In Echo Park, a neighborhood at the wrong end of Sunset Boulevard, Joe, a cool cynic, lives marginally. Ironically, he finds himself becoming more involved than he'd planned in the lives of his clients, linked to their dreams and to their despair, and in some cases to their dirty secrets. His financial reliance on a sleazy character who needs pornographic letters to send mail-order brides soon complicates his relationship with his girlfriend, the beautiful Clio. This noir-style novel vividly brings to life an embattled community of mostly have-nots who attempt to survive city corruption, police harassment, and the daily grind with humor and sheer grit. "Good things always seem to come in the small, neat editions packaged in the City Lights Noir series. Joe's Word gets my nod for the wry wit of its author, Elizabeth Stromme, and for the amused affection she has for an unglamorous neighborhood at the losing end of Sunset Boulevard."— The New York Times "It's hard to understand why this delightful novel made its debut in France in 1996 and has only just graced its hometown, but it may be that the French love our L.A. noir almost as much—the French publishers even more—than we do. The Joe of the title is a writer for hire, the modern equivalent of a medieval scribe."— Los Angeles Times "Stromme packages her moral message in a pitch-perfect rendition of a postwar crime novel, complete with an existentially slow buildup to the main action and a large helping of sexual perversion. This is the novel Jim Thompson would write if he were still kicking."— Booklist "Intriguing, offbeat noir fiction."—Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press Elizabeth Stromme has published two noir novels in Gallimard's Serie Noir in France. She also writes for Le Monde and the L.A. Alternative Press . A public writer in L.A.'s Echo Park neighborhood, Joe handles correspondence for down-and-out dreamers desperate to fight city hall, find a job, or create fantasy relationships with mail-order brides. Joe keeps his head down, of course, but when a client turns up murdered and the sinister cops don't care, he might finally be pushed into action. This deft parable about how much effort it takes to spur most people to attack injustice shows how effectively the noir formula can be exploited to spotlight progressive political concerns. After all, the slow awakening of numbed antiheroes to the brutality of institutional corruption defines the noir sensibility. Stromme packages her moral message in a pitch-perfect rendition of a postwar crime novel, complete with an existentially slow buildup to the main action and a large helping of sexual perversion. But for all the story's damp nostalgia, the characters and setting never seem dated: "I used the robot teller so I wouldn't have to face a live one," Joe deadpans at one point. This is the novel Jim Thompson would write if he were still kicking. Frank Sennett Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "As hilarious as The Big Lebowski by the Coen brothers...a small masterpiece of dry tenderness." – Bruno Juffin, Les Inrockuptibles -- Review ...intriguing, offbeat noir fiction -- Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press It's hard to understand why this delightful novel made its debut in France... and has only just graced [LA]... -- The Los Angeles Times Elizabeth Stromme has published two noir novels with Gallimard in France. Her work has appeared in Le Monde and the Los Angeles Times, among other journals and magazines; she currently writes about the politics of gardening in her column "The Underground Gardener." Used Book in Good Condition