The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (chosen and introduced by James Charles)
If you write fiction—any kind of fiction—you owe yourself an evening with The Big Sleep.
Chandler is the writer other writers steal from, and this month's Book Club is your chance to study this masterpiece up close. Chandler can define Marlowe's voice in a single paragraph, with the result that you trust a narrator you've barely met. Also, notice how he handles exposition without ever stopping the story.
The plot is famously, gloriously tangled—Chandler himself reportedly didn't know who killed the chauffeur—and that's a lesson too: about what readers actually care about, about how voice and atmosphere can carry a book when the mechanics are thin.
Whatever you write, you'll come away with something useful. And if you haven't read it? Come anyway. The discussion is half the value, and watching other writers dissect a classic is… enlightening.
Bring your opinions, bring your questions, bring a drink. Marlowe would.
This month’s choice comes from James Charles. We’re not promising that he will introduce his book selection from a surf board while a volcano erupts in the background… but we are also not not promising that.
Starts at…
Sunday 23rd May 2027, 8:00 pm London time
- Berlin: 23 May 2027, 21:00 CEST
- New York: 23 May 2027, 15:00 EDT
- Los Angeles: 23 May 2027, 12:00 PDT
- Singapore: 24 May 2027, 03:00 +08
- Sydney: 24 May 2027, 05:00 AEST
- Auckland: 24 May 2027, 07:00 NZST
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