**edited 12/08/13 
 The quintessential hardboiled detective novel. While not the first, this novel was close, and I believe has had the strongest influence on the detective noir genre (and its odd stepchild, urban fantasy). Philip Marlowe is the first of the fast-talking, wise-cracking, constantly beat-up private eyes constantly over his head, obsessed with an old-fashioned chivalry, and, despite his vaunted cynicism, consistently disappointed by the world around him. 
 ...And that's all I'm going to post here. 
 The rest of my (rather verbose and quote-filled) review is posted over here at Booklikes. 
 Why? Because I disapprove of GoodReads' new policy of censorship, I am removing all of my reviews from GR.