By such means, we can discuss an otherwise miscellaneous string of pictures, establishing similarities and differences among them. Whenever we list any movie under the noir rubric, we do little more than invoke a network of ideas as a makeshift organizing principle, in place of an author, a studio, a time period, or a national cinema. There is, in fact, no transcendent reason why we should have a noir category at all. Given the current situation, debates over whether specific films are “truly” noir, or over the problem of what makes up a film genre, have become tiresome. Naremore’s wonderful More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts (1998/2008) ends by saying: In 2004 Sante told our colleague Peter Doyle, “noir is a category badly in need of a twenty- or thirty-year moratorium, at least in films.” When we decided to do this special Contrappasso noir issue-a grab bag of essays, interviews, and new and classic poetry-we were aware that some time ago two critics whose work we greatly admired, Luc Sante and James Naremore, had expressed fatigue with the term. The Noir Issue remains available in print form at, for Kindle, and in other ebook formats at Smashwords. We also feature interviews with Dennis McMillan and Adrian Wootton. Contributors include Luc Sante, Suzanne Lummis, Nicholas Christopher, Barry Gifford, Morris Lurie, Dahlia Schweitzer & Toby Miller, Andrew Nette, and Matthew Asprey Gear. The issue was edited by Noel King and Matthew Asprey Gear. From the archives: Here is the introduction to our special 2013 issue on Noir in film, fiction, and other arts.

City of Shadows by Peter Doyle