Ross Macdonald

Who is this?

Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer. Since the 1970s, Macdonald's works (particularly the Archer novels) have received attention in academic circles for their psychological depth, sense of place, use of language, sophisticated imagery and integration of philosophy into genre fiction. Brought up in the province of Ontario, Canada, Macdonald eventually settled in the state of California, where he died in 1983. The Wall Street Journal wrote that:... it is the sheer beauty of Macdonald’s laconic style—with its seductive rhythms and elegant plainness—that holds us spellbound. "Hard-boiled," "noir," "mystery," it doesn’t matter what you call it. Macdonald, with insolent grace, blows past the barrier constructed by Dorothy Sayers between "the literature of escape" and "the literature of expression." These novels, triumphs of his literary alchemy, dare to be both.

Career

1. 1915
   Born
2. 1965
   Won Gold Dagger
3. 1974
   Won The Grand Master
4. 1982
   Won Shamus Award
5. 1983
   Passed away
6. Member of Phi Beta Kappa Society

Trivia

• •Place of birth: Los Gatos
• •Citizenship: United States
• •Known as: writer, novelist, architect
• •Genre: detective fiction
• •Spouse: Margaret Millar