Raymond Chandler

Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American writer who, along with Dashiell Hammett, created the style of contemporary detective fiction.http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-chandler-raymond.asp He was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 23, 1888. In a style commonly referred to as "hard-boiled," he wrote only seven novels and numerous short stories, and created the character of Philip Marlowe.http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-chandler-raymond.asp

All of Chandler's work continues to be in print. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rchandle.htm He authored or co-authored a number of film screenplays including Double Indemnity (1944), Strangers of a Train (1951), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Six of his novels were adapted for film including The Big Sleep (1946) directed by Howard Hawks with Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe, and The Long Goodbye (1973) directed by Robert Altman with Elliot Gould as Marlowe. http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-chandler-raymond.asp

Raymond Chandler Career

After suffering a series of personal setbacks, Chandler turned to his writing again after leaving it behind in his college days. In 1933, at the age of 45, Chandler had his first short story published.http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html "Blackmailers Don't Shoot" was printed in Black Mask pulp magazine.

In 1939 Chandler published his first novel The Big Sleep. It introduced the world to wise-cracking L.A. detective Philip Marlowe, a character that would live on beyond its creator.http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html Chandler concentrated his writing to evoke mood and tension through description and dialogue rather than expert plotting. He went on to write six more novels involving Marlowe.http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-chandler-raymond.asp

In the early 40s, Chandler lent his pen to Hollywood. He co-wrote the screenplay to Billy Wilder's film noir Double Indemnity (1943). He wrote George Marshall's The Blue Dahlia (1946), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html Chandler grew weary of the Hollywood scene, saying "Hollywood has all the personality of a paper cup."http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151452/bio Despite his disillusionment, Chandler tried his hand once more on collaboration, this time with famed director Alfred Hitchcock on Strangers on a Train, an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel. Hitchcock wasn't pleased with Chandler's work and replaced him.http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html

Chandler died on March 26, 1959 in La Jolla, California, leaving behind an unfinished Marlowe novel, The Poodle Springs Story.http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html Author Robert P. Parker, admittedly an admirer of Chandler, finished the novel and published it in 1989 with the title Poodle Springs.'http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html

Raymond Chandler Quotes

"I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won't let himself get snotty about it." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151452/bio

"[Marlowe is] a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor--by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and good enough for any world. I do not care much about his private life; he is neither a eunuch nor a satyr; I think he might seduce a duchess and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin; if he is a man of honor in one thing, he is that in all things.” http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/chandler.html

"A good title is the title of a successful book."http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151452/bio

"The making of a motion picture is an endless contention of tawdry egos, almost none of them capable of anything more creative than credit stealing and self-promotion."http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151452/bio