Buenos Aires Noir

By Akashic Books

"Crimes of passion, politics, and perversity pervade the 14 selections in Akashic's noir volume devoted to Buenos Aires, where the grim past of the dirty war and present tumult provide a rich backdrop...Literary visitors may want to seek out longer looks after these brief exposures to the city's many layers."
--Publishers Weekly

"As editor Mallo says, Buenos Aires is a city 'in love with its own disorder.' These 14 sly tales amply attest to that affection. Murder most foul, the star attraction of almost any good noir, makes several appearances here...Mallo's well-balanced collection gives readers a glimpse of both the geography of Buenos Aires and its heart."
--Kirkus Reviews

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. With Buenos Aires Noir, the Noir Series dives deeper into Latin America, into a city with a long history, both glorious and disturbing.

Brand-new stories by: Inés Garland, Inés Fernández Moreno, Ariel Magnus, Alejandro Parisi, Pablo De Santis, Verónica Abdala, Alejandro Soifer, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Ernesto Mallo, Enzo Maqueira, Elsa Osorio, Leandro Ávalos Blacha, Claudia Piñeiro, and María Inés Krimer.

From the introduction by Ernesto Mallo:

Buenos Aires: city of contrasts, contradictions; always on the edge of chaos; in love with its own disorder despite the crude, transitory violence, the lack of law and order, the ubiquitously hurled insult, the thunderous boom of traffic, and honking, hurled curses. Its inhabitants love/hate the city. In the language of the port-dwellers, irony is currency. The multimillionaires of Puerto Madero deal in this irony with as fluently as the workers in the "misery cities," which is what we call the poorest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. This shared language comes from the mansions and the shanties that are built side by side, separate by nothing but a single street or railroad track--contradiction within eyesight.

In the stories that make up this volume we glimpse what Buenos Aires really is: distinctive points of view, as well as the narrative potential of a city that has reinvented itself many times over. This collection highlights the relations between the social and economic classes--from their tensions, from their cruelties, and also from their love. Deep inside, inhabitants of Buenos Aires live this contradiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Oct 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781617756085

Reviews for Buenos Aires Noir

[bayleaf_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Buenos Aires Noir, the latest addition to the Akashic noir series, offers good solid stories, exactly what I've come to expect from these international anthologies. My favorite story in this collection is "A Face in the Crowd" by Pablo De Santis, because it gave me the most pause for thought, but the editor has chosen his stories wisely. They do not disappoint. I am always excited when one of these books comes my way because I know I am in for a treat.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Again and again the Akashic Noir series impresses. This is my fifth selection from the series and every story is solid as usual. I hope Vermont makes the list sometime soon! Or maybe I don't since the stories are pretty dark...I guess it would be mixed blessings...Anyway, regardless of which Akashic Noir book you get, chances are it'll be well-worth the read. If it's a place you're familiar with, it just makes it that much better.

[samsattler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Buenos Aires Noir is a recent addition to the always interesting Akashic Books noir series. Each of the books collects a group of fourteen or fifteen short stories that have something in common, be it city, region, or another type of setting (think prison, etc.) The books are all introduced by someone familiar with the setting being featured and with the authors whose work is being presented. Admittedly, some of these collections are better than others, but of the dozen or so of them I've read now, I can't recall even one of them that did not entertain me and keep me turning pages.This one contains 14 short stories which are, as always, divided into four aptly-titled sections. This time around, the sections are titled "How to Get Away with It," "Crimes? Or Misdemeanors?," "Perfect Crimes," and "Revenge." As it turns out, all most all of my favorite stories appear in the book's first two sections. I am particularly fond of "Fury of the Worm a story about a Buenos Aires street-kid who grew up into a vicious crime boss who calls himself "Worm." Be warned that this Alejandro Parisi story requires a strong stomach at moments, especially when a sexual predator is being dealt with by Worm in a move to score points with another city crime family. I also greatly enjoyed "A Face in the Crowd," an intensely suspenseful story by Pablo De Santis about the dangers of publishing photos taken on the streets. Let's just say that you never know who's image you might capture - nor how they are going to feel about that invasion of their privacy.If you haven't read any of these Akashic books yet, you're in luck because there are dozens of them on the market now - and they are uniformly good. Personally, I'm already looking forward "Houston Noir," a title that is listed as "Forthcoming" in the Buenos Aires collection.

[jim53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The newest edition to the Akashic series of collections of noir short stories set in a particular locale. Several of the stories, especially early in the collection are quite excellent. A couple surprised me with their simplicity; as I read, I anticipated a twist that never came. I can't comment on how well they reflect the real Buenos Aires, which I have never visited, but they share a flavor that suggests the characteristics mentioned in the introduction.

[danfango-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was not impressed with this collection of short stories. The book contained about 20 stories, and I liked just 4 of them. I'm not sure if it was the translations that weren't done well, or if the stories were just not well written. As an Early Reviewer I can only give this book 2 stars. I liked "The Dead Wife", "Fury Of The Worm", "Eternal Love" and "Death And The Canoe".

