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From Ed Jones to Langston Hughes, Pelecanos explores D.C.'s historic malaise, following up the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.

Classic reprints from: Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Jean Toomer, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others.

Pelecanos has established himself as one of the best writers in D.C. literary history, but here he pays tribute to the city's other chroniclers of darkness, past and present, including Edward P. Jones, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Richard Wright.

George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir.

"From the Chevy Chase housewife who commits a shocking act to the watchful bum protecting Georgetown street vendors, the tome offers a startling glimpse into the cityscape's darkest corners . . . Fans of the [noir] genre will find solid writing, palpable tension and surprise endings."
--Washington Post

"Every story in this all-original noir anthology set in the nation's capital is well-written."
--Publishers Weekly

Introduction

PART I: THE OLD SCHOOL
"A Council of State" PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (R Street, N.W. 1900)
"Avey" JEAN TOOMER (Potomac River 1923)
"Trouble with the Angels" LANGSTON HUGHES (National Theatre 1935)
"The Man Who Killed a Shadow" RICHARD WRIGHT (National Cathedral 1946)

PART II: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
"The Last Days of Duncan Street" JULIAN MAYFIELD (Kingman Park 1960)
"Washington" JULIAN MAZOR (Shaw 1963)
"Cast a Yellow Shadow" (excerpt) ROSS THOMAS (Downtown 1967)
"Reflecting" RHOZIER "ROACH" BROWN (Lorton, VA 1969)
"Nora" WARD JUST (Connecticut Avenue 1971)
"Our Bright Tomorrows" LARRY NEAL (Georgia Avenue 1973)

PART III: THE SHADOWS OF FEDERAL CITY
"Kiss the Sky" JAMES GRADY (Lorton, VA 1996)
"The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us" GEORGE PELECANOS (Chinatown 2002)
"A Rich Man" EDWARD P. JONES (Claridge Towers 2003)
"Wonderwall" ELIZABETH HAND (Hyattsville, MD 2004)
"Christmas in Dodge City" BENJAMIN M. SCHUTZ (6th and O Streets, N.W. 2005)
"After" (excerpt) MARITA GOLDEN (Woodmore, MD 2006)