 the long goodbye is a 1953 novel by raymond chandler, centered on his famous detective philip marlowe. while some critics consider it inferior to the big sleep or farewell, my lovely, others rank it as the best of his work.april 25, 1954 review of the long goodbye in the new york times chandler himself, in a letter to a friend, called the novel "my best book" and recalled the agony of writing it while his wife was terminally ill. the novel is notable for using hard-boiled detective fiction as a vehicle for social criticism, as well as for including autobiographical elements from chandler's life. in 1955, the novel received the edgar award for best novel. ==plot summary== the novel opens outside a club called the dancers. it is late october or early november 1949. philip marlowe meets a drunk named terry lennox, a man with scars on one side of his face. they forge an uneasy friendship over the next few months. in june 1950, lennox shows up late one night at marlowe's home in "a great deal of trouble", and needs a ride to tijuana airport. marlowe agrees as long as lennox does not tell him any details of why he is running. on his return to los angeles, it is revealed that lennox's wife was found dead in her guest house, and that she had died before lennox fled. marlowe is arrested on suspicion of murder after refusing to co-operate with investigators, who want him to confess that he helped lennox flee. after three days of antagonizing his interrogators, marlowe is released, the police explaining that lennox has been reported dead of a suicide in otatoclÃ¡n with a full written confession by his side. marlowe gets home to find a cryptic note from lennox containing a "portrait of madison" (a $5,000 bill). thumb|left|a $5,000 bill with the portrait of madison. marlowe gets a call from a new york publisher named howard spencer, asking him to investigate a case. one of 
1953_novels American_novels_adapted_into_films Detective_novels Edgar_Award_winning_works Hamish_Hamilton_books Hardboiled_crime_novels Los_Angeles,_California_in_fiction Novels_by_Raymond_Chandler Novels_set_in_Los_Angeles,_California