[tea58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are times when it is necessary to walk through dark passages. These places that make us uneasy lead to the truth. In "Buenos Aires Noir" Edited By Ernesto Mallo, there are many passages about murder, drugs, poverty, bad marriages. These are not just horror stories written without a purpose by these different Spanish authors. Their idea is to give a glimpse of the parts of Argentina never seen by tourists. Yes, the discomfort of the stories causes edginess. The good part of that negative feeling is that we learn this place is like our country in its troubles. In other words, we do not suffer alone, and we are not peculiar. If and when we ever meet one another, our introductions to one another will lack a feeling of desperate strangeness. We will remember our brother, sister, friend or the boys who played basketball in the streets.Each story led to a desire to know about the author. Thankfully, in the back of the book there are short bios for each author. Now I know there is more to this city than the magic of dancing the Tango. I also know there is light along with the darkness. There are friends and loving relatives too.

[campingmomma · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like Akashic's other Noir series Buenos Aires Noir does not disappoint. I found many entertaining and engrossing reads in this anthology. Ex Officio and Fury of the Worm were two of my favorites, though A Face In the Crowd, Orange Is a Pretty Color and Eternal Love were at the top of my list as well. What happens when an off duty officer investigates a gun shot heard in his apartment building may surprise you in Ex Officio. In Fury of the Worm a powerful drug czar punishes a child molester in a most gruesome manner while the victims unwilling father is encouraged to participate. This story is not for the faint of heart, but the writing definitely hits the noir style on the head. I found that true of so many stories in this anthology. Ernesto Mallo did an excellent job with story/writer selection. Thanks to Akashic for allowing me to review yet another fantastic book in this series. I'm looking forward to whatever's next!

[berthirsch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Buenos Aires Noir-Edited by Ernesto MalloI am a big fan of Argentine literature, film and have visited Buenos Aires on several occasions. Thus I approached this new publication in the Akashi series with great anticipation. This publishing house has been releasing titles from all the great cities for several years. It has been my impression that the editors have been given great latitude in choosing the entries. The best a reader can hope for is, once finishing the collection, that he/she has a heightened sense of the city, a real feel for its atmospherics, people with added insight into its underbelly, dark streets and local police procedures. Additionally, in those cities that have a rich tradition in literature one hopes for a representation of the county’s best voices.In Buenos Aires Noir some of these goals are met. The different barrios are mentioned and some of the stories do capture the streets and portenos who live there. Standouts include Fury of the Worm by Alejandro Parisi: here the slums are controlled by ruthless gangs and the inhabitants do their best to survive by ignoring the violence around them, at early ages they learn to keep their heads down, keeping a low profile. One gets the sense of the interplay with the underclass, the Bolivians and Peruvians who make up the day laboring class, the inequality of street justice handed out with gruesome violence. This is the barrio one does not visit or pass through, only those stuck there by circumstance knows what goes on.Pablo De Santis in A Face In The Crowd portrays a full picture of the streets of the MicroCentre- Florida, Lavalle, the metro and crowded streets. Seen through the eyes of a street photographer journalist, innocently one of his photos results in tragedy and murder. Alejandro Soifer in Chameleon And The Lions portrays the corruption of local police and politicians that result in a cover-up of a murder at the Palermo Zoo.The Golden Eleventh by Gabriella Cabezon Camara is a powerhouse. A Nazi sympathizer, a computer hacker, coke addict gets ready to set off a major explosion. This tale gets lost in a wild sex scene only to rescue a girl and dog he left behind. Here is a blaze of edgy writing, a 10 page long single paragraph, and its structure moves the story, a crazed vision that happens at warp speed.Taken as a whole there is enough here to satisfy the reader who will walk away with a sense of Buenos Aires. My only wish would have been that a section include outtakes from some of the giants of Argentine Literature: Borges, Cortazar, Aira, Pigia and Sabato. This would have been a great opportunity to present the real brilliance that Argentine writing has created.

[diana.hauser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

BUENOS AIRES NOIR edited by Ernesto Mallo is a new addition to Akashic Books’ very popular Noir series.Each Noir series title is an anthology of stories set in a particular city, state or region. They reflect the characteristics of the noir genre - cynicism, fatalism; the stories are dark, brooding, raw, and morally ambiguous The characters are very ‘hard-boiled’ and the surroundings often bleak and sleazy.Each title includes a map (I love the map); a Table of Contents; an Introduction written by the editor(s); and a section About the Contributors which tells us about the contributing authors.BUENOS AIRES NOIR consists of 14 stories divided into IV Parts - How to get away with…; Crimes? or Misdemeanors?; Imperfect Crimes and Revenge. (There is always revenge!)Authors include Ines Garland, Ines Fernandez Moreno, Ariel Magnus, Alejandro Parish, Pablo De Santis, Veronica Abdala, Alejandro Soifer, Gabriela Cabezon Camara, Ernesto Mallo, Enzo Maquiera, Elsa Osorio, Leandro Avalos Blacha, Claudia Pineiro, and Maria Ines Krimer.I liked the following lines in Ernesto Mallo’s introduction: “These shaky and troubled beginnings have left their marks on the character and temperament of Buenos Aires. Its inhabitants display the mischief found on the edges of the law, the rush of a passing reflection, and a surprising capacity to adapt to new situations.” (p.12)“The distinctive music of the city is the tango, the sensual dance par excellence.” “It is sex turned into song.” (p. 12)I was very disgusted by the story “The dead wife”. (as I was supposed to be)I liked the story “Crochet” very much. (Both of these stories are in Part I - How to get away with……)I would heartily recommend this title and series.Thank you to Akashic Books for sending me this ‘Advance Reading Copy’. I do enjoy this series.