Beirut Noir [Paperback]

The stories individual approaches to noir are as diverse as the Beirut landscape, its residents and exiles. The Lebanese authors featured in the collection draw from a much broader palette of Beirut life, and, true to the genre, they tap into their citys dark past and uncertain present. Some stories are absurd and humorous, but almost all are haunted in some way by a nagging memory, a war, a death. The ArabLit count in 2014, which attempted to be global, was 7/40, or 17% by female authors. All of this excludes anthologies, which are more likely to be egalitarian. For instance, the excellent 2015 No book could possibly describe the different faces of 21st century Beirut better than The fifteen new stories of