Raymond Chandler versus the city that made him famous

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Two literary events -- one focusing on Raymond Chandler and the other Los Angeles, his adopted city -- are both scheduled for Wednesday, March 25. Chandler’s enduring (or not) vision of Los Angeles will be discussed at USC; across town at Loyola Marymount, contemporary authors will discuss how they write about L.A. Both events are free and open to the public, but it’s a literary L.A. smackdown; unless you’ve got a teleporter/time machine, it’s going to be really hard to get to both.

LAy of the LAnd: Writing Los Angeles, organized by Gail Wronsky and Ruben Martinez, kicks off at 1:30 p.m. after a noon luncheon; panels are followed by a reading and discussion, which will end at 8 p.m. Featured authors include Carolyn See, poet Douglas Kearney, Lynell George, Nina Revoyr and L.A. Times book editor David L. Ulin.

Something More than Night, a discussion of Raymond Chandler’s visions of Los Angeles, begins at 7:30 p.m. at USC. It will be moderated by Judith Freeman, author of ‘The Long Embrace,’ which looked into Chandler’s marriage (to a woman 18 years his senior, who led him to believe she was much younger) and many moves around Los Angeles. Speakers include Leo Braudy, Denise Hamilton and Kenneth Turan.

There are other Chandler events coming up, as 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of his death. And the LAy of the LAnd, the organizers say, may become an annual event. So even if you choose to go to one on March 25, you might find an opportunity to catch up with the other too.

-- Carolyn Kellogg