Off The Bookshelf Raymond Chandler: A Biography Search Books

Bookmark the site

Return to Homepage

US Shopping
UK Shopping

Best Selling > Books > Writing

Search Books - select a category

21.Ross Macdonald : A Biography by: Tom Nolan March 12, 1999
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $0.73
Too long, too dull. Millar simply did not live an interesting life; he mostly sat around writing. Which is fine, but not worth spending almost 500 pages reading about. There are too many unedited interview quotations from friends and acquaintances who ramble on and on. The main fact I learned was how long-suffering he was in dealing with his mean and difficult wife. The photo section is bad as well: too many pictures of actors who portrayed Archer, not enough of the author himself. And since one of the themes of Macdonald's career was trying to prove that he was not a carbon copy of Chandler, it's ironic that there is a picture of Chandler.

22.Daemon Hall by: Andrew Nance June 12, 2007
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $16.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $13.56 You Save: $3.39 (20%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $3.02
I picked this up after my little brother checked it out from the library. Which is great because this is a teenager book, pure and simple. However, I must say that I really enjoyed it. Nance's whole objective, it seemed, was to praise creative writing and storytelling, and he certainly did his job with this book that tells the tale of five teenagers invited to spend the night in a haunted house telling scary stories. It's better than it sounds and is very reminiscent of some of those old "Fear Street" books. Nance is clearly educated on various authors and folklore and he spreads information throughout the story. The characters are not particularly well-drawn, and some of the drama had me rolling my eyes--but I'm sure teens will fall head-over-heels for the angst. However, it's a scary, imaginative book, ... Read More

23.Modus Operandi: A Writer's Guide to How Criminals Work (Howdunit) by: Mauro V. Corvasce, Joseph R. Paglino 1995-03
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $2.62
This is a very basic book written by 2 detectives. It seems a bit dated to me (1995) and doesn't seem very writer-oriented either. While there is a wealth of material (from a detective's perspective), most of it was already known to me from watching TV & reading. While it could be used as a reference for writers, I don't think it would be much help in actually writing a mystery or detective novel or story. One would be better off IMHO reading some of the great mystery writers (e.g. Christie, Marsh) and current ones (e.g. Marcia Muller, Grafton). However, I did enjoy reading it--it's a very easy read.

24.In the Footsteps of Agatha Christie by: Francois Riviere, Jean-Bernard Naudin 1997-03
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $2.92
Beginning with text and photograph headers presented in the old manual typewriter fonts, Francois Riviere successfully transports her readers back to the Devon countryside of Agatha Christie's childhood. Early family pictures are interspersed with gorgeous color photos of the south of England, each one representing an event or memory which provided Christie with the germ of her intricate plots. Ms. Riviere provides a rare treat for devoted fans and casual readers alike: the personal life and environment of an author who guarded her privacy and was able, like her books, to keep us guessing. The Devonshire home of Greenway, not visible from the road but glimpsed by boat from the river Dart, is described in detail with ample color photos, as is the Burgh Hotel, the setting for "Evil Under The Sun" and ... Read More

25.Mystery Writing in a Nutshell by: John McAleer, Andrew McAleer January 15, 2007
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $9.95 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $5.70
As an avid mystery reader (from Doyle to Fforde), I did not expect to find this peak behind the curtain to be so enlightening or entertaining. Mystery Writing in a Nutshell should be required reading (and kept handy as a reference guide) for anyone who is a mystery lover and/or writing/editing a mystery or supsense novel. I have been disappointed too many times by mystery writers who do not follow these most basic of rules (to paraphase, if sex is not important to the plot, don't use it). As a result, I don't seek out their next book. Thanks to the authors for giving me an insight as to why I love the authors I do (and what they have done correctly to earn that esteem)!

