Prison Noir featured in the New York Times!

Prison Noir — the latest release in Akashic’s Noir Series, edited by National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates — was reviewed by Marilyn Stasio for her New York Times Sunday Book Review Crime column! Stasio writes:

Reading the fifteen stories in Prison Noir is a sobering experience. Unlike most claimants to that much-abused term, this is the real thing — the work of men and women incarcerated in correctional institutions across America. The anthology’s editor, Joyce Carol Oates, who has taught writing workshops at San Quentin, is no pushover, so much of the material holds up on a literary level, notably “The Investigation,” an austere narrative about an existential moment in the life of a longtime prisoner. It’s the work of William Van Poyck, an inmate in a Florida prison who was executed last year. The power of this collection comes from the voices of these authors, voices suffused with rage (“3 Block From Hell,” by Bryan K. Palmer), despair (“There Will Be Seeds for Next Year,” by Zeke Caligiuri), and madness (“Shuffle,” by Christopher M. Stephen). Perhaps the most harrowing is Andre White’s “Angel Eyes,” the stunning account of an old-timer who helps a youngster survive the culture of violence that now defines his life.

You can read the full column here.

Congratulations, Joyce!

Posted: Oct 1, 2014

Category: Akashic Insider | Tags: book review, Crime column, Joyce Carol Oates, Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, New York Times Sunday Book Review, Prison Noir, Review, reviews