At the same time, Parker isn't afraid to give Spenser some measure of self-awareness. He knows that he's a hero and he knows that his heroics are a bit showy, and if he's not about to tone down the manly feats of strength, he's not above poking a little fun at his own legend. There's Bernard J. Fortunato, ''that tough little dude from Vegas,'' and Tedy Sapp, ''the hard case from Atlanta,'' as well as Vinnie Morris, Spenser's candidate for ''the best shooter I'd ever seen,'' and Chollo and Bobby Horse, the California talent. The moral ambiguity, of course, is what makes this crusade so outrageously entertaining. No place is boring in Philip Marlowe's world.
Nothing is unimportant.
Each place energizes the work, and Chandler's novels would be diminished if anything were removed. The people who live in Marlowe's world are equally inextricable. There is no elevator operator who merely runs the car and no thug who provides only menace. All the characters imply a life beyond the novel. For all its romantic luster, his prose is without ornament.