Description: In Raymond Chandler's hands, the pulp crime story became a haunting mystery of power and corruption, set against a modern cityscape both lyrical and violent. With humor, and an unerring sense of dialogue and the telling detail he created a fictional universe out of the dark side of sunlit Los Angeles. In the process, he transformed both the crime novel and American writing. "Stories and Early Novels" includes the first three novels featuring Chandler's great creation, private eye Philip Marlow: tough, disillusioned, and sensitive. In "The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, " and "The High WIndow, " Marlow's investigations lead him from Los Angeles shanties and honkey tonks to the highest reaches of power, encountering a world of gangsters and crooked politicans, lost souls and small-time operators. Thirteen stories from the pulp magazines "Black Mask" and "Dime Detective" include such classics as "Red Wind" and "Trouble Is My Business." The volume, with its companion, "Later Novels and Other Writings, " comprise the most comprehensive edition available of America's greatest mystery writer.
