L.A. Noir (Bicoastal Season, Episode 7)

That Book

Just as the sun shines on that temperate den of vice known as Los Angeles, we shine our (private) eye(s) on noir fiction set in L.A., with authors James M. Cain and Walter Mosley. Taking bets on which one of us takes this as their cue to do a 10-minute monologue on Barbara Stanwyck.

Books mentioned: James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce; Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress; Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep; Michael Connelly, the Bosch series; James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential; Sue Grafton, The Alphabet Series; Dorothy B. Hughes, In a Lonely Place; Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl; Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men; A.J. Finn, The Woman in the Window; Megan Abbot, You Will Know Me; Stieg Larsson, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Jo Nesbø, The Snowman; Vincent Bugliosi, Helter Skelter.

Films mentioned: In a Lonely Place, The Big Sleep, Detour, Criss Cross, The Big Heat, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Devil in a Blue Dress.

Resources:

• 20 Essential LA Noirs (LA Times)
• Megan Abbot on Hardboiled and Noir (Lithub)
• Otto Penzler on Noir (Huffpost)
• Chris Eggersten on LA Noir (Curbed)
• Richard Brody on Film Noir (New Yorker)
• James M. Cain Interview (Paris Review)
• On James M. Cain (The Guardian)
• Paradise (essay) by James M. Cain (LA Times)
• James M. Cain obituary (NYT).
• Roger Ebert on Double Indemnity and Devil in a Blue Dress (Rogerebert.com)
• Walter Mosley on Fresh Air (NPR), By the Book (NYT), Interview (New York Magazine)
• Barabara Stanwyck obituary (NYT)

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