Portland Noir

In a city full of police controversies, hippie artist punk houses, and overzealous liberals, Portland, Oregon, is a place where even its fiction blurs with its bizarre realities. Brand-new stories by: Gigi Little, Justin Hocking, Christopher Bolton, Jess Walter, Monica Drake, Jamie S. Rich (illustrated by Joelle Jones), Dan DeWeese, Zoe Trope, Luciana Lopez, Karen Karbo, Bill Cameron, Ariel Gore, Floyd Skloot, Megan Kruse, Kimberly Warner-Cohen, and Jonathan Selwood. Editor Kevin Sampsell is a bookstore employee and writer. He is the author of a short story collection, Creamy Bullets (Chiasmus Press), and the upcoming memoir The Suitcase (HarperPerennial, summer 2009). He is also the editor of The Insomniac Reader (Manic D Press) and the publisher of the micropress Future Tense Books.

Brand new stories by: G. M. Ford, Skye Moody, R. Barri Flowers, Thomas P. Hopp, Patricia Harrington, Bharti Kirchner, Kathleen Alcal , Simon Wood, Brian Thornton, Lou Kemp, Curt Colbert, Robert Lopresti, Paul S. Piper, and Stephan Magcosta. Early Seattle was a hardscrabble seaport filled with merchant sailors, longshoremen, lumberjacks, rowdy saloons, and a rough-and-tumble police force not immune to corruption and graft. By the mid-50s, the town had added Boeing to its claim to fame, but was still a mostly blue-collar burg that was infamously described as "a cultural dustbin" by the Seattle Symphony's first conductor. Present-day Seattle has become a pricey, cosmopolitan center, home to Microsoft and Starbucks. The city is famous as the birthplace of grunge music, and possesses a flourishing art, theatre, and club scene that many would have thought improbable just a few decades ago. But some things never change--crime being one of them. Seattle's evolution to high-finance and high-tech has simply provided even greater opportunity and reward to those who might be ethically, morally, or economically challenged (crooks, in other words). But most crooks are just ordinary people, not professional thieves or crime bosses--they might be your pleasant neighbor, your wife or lover, your grocer or hairdresser, your minister or banker or lifelong friend--yet even the most upright and honest of them sometimes fall to temptation. Within the stories of Seattle Noir, you will find: a wealthy couple whose marriage is filled with not-so-quiet desperation; a credit card scam that goes over-limit; femmes fatales and hommes fatales; a delicatessen owner whose case is less than kosher; a famous midget actor whose movie roles begin to shrink when he starts growing taller; an ex-cop who learns too much; a group of mystery writers whose fiction causes friction; a Native American shaman caught in a web of secrets and tribal allegiances; sex, lies, and slippery slopes . . . and a cast of characters that always want more, not less . . . unless . . . Curt Colbert is the author of the Jake Rossiter & Miss Jenkins mysteries, a series of hard-boiled, private detective novels set in 1940s Seattle. The first book, Rat City, was nominated for a Shamus Award in 2001. A Seattle native, Colbert still resides in his hometown.

With funky neighborhoods, an innovative spirit, and famed music, food, and beer scenes, Portland is truly a one-of-a-kind city. Discover it for yourself with Moon Portland. Explore the City: Navigate by neighborhood or by activity with color-coded maps, or follow a self-guided neighborhood walk See the Sights: Explore PDX landmarks like Pioneer Courthouse Square, get lost in the stacks at Powell's City of Books, find solitude in the Lan Su Chinese Garden, or wander through old-growth trees in Forest Park Get a Taste of the City: Visit one of Portland's trendy gastropubs, fair trade coffee shops, or innovative and delicious food trucks Bars and Nightlife: Sip craft cocktails in cozy bars on a rainy day, see the next big indie band at a beloved venue, down a pint at a microbrewery, or pub-crawl via a human-powered trolley Trusted Advice: Journalist and born-and-bred Oregonian Hollyanna McCollom shares her local know-how Strategic Itineraries: See the best of Portland with itineraries designed for families, gourmands, nature-lovers, and artists, with day trips to the Oregon coast, wine country, Mount Hood, and the Columbia River Gorge Full-Color Photos and Detailed Maps so you can explore on your own Handy Tools: Background information on the landscape, history, and culture With Moon Portland's practical tips and local insight, you can experience the best of the city. Hitting the road? Check out Moon Pacific Northwest Road Trip. Expanding your trip? Try Moon Oregon or Moon Seattle.

In the hardscrabble early days of Portland's seaport, "shanghaiing" or "crimping" ran rampant. The proprietors of crooked saloons and sailors' boardinghouses coerced unwitting patrons to work on commercial ships. Shanghaiers like James Turk, Bunko Kelley and Billy Smith unashamedly forced men into service and stole the wages of their victims. By the 1890s, these shanghaiers had become powerful enough to influence the politics of Astoria and Portland, charging sea captains outrageous fees for unskilled laborers and shaping maritime trade around a merciless black market. For nearly a century, the exploits of these notorious crimpers have existed mainly in lore. Now historian Barney Blalock offers a lively and meticulously researched account of these colorful and corrupt men, revealing an authentic account of Oregon's malicious maritime legends.

In 1884, London's prizefighting craze spread to Portland. Since the fights were illegal throughout the States, matches were fought in inconspicuous venues away from unwanted spectators. A winner could be hanged if the loser died. Champions like Dave Campbell, Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey and "Mysterious" Billy Smith were just a few contenders for the brutal, nearly forgotten sport. Join author Barney Blalock as he reveals the remarkable stories of Oregon's bare-knuckle champions.

Classic reprints from: Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Jean Toomer, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others. George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.

Manila is not for the faint of heart. Population: over ten million and growing by the minute. Climate: hot, humid and prone to torrential monsoon rains of biblical proportions. The ultimate femme fatale, she's complicated and mysterious, with a tainted, painful past. The perfect, torrid setting for noir. Edited by Dogeaters (Penguin, 1991) author and National Book Award Nominee Jessica Hagedorn, and featuring original stories from a stunning group of multi-award-winning authors.

Presents short stories about Detroit with noir and crime fiction by writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Joe Boland, Peter Markus, and Lolita Hernandez.