Oh here’s something I forgot about Chandler - in almost all of his stories, there’s a character that’s implied to be gay. This is occasionally a plot point, but usually not.
\nAn interesting thing about this is how this is usually framed as a particularly oriental thing - oriental in a period sense, meaning a bit of japonisme but more “near eastern” - Turkish/Ottoman, with waxed mustaches, perfumed silk hankerchiefs, a decadent overrichness in home decoration, attire, and a Nathan Lane roly-polyness of body. More John Waters than Stefon.
\nChandler had a few mistresses - he tended to have a thing for his friends’ wives - and several of them are on record speculating that he was a closeted homosexual, and isn’t that a sentence to meditate on.
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