The Long Goodbye

"Yes, of course. Raymond Chandler is one of the godfathers of noir, and Philip Marlowe is probably the most quintessential character. The Long Goodbye was one of the first noir novels that I read. I love it when books really capture a setting and The Long Goodbye does that in spades. Yes, everything is seedy. Everyone is drinking at all times. They wake up with a hangover and immediately smoke a cigarette. Something about that is very romantic to me, even though I don’t smoke—it captures another era, a certain time period in Los Angeles, post-World War II, where the city hasn’t been fully built yet and it’s rapidly changing. With all of these books, I find that what most often sticks in my head is not necessarily the plot. It’s the settings they create. That’s what is so special about noir in general—these books capture and create these worlds, these dreamy environments. LA is probably the most quintessential noir setting, but some might take place in Scandinavia, or Texas, or other more elusive remote locations. I often remember the setting more than who gets murdered or what mystery is uncovered—the plots can be relatively simple. The environments are my favourite thing, and this is one of the reasons I moved to Los Angeles."

"I love the leisureliness of its voice, the tone and mood of weariness. It makes me want to listen to very slow trumpet jazz while I'm reading it."

"R aymond Chandler is a master of the crime novel and his short stories are a terrific read that I return to very often. The Long Goodbye , Farewell my Lovely , The Big Sleep : all his titles are fabulous."

"Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, Richard Stark's The Outfit, Simenon's Dirty Snow. And dozens of others."