Nobody but Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) could have created a private eye hero as cool as Philip Marlowe, but writers have been trying ever since the author's precedent-setting crime novels were published. Chandler wrote seven complete novels during his lifetime, with his first novel, The Big Sleep, debuting in 1939. Three of his novels are considered major literary works outside of the crime fiction genre: Farewell, My Lovely, The Little Sister, and The Long Goodbye. All but one of his novels were turned into movies, some several times.