Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter who defined the hardboiled detective genre.
His Philip Marlowe novels—including *The Big Sleep* and *The Long Goodbye*—established the cynical, wisecracking private eye as a literary archetype.
Chandler's prose style, marked by sharp similes and atmospheric Los Angeles settings, influenced generations of crime writers.
He writes like Raymond Chandler on a good day.
Writer of prose narratives
- writerCreator of texts
- fictionImagined narrative work
- pulpSoft wet mass
- literatureBody of written works
prose · storyteller · books · publishing · literary · narrative · crime fiction · hardboiled
Treacherous enchantress
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
- shadowsDark areas from blocked light
- smokyFilled with combustion haze
- nightclubEvening entertainment venue
corruption · blackmail · murder · neon · rainy streets · trench coat · 1940s · seedy
Professional crime investigator
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
- gumshoeInformal term for detective
- shamusSlang term for sleuth
- sleuthPrivate investigator
tough · cynical · gritty · whiskey · revolver · underworld · gangster · racketeer
Film's written blueprint
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- film noirStylish, shadowy crime drama
- studio systemVertically integrated film production
- script doctorScreenplay revision specialist
Flippant clever remark
- quipBrief, clever remark
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- reparteeQuick, clever conversation
- snappyQuick and clever
retort · wit · sarcasm · comeback · one-liner · verbal sparring · deadpan · sardonic
Comparison via "as"
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- sardonicGrimly mocking
- wittyCleverly humorous
- laconicBrief in expression
vivid · atmospheric · lyrical · pithy · trenchant · descriptive · first-person · vernacular
novelist
Writer of prose narratives
literature · prose · storyteller · books · publishing · literary · narrative · crime fiction · hardboiled · mystery writer
femme fatale
Treacherous enchantress
- Los AngelesSouthern California metropolis
- shadowsDark areas from blocked light
- smokyFilled with combustion haze
nightclub · corruption · blackmail · murder · neon · rainy streets · trench coat · 1940s · seedy · urban decay
detective
Professional crime investigator
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
- gumshoeInformal term for detective
- shamusSlang term for sleuth
sleuth · tough · cynical · gritty · whiskey · revolver · underworld · gangster · racketeer · wisecrack
screenplay
Film's written blueprint
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- film noirStylish, shadowy crime drama
- studio systemVertically integrated film production
Billy Wilder · script doctor · Paramount · California · Sunset Boulevard
wisecrack
Flippant clever remark
snappy · retort · wit · sarcasm · comeback · one-liner · verbal sparring · deadpan · sardonic · tough talk
simile
Comparison via "as"
laconic · vivid · atmospheric · lyrical · pithy · trenchant · descriptive · first-person · vernacular · idiomatic
- crime fictiondetective fiction, murder mystery, detective novels, detective novel, detective
- NovelistsStephen King, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen
- Genre AuthorsStephen King, Agatha Christie, Isaac Asimov, J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke
- 1930s AuthorsSteinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, Orwell, Agatha Christie
- 20th Century AuthorsErnest Hemingway, Hemingway, William Faulkner, Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- British-American WritersT.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Henry James, Bill Bryson, Aldous Huxley
Raymond ChandlerHenry James
"The Ambassadors" author
Marcel Proust · Virginia Woolf · Danielle Steel · Nicholas Sparks · purple prose
Raymond ChandlerJane Austen
Regency-era English novelist
Nora Roberts · Beatrix Potter · Laura Ingalls Wilder · Nicholas Sparks · Danielle Steel
chandelier, Raymond, chandler, chandlery, candlemaking, candlemaker