Raymond Chandler bibliography


was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived in the US until he was seven, when his parents separated and his Anglo-Irish mother brought him to live near London; he was educated at Dulwich College from 1900. After working briefly for the British Civil Service, he became a part-time teacher at Dulwich, supplementing his income as a journalist and writer—mostly for The Westminster Gazette and The Academy. His output—consisting largely of poems and essays—was not to his taste, and the critic Paul Bishop considers the work as "lifeless", while Contemporary Authors describes it as "lofty in subject and mawkish in tone". Chandler returned to the US in 1912 where he trained to become an accountant in Los Angeles. In 1917 he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, saw combat in the trenches in France where he was wounded, and was undergoing flight training in the fledgling Royal Air Force when the war ended.
Chandler returned to the US in 1919 to rekindle his literary career, but instead took a job with an oil company until he was fired in 1932 following a bout of depression, womanizing and heavy drinking. He began writing crime stories for the pulp magazines Black Mask, Detective Fiction Weekly, The Fortnightly Intruder and Dime Detective. Between 1933 and 1941, Chandler wrote 22 short stories. In the next 17 years he wrote only three more. In the mid40s, some of the first 22 began appearing in inexpensive paperback and hardcover collections published by Avon Books and World Publishing Co. In 1950, Houghton Mifflin published the hardcover collection The Simple Art of Murder, containing a dozen stories selected by Chandler and an essay on mystery stories. Eight stories that he had "cannibalized" while writing his novels were omitted at his request. After Chandler's death, these eight were published in Killer in the Rain. Selected stories from The Simple Art of Murder were subsequently published in additional paperback and hardcover editions.
In 1939, at the behest of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Sr., Chandler wrote his first novel, The Big Sleep, for which he used parts of his short stories "Killer in the Rain" and "The Curtain". He went on to write seven novels, all of which featured the character Philip Marlowe.
In 1944 Chandler was asked by Paramount Pictures to write the script for the film Double Indemnity with Billy Wilder; the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first of seven scripts Chandler wrote, although two of them were unused. In 1959 Chandler died of pneumonia, brought on by alcoholism. In the aftermath of his death, many of his unpublished writings—including letters, literary criticism and prose and poetry—were released. The critic Tom Williams considers that Chandler's name has become "a touchstone for crime writing, representing not just excellent fiction, but also a type of writing that is at once powerful and beautiful."

Publications in periodicals and newspapers

"The Rose Leaf Romance" and "Organ Music" are two early short stories that were included in a collection, but their first printing is unknown.
TitleDate of
publication		PeriodicalNotes
19 December 1908Chambers's JournalPoem
3 March 1909Poem
5 March 1909Poem
25 March 1909Poem
16 April 1909Poem
22 April 1909Poem
2 June 1909Poem
9 June 1909Poem
18 June 1909Poem
29 June 1909Poem
29 July 1909Poem
30 September 1909Poem
8 November 1909Poem
17 November 1909Poem
28 February 1910Poem
14 May 1910Poem
16 July 1910Poem
4 January 1911Poem
18 March 1911Review of The Broad Highway by Jeffery Farnol
21 April 1911Poem
1 May 1911Poem
3 May 1911Poem
16 June 1911Poem
19 August 1911Poem
9 September 1911Essay
4 November 1911Essay
15 November 1911Poem
23 December 1911Book review of The Reason Why by Elinor Glyn
6 January 1912Essay
20 January 1912Essay
24 February 1912Essay
1 March 1912Poem
25 April 1912Poem
22 June 1912Review of The Drama of Love and Death by Edward Carpenter
22 June 1912Review of Change in the Village by George Bourne
29 June 1912Essay
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
30 May 1936Detective Fiction WeeklyStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
Black MaskStory
15 June 1937Letter
1 July 1937Letter
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
Dime DetectiveStory
14 October 1939Story
Story
Detective Story MagazineStory
Article
Article
Review of The Golden Egg by James Pollock
Harper's MagazineLetter
–
Article
Review of Murders Plain and Fanciful by James Sandoe
CosmopolitanArticle
CosmopolitanPrepublication abridgement
15 April 1950Article
Letter
Park EastStory
Park EastStory
Park EastStory
Article
FantasticAutobiographical note accompanying reprint of "Professor Bingo's Snuff"
30 June 1955London Evening StandardLetter
Letter
25 March 1956Review of Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming
1 March 1957San Diego Evening TribuneGuest Column
18 June 1957Daily ExpressLetter
18 June 1957Daily ExpressLetter
12 July 1957San Diego Evening TribuneGuest Column
8 March 1958San Diego Evening TribuneGuest Column
30 March 1958Review of Dr. No by Ian Fleming
SuspenseStory
SuspenseStory
Article
6 April 1959 – April 10, 1959Daily MailStory – published posthumously
25 August 1959San Diego Evening TribuneGuest Column – published posthumously
Appreciation of Chandler by Ian Fleming; includes letters from Chandler – published posthumously
25 February 1962Prepublication excerpts – published posthumously
AntaeusArticle – published posthumously
AntaeusStory – published posthumously

