Push the copy of Sci-Fi Movies: Facts, Figures and Fun (also reviewed on this site) aside and make room for this on your coffee table. Probably your guests aren’t sure what film noir is either, so settle down for an entertaining lesson. Find out who the main directors are, the books their films are based on, discover the classic films of the genre, and then read about the difference between classic noir, neo-noir, international noir and even fantasy noir. Discover who won the coveted Edgar awards, who Edgar was, and then find out even more if you go armed with the bibliography list to your local bookstore. Of course, just as with the Sci-Fi book, the opinions expressed are all the author’s and you are sure not to agree with all of it. Hitherto, my experiences of noir films were mainly those with Bogart in them, so I was pleased to find a long list of films I hadn’t heard of, let alone seen, so now I can harass my video library owner about this. I love the way these little books manage to pack in such a lot of useful information, and yet be so quick and simple to use. A grand gift for any film buff, with its low price, hardcover and sprinkling of quotations and old posters to make it attractive on many levels. I was pleased with it, and I would not normally even open a book on films, so this must be good...