Fresh from the critical and commercial success of his first novel, Raymond Chandler moved quickly to cement his reputation as a crime writer with a second Marlowe book, Farewell, My Lovely. Although it has occasioned several film adaptions and was for several years the author’s personal favourite among his books, it was a commercial disappointment and hasn’t enjoyed the critical reputation of its predecessor. Like The Big Sleep, this one “cannibalizes” (Chandler’s expression for re-using material from a story in a subsequent novel) some short stories, but the plots are less successfully integrated with the new material, and the narrative is at times forced, whereas that of the previous …
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Citation: Dougherty, David C.. "Farewell My Lovely". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5187, accessed 23 November 2024.]