The Big Sleep
Philip Marlowe, Book 1
by Raymond Chandler
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“I just finished reading through all of Chandler's Marlowe novels and I love them, especially as an amazing catalogue of the changes in Los Angeles from the pre to postwar eras. Be forewarned though, the sexual/racial attitudes are not comfortable.”
Source →Recommended by 3 notable people, including Jordan Peterson and James Franco
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Detective, About California, and Murder Mystery.
"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid....He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. This is the Code of the Private Eye as defined by Raymond Chandler in his 1944 essay 'The Simple Act of Murder.' Such a man was Philip Marlowe, pr...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Detective, About California, and Murder Mystery.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
James Franco
“I just finished reading through all of Chandler's Marlowe novels and I love them, especially as an amazing catalogue of the changes in Los Angeles from the pre to postwar eras. Be forewarned though, the sexual/racial attitudes are not comfortable.”
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Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider City of Quartz by Mike Davis. Recommended by 3 sources.
“City of Quartz reads like a forensic excavation of Los Angeles: archival reportage, policy history and polemical analysis piled together to show who benefits from growth and who gets pushed aside. Its useful part is the dense catalog of examples — land deals, policing, urban renewal episodes — that tie local institutions to broader economic forces. Annoyances are the repeated rhetorical flourishes and a sometimes fierce, judgmental tone; readers seeking detached description or step-by-step policy prescriptions may find it unsatisfying.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
The Big Sleep
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