Meetup One Hundred and Thirty: The Big Sleep

Hey team - Be prepared to hit the streets and follow the clues, because this summer we will be immersed in 20th century crime novels. Think morally troubled detectives, think seedy nightlife, think lonely dames in smokey bars. All that and more as we unpack the rise of the noir novel. Our first book is a classic of the genre (in both book and film), Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. Published in 1939 and set in Los Angeles, the novel is the first in the Detective Philip Marlowe series and is noted for the complexity of its plot as characters double-cross one another as their secrets get exposed. Per the blurb: "A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in." Think of Bogey and his iconic glower while reading.

This is the first book in our reading series for the summer. The rest will include:

- A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
- Point Zero by Seicho Matsumoto