For Chatelaine magazine, he tagged his five perfect mysteries, including:The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler.Read about another entry on the list.
This was the elegant Chandler’s first novel. Classically educated, Chandler knew he was creating a tarnished knight in private detective Philip Marlowe. Here, Marlowe is charged with rescuing a damsel in distress not from a dragon but from gangsters who are blackmailing her. The novel’s opening sentences beguile, and Chandler prepared the way for almost every American crime writer who came after him. He is also the master of the one-liner, and Marlowe is a man you’d like to know, even though being his friend could get you killed.
The Big Sleep also appears on Kathryn Williams's reading list on greed, Gigi Levangie Grazer's list of six favorite books that became movies, Megan Wasson's list of five top books on Los Angeles, Greil Marcus's six recommended books list, Barry Forshaw's critic's chart of six American noir masters, David Nicholls' list of favorite film adaptations, and the Guardian's list of ten of the best smokes in literature.
Learn about Ian Rankin's best books and the best selling book Rankin wishes he'd written.
--Marshal Zeringue
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