Somewhere in the Night Film Noir and the American City

Starting with such classic films as Out of the Past and Kiss Me Deadly, acclaimed poet and novelist Nicholas Christopher takes us on a grand tour of the great films noirs that, with their interplay of light and dark, femmes fatales, and charged settings, have transfixed cinemagoers since the 1940s. In his analysis of more than three hundred films, Christopher identifies the central motif as the urban labyrinth, a place infested with psychosis and existential dread in which the noir hero embarks on a dangerously illuminating quest. Citing cultural, social, and historical influences, Christopher explores the complex mythology of the American city, always imbuing the language of film with the lyricism so praised in his novels. This edition, with a new preface and expanded filmography, effortlessly guides us through the labyrinth and into a greatly enriched understanding of an endlessly fascinating genre. Book jacket.

Nicholas Christopher is the author of six novels, The Soloist, Veronica, A Trip to the Stars, Franklin Flyer, The Bestiary, and Tiger Rag; eight books of poetry, On Tour with Rita, A Short History of the Island of Butterflies, Desperate Characters: A Novella in Verse, In the Year of the Comet, 5 ̊, The Creation of the Night Sky, Atomic Field, and Crossing the Equator: New & Selected Poems, 1972-2004; a nonfiction book, Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir & the American City; and a novel for children, The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen. He lives in New York City.