Publisher's Synopsis
Prefaced by the famous Atlantic Monthly essay of the same name, in which he argues the virtues of the hard-boiled detective novel, this collection mostly drawn from stories he wrote for the pulps demonstrates Chandler's imaginative, entertaining facility with the form. Contains the following short stories: - Spanish Blood - I'll Be Waiting - The King in Yellow - Pearls Are a Nuisance - Pickup on Noon Street - Smart-Aleck Kill - Guns at Cyrano's - Nevada Gas