Noir: A Novel

Noir: A Novel by Coover, Robert. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781590202944.

A hallucinatory homage to the Dark City. In Noir, the legendary master of postmodernism, Robert Coover, takes the hardboiled detective novel and turns it inside out. Meet Philip M. Noir, a private eye who wanders through a cityscape of eternal rain, flickering neon, and endless dead ends. He is on a case―something about a widow, a corpse, and a mystery that seems to dissolve the moment he nears the truth. But in Coover’s hands, the shadows dont just hide secrets; they shift the walls of reality. As Noir navigates a labyrinth of femme fatales, crooked cops, and jazz-soaked dives, the tropes of the classic 1940s "Black Mask" era are stripped bare and reassembled into a surreal, rhythmic fever dream. It is a story where the mystery isnt just "whodunit," but whether the world itself―and the man investigating it―actually exists. "Coover is one of our most playful and daring writers... a master of the linguistic funhouse." ― New York Times Why You’ll Love It: Literary Craft: Experience the virtuosic prose of a Pen/Faulkner Award winner and a titan of American letters. Genre-Bending: A brilliant subversion of the Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett tradition. Atmospheric Immersion: Perfect for readers who love the stylized, rain-slicked aesthetics of Blade Runner or The Big Sleep. Experimental Mystery: A challenging, rewarding puzzle for fans of Thomas Pynchon and Paul Auster. Step into the rain. The case is open, but the exit is nowhere to be found.