galley of Berkeley Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss
Berkeley Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir series
Jerry Thompson author bio
Owen Hill author bio
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/9781617757976/
Rather than organizing their stories by some emotional theme, they went for simple geography. The different sections of the anthology are grouped by locale and yet that creates a sort of emotional geography of its own as different neighborhoods have different vibes.
I loved “Hill House” the housesitting nightmare and the self-sacrificing love and grief of “The Tangy Brine of Dark Night.” One of my favorite stories is “Lucky Day” about a relatively new employee of the Berkeley Public Library. “Eat Your Pheasant, Drink Your Wine” has a truly original narrative voice. That’s true of “Every Man and Every Woman Is a Star” as well and now I have got to read more by Nick Mamatas. Susan Dunlap’s “The Law of Local Karma” will feel familiar and solid to fans of Dunlap which I am. “Dear Fellow Graduates” is one of those short stories with a punch line and I loved it. I thought “Frederick Douglass Elementary” was thought-provoking and all-too-real. “Righteous Kill” feels very topical as it has a unique solution to gentrification.
There were only two stories I did not care for. “Identity Theft” was simply too horrific for me despite being well-written. I admire the skill and shrink from the subject. However, nothing can save “Boy Toy” which felt like nothing more than the taxonomy of sailing. Here’s the thing, some people do research and it informs their writing. Others do research and it becomes their writing. It seems as though the author took an illustrated diagram of a sailboat and decided to use every specialized word in it. It did not contribute to the story, it detracted.
I liked Berkeley Noir a lot. I love the Akashic Noir series and my favorites in the series are those where the authors feel no need to show off by stretching the boundaries of noir and instead seek deeply into noir fiction. In my opinion, going deep into traditional noir shows more understanding than stretching noir out of its traditional space. This Thompson and Hill did very well. It’s no blemish on this that I did not like every story. Liking every story in a multi-author anthology would be weird and indicate the editors didn’t do a good job of including diverse points of view and stories. I expect to dislike at least one story in every anthology with multiple authors. As usual, this newest addition to the Noir series is excellent.
I received an e-galley of Berkeley Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss
Berkeley Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir series
Jerry Thompson author bio
Owen Hill author bio
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/9781617757976/
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