East Jerusalem Noir [Paperback]

East Jerusalem's thorny politics run through each of the thirteen stories comprising this sturdy entry in Akashic's long-running regional noir series, which is being published simultaneously with Israelis rarely venture into East Jerusalem, its neighborhoods as foreign as those of a different country. Israeli readers may be uncomfortable with the short stories of? These two var?ied col?lec?tions of sto?ries, pub?lished simul?ta?ne?ous?ly, are set in a kalei?do?scop?ic Jerusalem that is impos?si?ble to describe with a sin?gle voice. Both vol?umes attempt to ren?der one of the worlds old?est, blood?i?est, holi?est, and most divid?ed cities . . . It might be said that any sto?ry set in a city so steeped in vio?lent his?to?ry, so scrawled with reli?gious myth, and so flood?lit by divi?sive order is a sto?ry about search?ing, about dark?ness, and about moral qualmsis, in oth?er words, a noir. Editor Burbara presents thirteen wrenching tales of life in a city 'established 7,000 years ago' that 'has been attacked fifty-two times, occupied forty-four times, besieged twenty-three times, and destroyed twice' . . . The burden of grief carried by those who live in East Jerusalem is poignant and palpable. Such a sharp focus on the misery of the occupation creates a certain constriction in the range of storylines. But Burbara's contributors are clearly willing to sacrifice the chance to showcase the color and variety of the ancient city in order to tell a harrowing tale of its current distress. Heartfelt and heart-wrenching. The East Jerusalem stories, edited by Burbara, are tales of everyday oppression, with impersonal government violence thrown in the mix, and the corrosive effects on victims' psyches . . . VERDICT Rather than collections of crime noir, these are deep dives into the anguished psyche of a grievously divided city. East Jerusalems thorny politics run through each of the 13 stories comprising this sturdy entry in Akashics long-running regional noir series, wl³æ