When Bashert Goes Bad: A Journey into Jewish Noir

Jewish Noir I

This book was a departure from my usual reading fare: a collection of short stories by predominantly Jewish authors (with a few non-Jewish contributors) who explore the themes and sensibilities of noir fiction.

What is noir, you might ask?

Noir inhabits a shadowed world where morality is unstable and justice isn’t quite clean. This is not ‘happy-ever-after’ literature. In stories such as Everything is Bashert ;  to broadly translate that as “connected”, the ending might feel inevitable, but that isn’t necessarily comforting. What’s right and wrong blurs as justice is compromised.

These stories confront issues of betrayal, moral compromises, and the erosion of ideals. The settings are sometimes bleak, populated by cynical characters marked by the corruption of their own self-interest.

That said, I found a lot to admire here. These stories are genuinely compelling, and I finished the volume eagerly reaching for Volume 2 (also available in the Museum Shop).

The collection features well-respected, award-winning authors, including Marge Piercy, Harlan Ellison, S. J. Rozan, Nancy Richler, Reed Farrel Coleman (writing as Moe Prager), Wendy Hornsby, Charles Ardai, and Kenneth Wishnia.

Jewish Noir I – Kenneth Wishnia (ed) | $32.99

Jewish Noir II – Kenneth Wishnia (ed) | $32.99