Chandler, Raymond. (1888-1959)
Typed Letter Signed, Discussing Detective Fiction
TLS from the British-American novelist and screenwriter known for his influential hard-boiled detective fiction, including The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. 1 page. Dated January 18, 1954. Three paragraphs in which he discusses copies of books he has that may be of interest to the recipient, presumably a collector, and his own interest in a book called They Don't Dance Much by James Ross. Several sentences discount the idea that James Ross is John Ross Macdonald, and Chandler closes: "But if I could recreate that strange sordid steamy lazy corrupt ingrown, and yet so human feeling of shabby life below the line, I shouldn't have stopped with one book, by heck." He signs, "Yours ever, Raymond Chandler." Folded vertically and horizontally for mailing; otherwise in fine condition. With three tiny holograph corrections.Chandler, together with Dashiell Hammett, was the father of the hard-boiled mystery genre, and a letter in which he discusses other hard-boiled writing is especially attractive. (14510)
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