About this title: The title essay is a long piece on writing detective fiction, in which Chandler delineates precisely what he is trying to achieve in the Marlowe novels.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780345288608ISBN:0345288602
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Solid book with clean lightly tanning pgs, book shows shelf, edge & corner wear. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
ISBN-13:9780345025050ISBN:0345025059
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN-13:9780345257352ISBN:0345257359
Description: Fine. 0345257359 Paperback with minor shelfwear, pages bright and in excellent condition; Item in stock, fast shipping, great customer service! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: Dec-1984
ISBN-13:9780345326478ISBN:0345326474
Description: Not Issued jacket. Dec 1984, 6th printing, Ballantine Books paperback in VERY GOOD condition; no dust jacket as issued. Tight binding; just slightly cocked; slight edge wear; spine and hinge crease; clean, bright pages; small black stamp on copyright page; no other marks. 218 p. (2837) (scanned image is of actual book) read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine
Date Published: 1972
ISBN-13:9780345025050ISBN:0345025059
Description: Good- THR SIMPLE ART OF MURDER by Raymond Chandler. Ballantine, 1972. Binding: Mass Market PaperbackDust Jacket: . NOTES: Stated First Printing. Showing some exterior wear/creasing, contents are overall clean with no owner markings. Images available upon request. Please email us with any questions. read more
Edition: 3rd Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, Inc, New York
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good. No Jacket Issued. Book has a slight spine slant. Book has slight edge wear snd slight cover scuffing. Otherwise book is tight and unmarked. USPS Delivery Confirmation included. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 1977
ISBN-13:9780345257352ISBN:0345257359
Description: A good copy, spine tight, no marks. Previous owner address label on cover. Severe rubbing of cover with a few areas worn away. 0345257359. Mass Market PB. read more
Edition: Second Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1977
ISBN-13:9780345257352ISBN:0345257359
Description: Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Minor edge and corner wear, lightly scuffed and scratched, spine is lightly creased, pages are toning, gently shelf worn, overal a clean used first Ballantine Books paperback edition! 218 unmarked and uncreased, suspense-filled and mystery-riddled pages! "Take four quick trips along the darkside of the city's streets, where the California sun makes a promise it breaks every night, where trouble knows your name and address, and death walks around with a smirk ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, Inc.
Date Published: 1953
Description: George Mayers. Fair. No Jacket. 16mo-over 5¾"-6¾" tall. Uncommon collection of short stories. George Mayers cover art. 194 pages. Paperback. Pocket Books, Inc. No. 916. Published in 1953. Book: Fair to good Spine is strongly cocked. Mild edge wear. Some color bleeding and page rippling from apparent prior contact with moisture. 1b. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1/1/1972
ISBN-13:9780345025050ISBN:0345025059
Description: Good. 0345025059 "Good Condition Paperback-Clean pages: NO marks, writing or stickers inside or out! From a pet-FREE, Smoke-FREE warehouse. Maybe a hint of edge wear from shelving. We ship to APO & FPO with pride! . And...Thank you! " read more
"Unlike many, I was absolutely delighted by the title essay of this collection; unfortunately, thus far the rest of the stories have yet to follow suit, and it is ironic that I could identify the murderer immediately after their initial appearance in "Spanish Blood" after the entire previous essay was spent railing against the formulaic. This is, I suppose, simply a good example of how an author's prejudices can shoot holes in their talent. Most of the other stories fell into the same category, except (perhaps also ironically) the last one, Pearls are a Nuisance, which was delightfully sharp."
"The only Raymond Chandler I'd read before this book was his inexplecably famous "The Big Sleep," which I thought was a load of toss. Fortunately, apart from the essay that gives this collection its name, some of this book isn't as awful as "The Big Sleep," though some of it is. High body counts and silly contrivances abound.
Chandler's essay "The Simple Art of Murder" ought to be called, "why my mystery stories are better than everyone else's, especially those with the audacity to outsell me." It's even more ridiculously self-important than his stories. Chandler rather mean-spiritedly decries what he considers to be silly, frivolous, and unrealistic detective stories while setting up his school-of-hard-knocks protagonists, who talk street lingo but listen to Mozart, and whose bleak moods are always accompanied by more rainfall than Los Angeles has ever seen, as the epitome of realism. Recommended, if only for the lulz.
Spanish Blood: beleaguered cop fights political machine.
I'll Be Waiting: a hotel dick, a dame, and her no-good man who's just got out of prison.
The King in Yellow: The first fully realized female character I've read in Chandler. Nice surprise, but an utterly silly plot involving the sort of solution Chandler sneered at Agatha Christie for writing. Monogrammed pajamas? Come ON!
Pearls are a Nuisance: Chandler deliberately departs from type, and the story's much more entertaining because of it. This story would be excellent if not for Chandler repeatedly calling attention to the fact that he doesn't think real people speak grammatically.
Pickup on Noon Street: a poor helpless dame and the good guy who gets caught up in her business. Lots of shooting.
Smart-Aleck Kill: Hollywood, drugs, extortion, and murder. A pretty hilarious escape from a car.
Guns at Cyrano's: another good female character, loads of shooting (hence the title) and blackmail.
Nevada Gas: the most absurdly contrived murders of all, and exactly the sort of thing Chandler mocked Dorothy Sayers for writing in his essay."
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