Mumbai Noir

By Akashic Books

The recent success of the film Slum Dog Millionaire put the city of Mumbai very much in the world's focus.

This book has already been licensed in India by HarperCollins.

Brand-new stories by: Annie Zaidi, R. Raj Rao, Abbas Tyrewala, Avtar Singh, Ahmed Bunglowala, Smita Harish Jain, Sonia Faleiro, Altaf Tyrewala, Namita Devidayal, Jerry Pinto, Kalpish Ratna, Riaz Mulla, Paromita Vohra, and Devashish Makhija.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Feb 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781617751127

Reviews for Mumbai Noir

[artikaur · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received this book free from the publisher in a giveaway here on Library Thing. The fact that I am giving it a low rating should suffice as proof that getting it for free in no way influenced my opinion. This book was just not my cup of tea at all, but that is not why I give it a low rating- many of the short stories in the book are poorly written. After reading some of the stories, one could stratch one's head and come up with no point to the story. Readers beware: this book contains graphic descriptions of genital mutilation. While I was expecting the book to be dark, was it really necessary to include more than one story about people's genitalia being chopped off? Simply uninteresting, unable to capture my interest, and the only reason I read it through to the end was so that I could give it a fair review.

[dpelaez_47 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love short stories and this book did not disappoint. I learned a lot about the life of a huge urban metropolis of Mumbai. Truly a good book.

[reluctantm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The stories in Mumbai Noir are decent. Like in any anthology, some are better than others. Stand-outs for me were The Watchman by Altaf Tyrewala, The Egg by Namita Devidayal, and Nagpada Blues by Ahmed Bunglowala. Nagpada Blues especially channels the traditional noir story line with a down-on-his-luck PI. However, for a book that markets itself as noir, there's a griminess that's lacking in a lot of the stories. There's a sort of sunshine that pervades throughout - maybe because so many of the stories have daylight components. So a decent diversion for an afternoon, but if you're looking for a real gritty collection of dark stories, this isn't it.

[andreablythe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't read much noir, so I don't have many expectations as to what it's supposed to be or not supposed to be. My understanding is of a dark, seedy underworld kind of story, usually with a detective lead into a dangerous, possibly deadly, situation by a beautiful and dangerous woman. There are a certainly a few detectives and a handful of dangerous women in this collection of noir stories set in Mumbai, but the range of seedy underworld stories stretches beyond that trope, many presenting plots and story lines that seem to be unique to India. There are stories about conflict between Muslims and Hindus, of terrorism, of the many layers of justice, of independent women, and much more. I was especially interested in the two hijra (transgender) stories, each with a different take on what it means to be transgender in India.The stories are entertaining overall, making it a fascinating and readable collection that rarely offers hope or happiness, which is, I suppose, fitting for the dark realm of noir.

[idj_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not overly familiar with Indian fiction, though I have read some and I am familiar with the Noir genre. This book of short stories is an interesting mix of corrupt police, crime and death, but the most appealing are those with more than a touch of suspense. The stories are a broad range of styles and subjects as would be expected, and some are more memorable than others, though not necessarily better written. The stories are all well written - the editor has done a fine job of their work in arranging this group - and some have a style that is more, I'd have to say "Indian" than others. By that I mean that they don't follow the usual format that Western noir literature does, consequently there is a different, and interesting flavour. I won't go into each story as I find that sort of review painful to read, suffice to say that, as a group, this is a very book, with the usual mix of stories, some better, some not as good, but all enjoyable. I really enjoyed it!

[yesssman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought the collection was successful in being an entertaining and immersive look at Mumbai. A few stood out in particularA Suitable Girl by Anne Zaidi: My favorite in the book. You have to work in the first few pages to understand the first person(s) structure, but by the time you realize what is going on things start to click right away. It builds inexorably and keeps you in a growing dread to an ending you can sense but is still very powerful. I will be looking for more of her work.The Romantic Customer by Paromita Vohra: The characters are developed extremely well for such a short story. We get several dark internal and external conflicts without relying too heavily on plot in this tidy and satisfying example of noir.By Two by Devashish Makhija: I got the sense of a fable from this one. You don't see many dark, gritty fables, but if there is one then this is it. Don't ask me what the moral is, I am still thinking about it, which is the great thing about this one.The Body in the Gali by Smita Harish Jain: This one was structured very closely to an American style hard boiled detective story, with the unique stamp of Mumbai's darkness. A nice part of the collection.

[spacecommuter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I confess, even though it makes me look dumb: When I saw "Mumbai" and "Noir" I immediately thought Bollywood and Bogart. Weird, but intriguing! This will surprise no one, but I was utterly wrong. The stories in this book are bleak and sad and move forward at a glacial pace and happy endings are as distant as the odds that one of these characters will break out into song. All fall far short of actual Noir - wry social commentary cut with a smooth chaser of wit and served in a lead-bottomed tumbler of patois. They're just bleak, depressing stories, though admittedly the writing is quite good. I think if you're up for good stories about hopeless cases, you'll like this book. But if you're still picturing Bacall seductively darkening Bogart's doorway, you're in for more disappointment than a city full of broken dreams.

