OPINIONSrnThe Long Hellornby J.O. Tatern”Literature is news that stays news.”rn—Ezra PoundrnRaymond Chandler: Storiesrnand Early NovelsrnEdited by Frank MacShanernNew York: ‘The Library of America;rn1199 pp., $35.00rnRaymond Chandler: Later Novelsrnand Other WritingsrnEdited by Frank MacShanernNew York: The Library of America;rn1076pp.,$3S.OOrnSeeing Raymond Chandler publishedrnin series with Edgar Allan Poe andrnMark Twain and Flannery O’Connorrnmight give us pause. But not for long,rnfor Raymond Chandler himself told usrnwhat to say on this occasion, writing thernlines for that delectable secretary, MissrnVermilyea, in Chapter 11 of Playbackrn(1958), as she encounters the detective/rnnarrator Philip Marlowe for thernsecond time: “Well, well. Mr. Hard Guyrnin person. To what may we attribute thisrnhonor?” Since, as Marlowe puts it. MissrnVermilyea was quite a doll, I think werncould and should specify to what we mayrnattribute this honor.rnStrictly speaking, the honor wasrnearned in the only direct way thatrncounts: Chandler has never been out ofrnprint and is widely read today in manyrnlanguages. I le is continually referred tornas a standard reference, imitated ad infinitum,rnand is a constant presence in thernmass media. All the Chandler moviesrnare rebroadcast on cable—the ones thatrnhe wrote, the ones others did, and all thernrecreations and extrapolations. To sayrn”film noir” is to conjure Chandler—rn”neo-noir” ditto. Without Chandler,rnj.O. Tate is a professor of English atrnDowling College on Long Island.rnthe journalists would be without theirrncatchphrases, “the mean streets,” “thernbig sleep,” “the long goodbye.” WithoutrnChandler, S.J. Perclman and Wood’rnAllen would have had that much less tornparody. Without Chandler, Chinatownrnand Blade Runner would have beenrnunimaginable, l^arry Gelbart could notrnhave written City of Angels, and RossrnMacdonald and John D. MacDonaldrnand Robert B. Parker and LawrencernBlock and Sara Parctsky and Sue Graftonrnand Walter Moseley and many anotherrnwould not have given up their day jobs.rnThough Raymond Chandler himselfrnsaw to it that he exploited his power inrnthe movies and on radio and television,rnhe knew very well that his appeal restedrnon a literary achievement. Since hisrntime, critics such as Philip Durham,rnJerry Speir, and William Marling havernwritten solid works about that achievement.rnChandler’s letters have been publishedrnin two different editions, two ofrnhis screenplays have appeared, and hisrnlife has been the subject of a formal biography.rnIn addition. Chandler has beenrnthe object of considerable academicrnattention in the form of dissertations,rntheses, articles, and studies. J.K. 4mrnDover’s The Critical Response to RaymondrnChandler (1995) nicely summarizesrnthe decades of increasing recognition.rnBut surelv the ultimate accoladernhas been the publication of the presentrnelegant volumes.rnQuite an honor it is. To behold and tornhold these two volumes is to embracernold friends, but also to recognize thatrnPhilip Marlowe and his .?8 revolver arcrnhanging out with some highfalutin company.rnThe hard-boiled dick is taking tearnin the parlor with Emil Dickinson, andrnholding forth with Hawthorne andrnMelville and James. The news is thatrnthose treasured old paperbacks, theirrnpulp paper disintegrating and their luridrncovers fading, have been definitivel)’rnrepublished in acid-free paper and sewnrnbindings to last for generations. Marlowernand his crowd—Eddie Mars andrnMoose Mallov, Velma Milento and IcrryrnLennox, Wcep^ Moer and DoloresrnGonzales, not to mention Miss Vermilyearn—are now up there with HesterrnPrynne, Captain Ahab, and ChristopherrnNewman in the Librar) of America, a scriesrnmodeled on the French Pleiade. Asrnthe epon)’mous scadct letter orbits withrnthe Brasher doubloon, there is a fulfillingrnsense that Marlowe’s creator, RavmondrnChandler, had always aimed at thernstars.rnWhen Chandler began, he aimedrn30/CHRONICLESrnrnrn