I don't know if the definition of "hardboiled" stretched to
include Chandler so much as he stretched it himself. He
basically grafted himself to Hammett, esp in "Simple Art." He
single-handedly created the notion of the genre as something
viable that might develop over time, and he got himself in on
the ground floor. Accouts of the genre's leaders always
start
"Hammett-Chandler," followed by some third name. That third
space has been filled, in people's minds and criticism, by
Cain, by Macdonald, more recently by Thompson ... but it's
unimaginable without Chandler. So yes, it's a good point that
Chandler might have seemed different to those used to Hammett
and Whitfield. But the evolution of the genre is special in
this instance, as Chandler had a hand in forcing it to
evolve.
mds
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