TitleDate of
publication		PeriodicalNotes
PageantChandler interviewed by Irving Wallace
San Diego Daily JournalChandler interviewed
1 July 1947San Diego Daily JournalChandler interviewed by Terry Nolan
21 September 1952Chandler interviewed by Cyril Ray
6 March 1953John O'London's WeeklyChandler interviewed by Peter Forster
10 April 1955Chicago Sunday TribuneChandler interviewed by Vincent Starrett
25 April 1955Daily ExpressChandler interviewed by René MacColl
14 January 1956Daily ExpressChandler interviewed by Merrick Winn
7 July 1958Daily ExpressChandler interviewed by Donald Gomery

Novels

Chandler left an unfinished novel when he died. This was completed by Robert B. Parker and published in 1989 as Poodle Springs.
TitleYear of first
publication		First edition publisherNotes
1939Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkBased on the short stories "Killer in the Rain" and "The Curtain".
Farewell, My Lovely1940Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkBased on the short stories "The Man Who Liked Dogs", "Try The Girl" and "Mandarin's Jade".
1942Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkFirst Marlowe novel to not re-use previous short stories
1943Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkBased on the short stories "Bay City Blues", "The Lady In The Lake", "No Crime In The Mountains".
1949Hamish Hamilton, LondonScenes based on the short story "Bay City Blues".
1953Hamish Hamilton, LondonThe first edition was in the UK, where it was published as The Long Good-Bye; winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1955. Scenes based on the short story "The Curtain".
Playback1958Hamish Hamilton, LondonBased on an unproduced screenplay.

Short story collections

TitleYear of first
publication		First edition publisherStories in the first edition
Five MurderersAvon Books, New York
Five Sinister CharactersAvon Books, New York
Red WindWorld Publishing Co, Cleveland, OH
Spanish BloodWorld Publishing Co, Cleveland, OH
Finger Man, and Other StoriesAvon Books, New York
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston
Trouble Is My BusinessPenguin Books, Harmondsworth
Pick-up on Noon StreetPocket Books, New York
Smart-Aleck KillHamish Hamilton, London
Pearls Are a NuisanceHamish Hamilton, London
Killer in the RainHamish Hamilton, London
Hamish Hamilton, London

Scripts

Many of Chandler's works were used as the basis for films. The following are where he is credited as the writer of the performed script.
TitleYear of releaseStudioNotes
Double IndemnityParamount PicturesWith Billy Wilder; based on the novella by James M. Cain. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
And Now TomorrowParamount PicturesWith Frank Partos; based on the novel by Rachel Field.
Paramount PicturesWith Hagar Wilde; based on a novel by Ethel Lina White.
Paramount PicturesNominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Strangers on a TrainWarner Bros.With Czenzi Ormonde; based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith.

TitleYear of releaseStudioNotes
1946Paramount PicturesBased on The Innocent Mrs. Duff by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Playback1947–48Universal StudiosOriginal story, later converted to a novel of the same name

Miscellany

TitleYear of first
publication		First edition publisherCategoryNotes
Raymond Chandler on WritingHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston MALetters, criticism and fictionPamphlet containing material from Raymond Chandler Speaking published for promotional purposes; edited by Dorothy Gardiner and Kathrine Sorley Walker
Raymond Chandler SpeakingHamish Hamilton, LondonLetters, criticism and fictionEdited by Dorothy Gardiner and Kathrine Sorley Walker
Chandler before Marlowe: Raymond Chandler's Early Prose and Poetry, 1908–19121973University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SCProse and poetryEdited by Matthew J. Bruccoli
1976Ecco Press, New York, NYProse and storyEdited by Frank MacShane
Raymond Chandler and James M. Fox: Letters1979Privately printedLetters
Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler1981Columbia University Press, New York, NYLettersEdited by Frank MacShane
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe: A Centennial Celebration1990Perigee Books, New York, NYStoriesContains 23 Philip Marlowe stories by various writers; also contains Chandler's "The Pencil"
Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early NovelsLibrary of America, New York, NYProseEdited by Frank MacShane
Raymond Chandler: Later Novels and Other WritingsLibrary of America, New York, NYProseEdited by Frank MacShane
2000Hamish Hamilton, LondonLetters and essaysEdited by Tom Hiney and Frank MacShane
1917 / discovered 2014unpublished, Los Angelescomic operetta librettoWords by Raymond Chandler, Music by Julian Pascal