Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler—one of the most influential and important authors of the 20th century—created some of the most iconic and memorable noir detective fiction ever written.

Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888, the son of an Irish American father and an Irish immigrant mother. He attended both private school and college, but never graduated—instead, he moved to Los Angeles in 1912, eventually taking a job as an oil company executive. He quit the job in 1919, however, to pursue writing as a career. Chandler’s first novel, The Big Sleep, was a runaway success and made him a literary sensation.

From then on, Chandler was a fixture in the Los Angeles literary scene, renowned for his tough, arresting style. He wrote several novels as well as numerous short stories, all set in the gritty, sun-kissed streets of Los Angeles. In most of his stories, the protagonists were hard-boiled detectives, typically with a sardonic outlook on life, a taste for whiskey, and a tendency to spit out colorful metaphors. These characters, including Philip Marlowe and John Dalmas, are some of the most iconic in crime fiction.

Chandler’s novels—especially The Big Sleep—are not only crime classics, but social and cultural commentaries that take on issues like class conflict, the evolution of the city, and relationships between the sexes. He sought to represent a “night world” of crime and corruption, populated by characters leading distinctly un-heroic lives—all conflicts are resolved through luck, grit, and resilience, as opposed to violence and revenge. His work is considered to be influential in shaping noir as a recognizable and individual genre.

Chandler received numerous awards over the course of his career, including the Los Angeles Critics’ Circle Award (1946) and the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award (1946). He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1951) and the Pulitzer Prize (1953).

Though he received rewards and accolades in his lifetime, Chandler’s fame really began to grow after his death in 1959. His work has since been adapted into countless film, television, and theatrical productions—as well as countless of imitators and homages. His characters, settings, and distinctive style have been imitated and interpreted endlessly, but never surpassed.

The fact that the works of Raymond Chandler have endured for so long is a testament to his limitless imagination and skillful writing. He is truly a one-of-a-kind author who continues to influence writers and readers from all generations.