Otto Penzler writes about noir fiction (via Joel Miller)
Look, noir is about losers. The characters in these existential, nihilistic tales are doomed. They may not die, but they probably should, as the life that awaits them is certain to be so ugly, so lost and lonely, that they’d be better off just curling up and getting it over with. And, let’s face it, they deserve it.
That’s brilliant. And I’m embarrassed to say I never actually caught the distinction before.
The best distinction between hardboiled and noir that I’ve heard is this: Harboiled means “tough,” while noir means (like Penzler says) “doomed.” To my way of thinking, the best noir is the classically tragic stuff, not the hey-the-world’s-just-out-to-get-me books.