[ebethe_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The collection certainly was about MUmbai, butI never felt like I was inMUmbai, a city I have visited a few times. The plots and characters didn't develop to the point that I felt I was part of it.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Akashic Books publishes a series of anthologies of noir-style short stories, each set in a different locale. I've just read Mumbai Noir, edited by Altaf Tyrewala, and what an excellent, atmospheric collection it was. Ranging from a classic hardboiled tale of a fast talking PI to a gently almost-hopeful story about the family of a convicted bomber, there was a enormous range of styles and subjects for a modestly sized book. Akashic includes a helpful map of where each of the stories take place within Mumbai. This was a good introduction to Indian authors and I've made note of several from whom I'd like to read more.

[amhamilt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mumbai noir is a collection of stand-alone, short stories all set in Mumbai. Each selection in the collection is different and unique. Some of the stories were inspiring and a joy to read; such as 'Justice.' However, I had trouble understanding the context of some of the narratives. That is a failing on my part though, I simply am not versed enough in Indian social culture. All together, Mumbai noir is an intriguing collection, but its not fantastic.

[scrabblenut · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I hate to say this, but the best part of this book was the introduction by Altaf Tyrewala, telling a bit about the history of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The stories themselves did little to engage me, and it's not because I don't like this type of story. I read murder mysteries from settings around the world, and enjoy them immensely. I also enjoyed the Toronto Noir book because I knew the settings, and some of my favourite Canadian mystery writers contributed to the book. I also plan to read Venice Noir when it comes out, as I love the mysteries of Donna Leon set in Venice.I did like the final story in Mumbai Noir called They by Jerry Pinto, which involved the investigation of a murder that occurred in a fitness club. Also the story A Suitable Girl by Annie Zaidi was very memorable, although I am not quite sure that I understood it, but it was creepy and engaged me and made me think about the characters. A lot of the other stories seemed to be about transgendered men and barbaric voluntary castration of said men. Not really my cup of tea.If anyone wants to read a couple of really good books set in India, I would recommend A Fine Balance, and Family Matters, both by Rohinton Mistry.

[freddlerabbit · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Mumbai Noir is a collection of stories set in or around Mumbai with a "noir" overtone - some are mysteries, some are personality stories, some center around tragic events. I find "noir" a bit hard to define - the introduction contextualizes is as a touch of seediness, darkness, and despair, which I think is appropriate - and if you accept that definition, Mumbai Noir belongs firmly in that category. The stories are mostly written in a sparse, efficient, Chandler-esque voice, as is much fiction in this genre, and the diction suits some stories better than others. I think there are one or two really solid gems, and one or two that I found rather poorly written, but most of them are solid, enjoyable short stories. I really appreciated in particular the gloss in the back of Hindi words used throughout; it can be hard to read fiction about India in English and feel like it has authenticity, and many writers throw in Hindi to help with the flavor, but without definitions, the reader ends up confused - the gloss here avoids that fate.I think any readers who enjoy noir or short stories will appreciate this collection. I think readers who are devotees of fiction about India may be indifferent to it - the settings and characters seemed as Indian as many works by native authors (Mistry, Desai), and yet, to me, the noir aspect Westernized them somewhat. Some stories have a reasonable depth of character and interiority for their length; others are much more externally focused, which provides a nice range that should have some appeal to many types of reader, but is unlikely to be uniformly satisfying to any given reader. Overall, a pleasant if not stellar collection.

[aeisen_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got this book for free from librarything early reviewers. Overall, I thought this book was pretty good. I liked that the stories were about people that may not otherwise be written about. I love short stories. Some of the stories were great and I wished that they were books, not just a short story, and some stories were just ok.

[mohitgoel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as part of the LT giveaway.The book is a collection of 14 short stories from Mumbai based writers. Each story is set in a different part of the city and the book is divided into 3 sections. Since I am not from Mumbai the areas and their significance mean less to me than they would to a Mumbaikar.As is usually the case with such collections, this one too is a mixed bag. There are some good ones and some which make you wonder whether the editor had a certain number of pages that had to be filled (Sonia Faleiro's story comes to mind). All in all quite a decent collection though. I personally preferred the first section to the last 2.

[minacee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was looking for something different to read when I requested this book and that's what I got. I don't like watching film noir so what made me think I would try reading it is beyond my comprehension. I powered through the stories I was interested in (not many) and left the others unread. I had an easier time with Los Angeles Noir but not much and that was the last time I tried the genre.The series is clearly in demand judging by the length of the list of titles by offered by Akashic. Some are even a little absurd sounding: Baltimore Noir, Kansas City Noir, Phoenix Noir. Akashic has had some titles in the past I have enjoyed but their Noir anthologies are not my favorites.

