Read about the other entries on the list.The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
Chandler is Los Angeles’ unofficial biographer. No novelist has become so intertwined with the legacy of the iconic city. The Big Sleep kicked off his wildly popular Philip Marlowe series, and cemented Los Angeles as the world capital of noir fiction (just think how many great mysteries—real and fictional—call L.A. home). The novel is packed with Chandler’s terse observations, such as “dead men are heavier than broken hearts,” or “it seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.” His wit was truly drier than the Mojave Desert.
The Big Sleep also appears on Ian Rankin's list of five perfect mysteries, Kathryn Williams's reading list on greed, Gigi Levangie Grazer's list of six favorite books that became movies, Megan Wasson's list of five top books on Los Angeles, Greil Marcus's six recommended books list, Barry Forshaw's critic's chart of six American noir masters, David Nicholls' list of favorite film adaptations, and the Guardian's list of ten of the best smokes in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue