The Big Sleep

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

The private eye novel is distinctively American (though Chandler was English), and its emphasis on action, romantic if battered heroism and atmosphere make it an indispensable part of the thriller's heritage. Chandler's finest novel, The Big Sleep, and its hero, Philip Marlowe, were seminal influences. In the late 1940s, Chandler single-handedly dragged pulp fiction into literature with the private eye Philip Marlowe as the white knight on the mean streets of Los Angeles. This novel, which introduces the laconic detective, is a racy story of corruption, murder and blackmail. Marlowe is witty and incorruptible - certainly by the standards of his own moral code. But Marlowe isn't the real star of the books. Top billing goes to Los Angeles - a city exploding with energy, new wealth and greed. You can almost see the orange groves being flattened to make way for the condominiums. Marlowe's Los Angeles is a great setting and a great metaphor for the American dream and the many ways in which it can go sour. Nobody one wrote on these themes better than Chandler. (Kirkus UK)