26.Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler from: Columbia University Press October 26, 1981
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $87.00 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $1.20
Raymond Chandler died 43 years ago, yet the seven novels he wrote have ALL been in print since their original publication. Why? Because Chandler was a first-rate prose stylist who took the hard-boiled detective novel places it had never been before...and has seldom been since. THE SELECTED LETTERS OF RAYMOND CHANDLER is for anyone who loves THE BIG SLEEP, FAREWELL MY LOVELY and all the rest. It gives us a chance to get inside Chandler's head, to listen to him expound on Hollywood, the art of writing, the publishing business, the agony of seeing a wife die a slow death. Like Sam Clemens, Chandler wrote a good many letters. And like that other great American original, not all the letters are memorable, but a LOT of them have a snap and bite that still resonate a half century later. For example: Read More

27.The Making of a Writer by: Joan Lowery Nixon May 14, 2002
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $14.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $11.66 You Save: $3.29 (22%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $0.01
"I was exactly what I had wanted to be. I was a published writer!" The Making of a Writer, a biography of Jean Lowery Nixon is an enjoyable read, revealing her fantastic childhood memories that lead her to become a writer. Jean Lowery Nixon is an extremely accomplished writer who wrote more than a hundred books, mostly mysteries. This biography is made up of engaging little stories of events in her life that contributed in some way to how she became a writer. Jean Lowery Nixon describes her childhood as full of love, laughter, excitement, and throughout this, her strong passion for writing. With puppet shows, poetry, friendship, and family, Jean Lowery Nixon never runs out of stories that contribute to how she became a writer. I loved reading this book because Jean Lowery Nixon goes into detail when she expresses characters, ... Read More

28.The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Non-fiction, 1909-1959 by: Raymond Chandler April 09, 2001
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $1.40
Raymond Chandler wrote his letters, for the most part, late at night after a day of drinking. The letters provide an insight into the man who created the quintessential fictional PI, Philip Marlowe, and elevated what he called formula writing into a class of literature recognized by his contemporaries as art. The letters range from his laugh-out-loud take on science fiction--"Did you ever read what they call science fiction? It's a scream. It's written like this: I checked out K19 on Adabaran III, and stepped out through the crummaliote hatch..." to the sadness he experienced when his wife of more than thirty years passed away. I enthusiastically recommend this book. Even people who hadn't had the good fortune to read his classic mystery novels will be highly entertained.

29.A Lot to Remember: A Supernatural Journey Through Thr French Province of Lot (Joan Grant Autobiography) by: Joan Marshall Grant February 01, 1999
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $10.95 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $8.64
If you are looking for a travel summary of the sights and sounds of the countryside, what the menus were at the local tavern, how much the wine and meals cost, and what the state of the bedrooms at the inns were like, this is the book for you. However, if (like I was) you are expecting to read about supernatural encounters, you may just as well save your money. I have never read anything by Joan Grant before this, so I cannot guess as to how interesting her other works may be.. I only know I was sorely disappointed in this one. There were only two "supernatural" encounters, each not being more than a page or so, in the whole book. A "Supernatural Journey" ...... I think not!

30.Raymond Chandler: A Biography by: Tom Hiney 1997-05
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $0.15
Forty years after his death Chandler was in need of a new study, both of his life and of his writing. This one strikes me as dealing with the former better than with the latter, but it has interesting and illuminating things to say about both. However what I want to commend the book for above all is just how readable it is. Chandler himself had some trenchant and uncomplimentary things to say about some of the more intellectual kinds of writing, creative as well as critical, Hiney quotes some of these with evident approval, and I fancy the book was written with a sense of Chandler's ghost looking over the biographer's shoulder, alert to detect and deflate pretentiousness. Chandler's story is a triumph of talent over alcoholic insecurity. He never knew his alcoholic father, and he was educated through the charity, far from affectionate ... Read More

page 3 of 20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Off The Bookshelf gives you a unique shopping experience, you can find all the products you like within a few minutes online, locate the latest charting CD's, DVD's & Games, read user reviews on the bestselling Books and Household products. All items are available to buy Used (at a greater saving) or New (at a great discounted RRP). Add the items to your shopping basket, pay securely online and we send these products to be delivered to your door. We take great pride in being able to offer you the great savings partnering with Amazon, offering you cheaper prices than the high street retailers, we have thousands of discounts on all the the items you can buy off the shelf and hope you find the website easy to use.

Thanks for visiting and browsing Off The Bookshelf

In association with Amazon.com

SME-WS
HolidayHavens - Holiday Rental Accommodation