Philadelphia Noir Diane Ayres Cordelia Frances Biddle Keith Gilman by Diane Ayres, Cordelia Frances Biddle, Keith Gilman, Cary Holladay, Solomon Jones, Gerald Kolpan, Aimee Labrie, Halimah Marcus, Carlin Romano, Asali Solomon, Laura Spagnoli, Duane Swierczynski, Dennis Tafoya, Jim Zervanos 9781936070633, 1936070634 instant download after payment.

"It's a collection enhanced by an unerring sense of place... that will please the most discriminating lovers of the dark side."-Kirkus Reviews"It took long enough for Akashic's noir series to get to Philly. Now that it has, compiled under the shadowy auspices of Inquirer literary critic/West Philly native Carlin Romano, the fun begins."-Philadelphia City Paper.
Carlin Romano, critic-at-large of the Chronicle of Higher Education and literary critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer, teaches philosophy & media theory at UPenn. In 2006 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer for Criticism... "bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics." He lives in University City, Philadelphia, in the only house on his block.

From the introduction by Carlin Romano:

“America’s first great city, first capital, and first industrial metropolis contained from the beginning the mix of poor workers & elite culture, of ethnic enclaves & religious intolerance, of easy skullduggery & flesh-pot possibilities, that led Lincoln Steffens in 1903 to famously rule it ‘corrupt & contented.’ Colonel William Markham, deputy governor of PA from 1693 to 1699 (& William Penn’s cousin), was the first official on the take, hiding pirates at one hundred pounds a head, including Captain Kidd himself. We’ve had many similarly devoted public servants since..

Per capita, Phily matches any city, weirdo incident for weirdo incident. But we trump everyone on history . . . With apologies, you won’t find the obvious here. Having ... written more stories on Philadelphia literature than anyone living, I thank my contributors for their very limited references to hoagies, cheesesteaks, water ice, soft pretzels, and waitresses who call their customers “Hon.” There’s no glimpse of Claes Oldenburg’s Clothespin or the rowers by the Waterworks, & only one passing mention of Rocky. Truth is, we don't talk much about these things. We just live our lives."