{"product_id":"creatures-of-darkness-gene-d-phillips-9780813190426","title":"Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction, and Film Noir","description":"\u003cp\u003eMore than any other writer, Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) is responsible for raising detective stories from the level of pulp fiction to literature. Chandler's hard-boiled private eye Philip Marlowe set the standard for rough, brooding heroes who managed to maintain a strong sense of moral conviction despite a cruel and indifferent world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChandler's seven novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Big Sleep\u003c\/i\u003e (1939) and \u003ci\u003eThe Long Goodbye\u003c\/i\u003e (1953), with their pessimism and grim realism, had a direct influence on the emergence of film noir. Chandler worked to give his crime novels the flavor of his adopted city, Los Angeles, which was still something of a frontier town, rife with corruption and lawlessness. In addition to novels, Chandler wrote short stories and penned the screenplays for several films, including \u003ci\u003eDouble Indemnity \u003c\/i\u003e(1944) and \u003ci\u003eStrangers on a Train\u003c\/i\u003e (1951). His work with Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock on these projects was fraught with the difficulties of collaboration between established directors and an author who disliked having to edit his writing on demand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eCreatures of Darkness\u003c\/i\u003e is the first major biocritical study of Chandler in twenty years. Gene Phillips explores Chandler's unpublished script for \u003ci\u003eLady in the Lake\u003c\/i\u003e, examines the process of adaptation of the novel \u003ci\u003eStrangers on a Train\u003c\/i\u003e, discusses the merits of the unproduced screenplay for \u003ci\u003ePlayback\u003c\/i\u003e, and compares Howard Hawks's director's cut of \u003ci\u003eThe Big Sleep\u003c\/i\u003e with the version shown in theaters. Through interviews he conducted with Wilder, Hitchcock, Hawks, and Edward Dmytryk over the past several decades, Phillips provides deeper insight into Chandler's sometimes difficult personality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChandler's wisecracking Marlowe has spawned a thousand imitations. \u003ci\u003eCreatures of Darkness\u003c\/i\u003e lucidly explains the author's dramatic impact on both the literary and cinematic worlds, demonstrating the immeasurable debt that both detective fiction and the neo-noir films of today owe to Chandler's stark vision.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gene D. Phillips\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813190428\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813190426\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kentucky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/19\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 350\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.76w x 0.89d","brand":"Gene D. Phillips","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44540343877887,"sku":"9780813190426","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f94f56b4-ff34-4928-a962-24c530e12502.jpg?v=1700587372","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/creatures-of-darkness-gene-d-phillips-9780813190426","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}