This collection of hard-boiled short stories from various pulp magazines begins with Chandler's excellent essay of the same name and continues with stories that, while not always masterful, show not only the author's craft, but also his willingness to experiment stylistically and structurally, even when the plot itself is nothing special. I singled out Spanish Blood, The King in Yellow, Pearls Are a Nuisance and Guns at Cyrano's as the best short stories of the collection.