[anniemod · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The newest entry in the Akashic Noir series tackles one of the most interesting cities in Asia - Mumbai (or Bombay as it used to be called). The 14 stories span between genres (it may be a Noir anthology and most of them are crime/mystery related but they are not in the strictest sense of the word crime stories). And it is not just the genres that blend and mix. The authors are tackling almost any issue that you can think of - terrorism ("Justice" by Riyaz Mulla is a bittersweet story about choices and violence and hope for example), the white man that has his reasons to come to this country ("TZP" by Raj Rao), the Mumbai dance bars (that are now outlawed but had been one of the characteristic place for the city), the good old days when the city was called Bombay and the criminals had class (isn't this a pattern for all the old cities), the lack of choices, lost identities and the harsh reality of the big city ("By Two" by Devashish Makhija is heartbreaking in a way), the hijras - more than one story is concerned with this part of the Mumbai society - from different angles and with different messages, the blending of future, past and present (in "At Leopold Cafe" by Kalpish Ratna for example), the families (in all their varieties), the traditional marriage (or not so traditional if the man stalks his future wife I guess), the classes and the clash of religions. And if I did not mention all the stories, it is not because of any lack of quality on their part - it is more in an attempt to keep the review short and not to reveal a few of the stories surprises. It's India and it's Mumbai and it's very readable.The anthology is brutal in a way - it tackles terrorism (one of the good guys actually ends up blowing up a vehicle), homosexuality, the hijras (including the castration as part of the process), prostitution and murder - and still the styles remain light and not going into the grotesque. A few of those stories belong to the Noir; a few - not that much. But all of them are tied to the city with the invisible links of past and present. And in a lot of them you can either plainly see the longing for the past or you can feel it, somewhere deep in the story - in a look. a word, an action. And none of the authors is really shying from using words which may sound offensive to some people - the human anatomy is not shameful so it gets discussed. And then there is the police - a lot of the policemen we see through the stories are not exactly people you wish to see as your protectors. And there were a few stories that could have been left without the last parts ("Lucky 501" by Sonia Faleiro for example) - the story is not one of my favorite although it is a good story. But I could have lived without the last part -- which I am still not sure had any meaning besides the author trying to root the story into the surreal. Or something. The editor did not try to tame the stories by removing the Indian (and other languages) expressions that pepper everyone's speech. The anthology ends up with a short dictionary which includes most of the words you might not know, a lot that you might have heard if you had read about India, the few movie's lines used through the book. Knowing what you are reading but still having the phrase in place adds to the vitality of those stories.Overall - a good entry in the series. But it may be problematic for some people - it is too explicit in more than one way.

[mcelhra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s always a challenge to adequately review a short story collection, especially when the stories are each by a different author, because the quality of the stories can vary so widely. That’s why I normally don’t review them. I made an exception for Mumbai Noir because I am intrigued by all things Indian and try to read as much about that country and its people as I can.The stories in Mumbai Noir are definitely focused on the darker side of the city, as the title implies. Some are morality tales and some are just melancholy. Overall, I found them entertaining and enlightening. There were a few stories about hirjas, which are sort of like what Westerners think of as transgendered people but not quite. I enjoyed these stories in particular because the hirja culture is both fascinating and confusing to me and I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about it.There were two stories that I didn’t understand at all – At Leopold Cafe and They. At Leopold Cafe is a Twilight Zone type story that has something to do with a fountain of youth elixir that was confusing to me. It jumped back and forth in time and I couldn’t follow it. They is a detective story about a murder in a gym. I couldn’t follow the detective’s logic as far as how he figured out who the killer was.A lot of the stories reference historical events in India that I don’t have a good knowledge in yet. I was still able to enjoy them but probably would have gotten more out of them if I was more familiar with Indian history. There was a glossary of terms in the back which I appreciated. Most of the unfamiliar words could be found there but not all of them.Overall, I think this is a book worth reading if you like stories about the dark and seedy side of big cities.

[palmaceae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mumbai Noir delivered the two things it promised: Mumbai and noir. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like it delivered much more than that. I was not impressed by the collection of stories, some of which I found I found too cliché or simply too hard to understand because they were written in oddly convoluted ways. Did I get a bit of a feel for Mumbai, a city I have never visited filled with people who live lives that radically differ from my own? Sure. But did I get a real sense of plot or character? Not so much. Some of the stories would have been better had they been longer and actually delved into their plots instead of pulling everything together as fast as possible. I’d say the only stories that stood out for me were The Romantic Customer, Lucky 501 (I can’t decide if this story caught my attention because it was actually good or it depicted such a horrific incident that I couldn’t stop thinking about it) and The Egg.

[charlottem_63 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Noir is definitely my favorite film genre. I don’t know how I missed this series but I did until seeing it listed in the giveaway. If the rest are as good and as varied as this one I will have to try them all.