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One summer I read all the Chandler‘s and Hammett‘s I could find. On a trip to Minneapolis I visited the main library where I discovered a Chandler I thought I hadn‘t read before. Turns out I not only had I owned it. Last week I “forgot” again and now have two copies. Sometimes you need a little noir.

#QuotsyOct21 Day 26: #Screech

Found this at my local library's book sale ($1 for a plastic grocery bag full of books - what a deal!), and was thrilled, since I'd already read all of his Philip Marlowe novels. Features eight short stories, as well as an essay on the art of writing detective fiction. Nothing here is as good as his long-form stuff but it's still an enjoyable read. Every sentence Chandler writes seems to crackle. One of my all-time favorite writers.

While visiting a library in Minneapolis I found a hardcover edition of this book. At the time I thought it was a Chandler I had not read. I spent a lovely few hours reading it.

Turns out I had a copy:) What happens when one is a completist and reads all an author‘s work in one go: sometimes you forget what you‘ve read already.

Rereading it now.

Chandler on the road.

"I merely say that all reading for pleasure is escape, whether it be Greek, mathematics, astronomy, Benedetto Croce, or The Diary of the Forgotten Man. To say otherwise is to be an intellectual snob, and a juvenile at the art of living." - p. 12

Chandler criticizes the irrational logic and implausible characterization of British Golden Age detective fiction, championing instead the hardboiled tradition that takes a "sharp, aggressive attitude to life." I think both styles have a place in crime fiction, but Chandler makes a sound argument.