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When he died in 1983, Ross Macdonald was the best-known and most highly regarded crime-fiction writer in America. Long considered the rightful successor to the mantles of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald and his Lew Archer-novels were hailed by The New York Times as "the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American."

Now, in the first full-length biography of this extraordinary and influential writer, a much fuller picture emerges of a man to whom hiding things came as second nature. While it was no secret that Ross Macdonald was the pseudonym of Kenneth Millar -- a Santa Barbara man married to another good mystery writer, Margaret Millar -- his official biography was spare. Drawing on unrestricted access to the Kenneth and Margaret Millar Archives, on more than forty years of correspondence, and on hundreds of interviews with those who knew Millar well, author Tom Nolan has done a masterful job of filling in the blanks between the psychologically complex novels and the author's life -- both secret and overt.

Ross Macdonald came to crime-writing honestly. Born in northern California to Canadian parents, Kenneth Millar grew up in Ontario virtually fatherless, poor, and with a mother whose mental stability was very much in question. From the age of twelve, young Millar was fighting, stealing, and breaking social and moral laws; by his own admission, he barely escaped being a criminal. Years later, Millar would come to see himself in his tales' wrongdoers. "I don't have to be violent," he said, "My books are."

How this troubled young man came to be one of the most brilliant graduate students in the history of the University of Michigan and how this writer, who excelled in a genre all too often looked down upon by literary critics, came to have a lifelong friendship with Eudora Welty are all examined in the pages of Tom Nolan's meticulous biography. We come to a sympathetic understanding of the Millars' long, and sometimes rancorous, marriage and of their life in Santa Barbara, California, with their only daughter, Linda, whose legal and emotional traumas lie at the very heart of the story. But we also follow the trajectory of a literary career that began in the pages of Manhunt and ended with the great respect of such fellow writers as Marshall McLuhan, Hugh Kenner, Nelson Algren, and Reynolds Price, and the longtime distinguished publisher Alfred A. Knopf.

As Ross Macdonald: A Biography makes abundantly clear, Ross Macdonald's greatest character -- above and beyond his famous Lew Archer -- was none other than his creator, Kenneth Millar.

Average Customer Rating:

Disappointing

Customer Rating:

Too long, too dull. Millar simply did not live an interesting life; he mostly sat around writing. Which is fine, but not worth spending almost 500 pages reading about. There are too many unedited interview quotations from friends and acquaintances who ramble on and on. The main fact I learned was how long-suffering he was in dealing with his mean and difficult wife. The photo section is bad as well: too many pictures of actors who portrayed Archer, not enough of the author himself. And since one of the themes of Macdonald's career was trying to prove that he was not a carbon copy of Chandler, it's ironic that there is a picture of Chandler.

Here it is! A Perfect Literary Biography!!

Customer Rating:

The search for personal and family identity in the hidden past is a constant theme in the Archer Books I've read, and this bio explains what was in some ways the author's private obession with his own identity..Was he American/Canadian,mystery/literary author,competition/assistant for his mystery writer wife,a Santa Barbara Lover, or the opposite. A true paradox who perplexed about everyone who knew him with more silent demons than most of us, no doubt all these factors helped his evolution into a major crime and literary writer. This bio explains his life from the beginnings of a lost father, and child forever on the move with various relatives and schools and cities. Called by one admirer a man one who absolutely take no chances, he was also known to climb out a 3rd floorwindow, and hand on the ledge by his finger, and climb back inside, saying that modern society is totally adverse to risks and challenges. This bio also is a fine intro into the business aspects of the writer, from working with an agent, publisher, getting paperback and movie/TV rights, just about the whole gamut. And then the final, hard struggle to fame and fortune! This book reads like the best novel, a real page turner, until it's final sad conclusion, a study in the deteriorating effects of Alzheimers. And the story of his wife and daughter are worthy of their own bios, though Mr. Nolan does a terrific job of weaving these people in the book, too! So if you're looking for a really phenomenal book/bio, do not miss this one!

quite an accomplishment	Customer Rating:
Mr. Nolan has done a meticulous job here. Quite a bio. You get the idea Ross Macdonald was as hard-working and decent as they come. It'll make you wish you had known the man. Tom Nolan's book gets high marks here!

Exceptional!

Customer Rating:

A good biography defines for the reader the complete subject. An exceptional biography not only defines the subject but offers insights and generates feeling for the subject. Nolan has done a truly masterful job of offering us Kenneth Millar, without ever once inflicting any kind of authorial (hence subjective) opinions on the material. As someone who, to this day, can remember many of Millar/Macdonald's exquisitely crafted lines and scenes, and who loved both his work and that of his wife Margaret Millar, it was a wonderful experience to read this book. Since they were so integral to each other's lives, author Nolan has wisely, and quite fully, included Margaret in this biography in order to give us a full perspective on their life together--a pair of (ultimately) enormously successful writers who happened to be married. Margaret comes across as a clever, difficult, quite damaged woman, often hiding behind throwaway quips and quite caustic remarks; not at all sociable, undeniably gifted, and possessed of a humor that was frequently cruel. Millar, on the other hand, is shown to be, first and foremost, a generous, thoughtful, kind, and immensely gifted man with a fine, fine mind. His long struggle to achieve the success he so richly deserved is, in some ways, very contemporary; in other ways, it's reflective of the times (the late 40s through the late 70s). Rich, too, in physical detail, what I particularly liked was Nolan's comprehension of Millar's sense of being an alien in America. Despite his American birth, having grown up in Canada, Millar brought to his life and to his work a kind of interior chill that is so very much a part of Canadian life. A very tricky thing to describe, yet Nolan does a masterful job of highlighting the difference in sensibilities between Canadians and Americans. It's no small achievement. We Canadians are not Americans, but articulating why--and defining the cultural niceties--can be exceedingly difficult. To learn that a mind as fine as Millar's is destroyed, ultimately, by Alzheimer's is achingly painful to read. To "see" the man begin to falter and then fail is harrowing and, finally, heartbreaking. Millar redefined the mystery genre, bringing it forward into the mainstream of literature with consummate skill and a peerless talent. Nolan does his subject proud. This is a book that would, undoubtedly, have pleased the shy and unpretentious Millar enormously. Read every Ross Macdonald book you can find. And then read this splendid biography. My highest recommendation.

THE ULTIMATE LITERARY BIOGRAPHY

Customer Rating:

I am a mystery author who is attemping to continue in the literary tradition of Hammett/Chandler/Macdonald. While taking a break between my first book (now in current release and recently sold to a Japanese publisher for translation/publication) and my second book (now in preproduction), I read Tom Nolan's ROSS MACDONALD. Ross Macdonald is perhaps the mystery writer who has had the strongest influence upon my writing, and I spent approximately a month closely reading this overwhelming book. Mr. Nolan spent the better part of two decades researching this bigraphy, and his dedicated efforts clearly show in this work. Nolan traces Macdonald's early life, his education, his military career, his sometimes stormy relationship with his wife Margaret Millar, his years of work at mastering his craft, his family troubles, his eventual fame, his societal and political interests, his dedication to certain causes, and the tragically early end to his life. In short, this book tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Macdonald but didn't know enough to ask. While reading this book, I made mental notes of a some minor details I desired further elaboration on. Fortunately, several months later, I found myself seated next to Tom Nolan at the LA TIMES Festival of Books. It was a pleasure to meet such a kind and generous man. Mr. Nolan is as fine a gentleman as he is a writer, and he had answers to all the questions I still had about the great author we both admire. ROSS MACDONALD is an extraordinarily well-researched work written by a man with a thorough mastery of his material. I have never read a better literary biography.