Dennis Lehane’s special edition of ‘Boston Noir’
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This fall, when the short-story anthology ‘Boston Noir’ hits shelves, a few people will get a limited-edition hardcover of the book, autographed by editor Dennis (‘Mystic River’) Lehane. Although the series is published in paperback, 100 copies of the hardcover will be printed, with a specially designed black-and-silver cover. This special edition, which costs $100, is available for pre-order now directly from publisher Akashic Books.
Akashic, a Brooklyn-based independent press, started its city noir series five years ago with the close-to-home ‘Brooklyn Noir.’ The series -- anthologies of contemporary short crime fiction with a noir sensibility -- now includes Detroit; Miami; Baltimore; New Orleans; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; Toronto; Rome; Paris; Dublin; Havana; Istanbul; and more. Oh and Los Angeles, of course.
As many in publishing struggle to find ways to improve on an increasingly outdated business model, independents such as Akashic -- which are more nimble and less risk-averse than major publishing houses -- are innovators to watch. In this case, they’re exploring the idea that some people will value the book as an object and pay a premium for a limited-run, particularly beautiful version of that object. A book like this might be seen as a collectible, not unlike limited-edition vinyl.
Editor Dennis Lehane selected new stories by Stewart O’Nan, Patricia Powell, John Dufresne, Don Lee and others for ‘Boston Noir,’ in addition to contributing one of his own. The book is due out Nov. 9.
-- Carolyn Kellogg
