Synopses & Reviews
"The authors do an excellent job introducing readers to a city unknown to many American readers, exploring the many issues of religion and culture that face modern Istanbul. Landscape is essential to these stories, all of which convince the reader that they couldn't possibly have been set anywhere other than Istanbul."
--Booklist
"Istanbul straddles the divide of Europe and Asia, and its polyglot population of 12 million seethes with political, religious, and sexual tensions, as shown in the 16 stories in this strong entry in Akashic's noir anthology series...a welcome complement to the mostly historical mysteries set in Istanbul." --Publishers Weekly
Launched by the summer -04 award-winning best-seller Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Brand-new stories by: Müge Iplikçi, Behçet Çelik, Ismail Güzelsoy, Lydia Lunch, Hikmet Hükümenoglu, Riza Kiraç, Sadik Yemni, Baris Müstecaplioglu, Yasemin Aydinoglu, Feryal Tilmaç, Mehmet Bilâl, Inan Çetin, Mustafa Ziyalan, Jessica Lutz, Tarkan Barlas, Algan Sezgintüredi, and others.
Surrounded by two seas, split by the Bosphorus Strait, and pierced by the Golden Horn, Istanbul stretches between Europe and Asia. A city at once ancient and modern, it is the quintessential postcard-perfect metropolis. But don't let the alluring vistas fool you--beneath its veneer of a beautiful meeting place of cultures, religions, and ethnicities lies a heart of darkness seething with suppressed desire, boiling with frustration, and burning with a fervor for vengeance. If there is a city with its own unique brew of noir, Istanbul is it.
From the pitch-black and the ephemeral to the realistic and the surreal, from the open-hearted and the fanatic to the malicious and sadistic, from the butcher out for meat to the lamb who wants to live, these stories rip away the enchanting façade to reveal the shadowy side of Istanbul's soul.
Comprised of entirely new stories by some of Turkey's most exciting authors--some still up-and-coming, others well-established and critically acclaimed in their homeland--as well as by a couple of "outsiders" temporarily held hostage in the city's vice, Istanbul Noir introduces a whole new breed of talent. As you succumb to the wiles of the city's storytellers, however, be warned--their narrators are notoriously unreliable, and their readers even more so.
Synopsis
“[In Istanbul Noir] you get blown along the shore of the Bosporus in the wealthy enclave of Bebek (Feryal Tilmac’s “Hitching in the Lodos”), hustled through the shadowy past in the bustling Aksaray (Mustafa Ziyalan’s “Black Palace”), have your mind read in the “haven for lowlifes” that is Siskinbakkal (Algan Sezginturedi’s “Around Here, Somewhere”) and thrown behind bars in Sagmacilar (Yasemin Aydinoglu’s “One Among Us”).-- The Lead Miami Beach
A city at once ancient and modern, Istanbul is the quintessentially postcard-perfect metropolis. But don’t let the alluring vistas fool you. For beneath its veneer as the meeting place of cultures, religions, and ethnicities lies a heart of darkness, seething with suppressed desire, boiling with frustration, and burning with a fervor for vengeance.
Brand-new stories from: Baris Mustecaplioglu, Muge Iplikci, Behcet Celik, Algan Sezginturedi, Ismail Guzelsoy, Hikmet Hukumenoglu, Lydia Lunch, Yasemin Aydinoglu, Riza Kirac, Sadik Yemni, Feryal Tilmac, Mehmet Bilal, Inan Cetin, Mustafa Ziyalan, Jessica Lutz, Tarkan Barlas, and others.
Synopsis
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with
Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Brand-new stories by: M ge İplik i, Beh et elik, İsmail G zelsoy, Lydia Lunch, Hikmet H k menoğlu, Riza Kira , Sadik Yemni, Bariş M stecaplioğlu, Yasemin Aydinoğlu, Feryal Tilma , Mehmet Bil l, İnan etin, Mustafa Ziyalan, Jessica Lutz, Tarkan Barlas, and Algan Sezgint redi.
From the introduction by
Mustafa Ziyalan & Amy Spangler:
"As submissions for Istanbul Noir started to come in, it became increasingly clear to us that what was taking shape was not just some collection of dark stories set in old Stamboul, but a rich portrait of the city itself-or, at the very least, a particularly revealing series of snapshots. Mind you, it is a city shaped largely by the often vicious ebb and tide of the nation's politics. Although Ankara may be the capital of the Republic of Turkey, the truth of the matter is, with a good twelve million people and thus a fifth of its population, Istanbul is the throbbing, often bleeding, heart of the country's politics. And it shows . . .
Lying at the crossroads of East and West, Istanbul belongs to neither and to both, and it is precisely this elusive in-betweenness upon which the city thrives. No matter how much blood is spilled trying to conform to Western standards, they just don't stick in this slippery city. Here, you don't break the rules, you forge a loophole through them . . . A den of sin and a bastion of virtue, Istanbul is a fog-covered playground of power and resistance, denial and repression, and if you don't know the tricks of the game, you'll likely feel the urge to abandon your marbles and go."
Synopsis
"Istanbul straddles the divide of Europe and Asia, and its polyglot population of 12 million seethes with political, religious, and sexual tensions, as shown in the 16 stories in this strong entry in Akashic's noir anthology series . . . a welcome complement to the mostly historical mysteries set in Istanbul." --Publishers Weekly
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Brand-new stories by: M ge Iplik i, Beh et elik, Ismail G zelsoy, Lydia Lunch, Hikmet H k menoglu, Riza Kira , Sadik Yemni, Baris M stecaplioglu, Yasemin Aydinoglu, Feryal Tilma , Mehmet Bil l, Inan etin, Mustafa Ziyalan, Jessica Lutz, Tarkan Barlas, and Algan Sezgint redi.
Synopsis
In Istanbul Noir] you get blown along the shore of the Bosporus in the wealthy enclave of Bebek (Feryal Tilmac's Hitching in the Lodos), hustled through the shadowy past in the bustling Aksaray (Mustafa Ziyalan's Black Palace), have your mind read in the haven for lowlifes that is Siskinbakkal (Algan Sezginturedi's Around Here, Somewhere) and thrown behind bars in Sagmacilar (Yasemin Aydinoglu's One Among Us).-- The Lead Miami Beach
A city at once ancient and modern, Istanbul is the quintessentially postcard-perfect metropolis. But don't let the alluring vistas fool you. For beneath its veneer as the meeting place of cultures, religions, and ethnicities lies a heart of darkness, seething with suppressed desire, boiling with frustration, and burning with a fervor for vengeance.
Brand-new stories from: Baris Mustecaplioglu, Muge Iplikci, Behcet Celik, Algan Sezginturedi, Ismail Guzelsoy, Hikmet Hukumenoglu, Lydia Lunch, Yasemin Aydinoglu, Riza Kirac, Sadik Yemni, Feryal Tilmac, Mehmet Bilal, Inan Cetin, Mustafa Ziyalan, Jessica Lutz, Tarkan Barlas, and others.
Synopsis
The Akashic Noir Series moves fearlessly to the city hosting the European/Asian divide.
About the Author
Mustafa Ziyalan was born in Zonguldak, at the Black Sea coast of Turkey. He worked as a general practitioner and coroner in a rural Anatolian village. Now he lives and practices psychiatry in Brooklyn, New York. His poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in many literary periodicals, anthologies, and in book form. Amy Spangler was born in Ohio and first landed in Turkey as a high school exchange student in 1994-95. She continued to foster her ties with the country and her keen interest in its literature throughout her college years, promptly moving to Istanbul upon graduation in 1999. She still lives in the elusive and amorphous Istanbul.