“Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl’s clothes off.”
Late Friday afternoon and our thoughts turn to unwinding from the week’s stresses and having a drink or two. For many writers there is no end of the week, which might explain why so many drank so much.
Raymond Chandler - Writer of novels, short stories and screenplays, often featuring noir detective Philip Marlowe, an anti-hero still relevant today - “the struggle of all fundamentally honest men to make a decent living in a corrupt society. It is an impossible struggle; he can’t win.”
Legendary drinker Chandler would’ve been the first to admit that he didn’t control his drink, it controlled him. To be invited to a lunch by Chandler, would have consisted of a small meal, three double martinis, three brandies and a crème de menthe – no doubt that was the dessert.
When he was commissioned to whip up the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia in 1945, he got writer's block, telling his bosses that the only way he could finish the script was to do so while blind drunk. His finished script was neatly stacked next to some empty bottles, with Chandler passed out on the couch.
If you haven’t delved into the dark murky waters of Chandler’s stories do, they take you to an elegantly described era that doesn't exist anymore but the psychological violent landscape of human nature is as timeless as ever.
"The streets were dark with something more than night."
“It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.”
Enjoy with a whisky on the rocks.
“There is no bad whiskey - there are only some whiskeys that aren't as good as others.”