October 9, 1940

Dear Mrs. Knopf:

. . . . I am terribly sorry about the title [Farewell, My Lovely] and all that, and because the advance sale disappointed us, but you must remember that I didn't refuse to change the title, I just couldn't think of another one, you gave me no time at all, and although I said I liked the title, that should not have made you go against your business judgement. Everyone I know likes the title very much, but of course they are not in the trade. And I still think 'Zounds, He Dies' was a good title. If I had had some of the time the book was being prepared, I'm sure I could have come up with something that would have satisfied you. But you caught me off base and got me rattled.

Personally, and in this I am born out by one professional opinion, I think the handicap of the title will be only temporary and that if the sales do not do anything, it will really be for some other cause. For instance, the war. A woman out here who runs a string of rental libraries in and around Hollywood told a friend of mine that one of her branches had ten copies of the book out and that she hardly ever bought more than two copies of a mystery story. She said she thought this was in part due to a "very marvelous" review in the Hollywood Citizen-News of Sept. 21st. . . . Of course it would have only a local influence, but the mere fact that a critic who confessedly does not like mystery stories and thinks they are mostly tripe should take this book seriously as a piece of writing is worth an awful lot to me. Because I am not innately a hack writer. . . .

April 3, 1942

(Note: Several paragraphs of this letter are devoted to corrections in the script of the book eventually titled The High Window. Raymond Chandler's first title was The Brasher Doubloon, but like many authors, he had trouble, as indicated below.)

To: Alfred A. Knopf

. . . . As to the title let me say at once that whatever I might think or like or not like I am not going to set my opinion against yours. The title was the origin of the story, but that's not important. . . .

I don't like titles like 'The Strange Case of' or 'The Puzzle of' or 'The Mystery of' for the reason that I think they put too much emphasis on the mystery itself and I have not the ingenuity to devise the sort of intricate and recondite puzzle the purest afficionados go for. The title might lead them to expect a type of story they are not getting. But that again is really your problem. I don't mind, for instance, a title like The Case of the Lost Doubloon, but Gardner has almost made this kind of title his trade mark. All I can think of along this line at the moment is The Lost Doubloon, The Lost Doubloon Mystery, The Stolen Coin Mystery, The Rare Coin Mystery. All rather pedestrian. I'd like something with a bit more oomph. . . .


Excerpted with permission from the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.

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