The Long Goodbye
Cover Artist: Tom DunnBy: Chandler, Raymond
Publisher: Pocket Books, Inc. (1044)
Place of Publication:New York, NY
Catalog #: Kelley Box 216: PS3505 .H3224 L6 1955
Contributor: S. Hoffman, J. Lukin
General
Era: 1950sAuthor as on Cover: Raymond Chandler
Publication:1955
Original Date: 1953
Setting: urban; middle-class and wealthy homes, shady and run-down offices
Plot Summary
Confusion reigns supreme in this ambitious novel. Philip Marlowe's loyalty to Terry Lennox, a suave, alcoholic war veteran, lands him in the cooler when the cops suspect that Lennox has murdered his wife and received Marlowe's aid in fleeing the country. When Lennox is reported dead, Marlowe is freed. His reputation for loyalty lands him a job offer in Idle Valley, where he is asked to look after another problem drinker, the guilt-ridden novelist Roger Wade. Wade's wife and agent plead for help from Marlowe despite the detective's protest that he can't protect a man from himself. Despite his better judgment, Marlowe becomes the writer's confidant. But does even Wade know the nature of his own guilty secret? Why, if Lennox is dead, do a gangster, a millionaire, and a powerful attorney keep warning Marlowe to stop thinking about him? Is there any connection between the come-ons of Mrs. Wade, whom Marlowe resists, and those of Lennox's sister-in-law, to whom he succumbs? And can Marlowe's dedication save anyone he cares about? Or is innocence punished as surely as guilt?Major Characters
Philip Marlowe adult male, early 40s, tall, attractive, professional private investigatorBernie Ohls adult male, middle-aged, fading blue eyes, a large head, thick white eyebrows, homicide investigator for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office
Terry Lennox adult male, 40s, white hair and a mass of scars on the right side of his face, alcoholic war veteran with shady connections, usually living on his wife's income
Harlan Potter elderly male, six feet five and powerfully built, black hair, an immensely rich, powerful, and cynical publishing magnate
Dr. Verringer adult male, middle-aged, gay, chunky, with huge eyebrows, a shady physician who helps alcoholics dry out
Eileen Wade adult female, tall, slim, violet-eyed, blonde society wife, with a beautiful exterior and nothing inside
Menendez adult male, thick, wavy hair, dark skin, bright eyes, pencil-thin mustache, a wealthy and tasteful gangster
Sylvia Lennox adult female, dark red hair, spoiled coquette from a wealthy family
Roger Wade adult male, middle-aged, large and stubbly-faced, thick, curly hair, a hard-drinking writer of historical romances
Linda Loring adult female, thin and intense, large dark eyes, wealthy wife of a petulant, pill-pushing physician