Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American novelist and a screenwriter. He was born in Chicago. He became a detective fiction writer after he lost a position as an oil executive.

His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published just seven novels during his lifetime. In the year before he died, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. He died on March 26, 1959, in La Jolla, California.

Novels

• The Big Sleep (1939). Based on the short stories "Killer in the Rain" (1935) and "The Curtain" (1936).
• Farewell, My Lovely (1940). Based on the short stories "The Man Who Liked Dogs" (1936), "Try The Girl" (1937) and "Mandarin's Jade" (1937).
• The High Window (1942). Based on the short stories "Bay City Blues" (1938) and "The Lady In The Lake" (1939).
• The Lady in the Lake (1943). Based on the short stories "Bay City Blues" (1938), "The Lady In The Lake" (1939), "No Crime In The Mountains" (1941).
• The Little Sister (1949). Scenes based on the short story "Bay City Blues" (1938).
• The Long Goodbye (1953 UK; Sept 1954 USA; Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1955).
• Playback (1958). Based on an unproduced screenplay.
• Poodle Springs (1959). (incomplete; completed by Robert B. Parker in 1989).

These are the criminal cases of Philip Marlowe, a Los Angeles private investigator. Their plots follow a pattern in which the men and women who hire him reveal themselves to be as corrupt, corrupting, and criminally complicit as those against whom he is hired to protect them.

Screenplays

• The Blue Dahlia
• Double Indemnity
• Strangers on a Train
• Playback (Unproduced)

References