Raymond Chandler

An item at American Writers Museum

Raymond Chandler once claimed to be "a man without a country," but he will forever be associated with Los Angeles, where he set his great novels The Big Sleep (1939), Farewell, My Lovely (1940), and The Long Goodbye (1953). All three feature Chandler's most famous creation, the hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe.

Chandler's Marlowe books were adapted into at least 10 movies, as well as productions for radio and television. Chandler did not write any Marlowe adaptations, but he did try his hand at screenwriting, winning Academy Award nominations for his 1944 adaptation of James M. Cain's Double Indemnity and his original script The Blue Dahlia (1946).

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum