Catching up...

[MalignD at aol.com]

<< So you reckon they're *so* divergent, talent-wise, that despite all of the 
above, there's no earthly reason to mention them in the same breath? >>

Yes.  It's like no one bothers to stop and notice that one guy's good and the 
other not so.  

I find Chandler enjoyable only at the level of self-parody, reading his books 
as if written by someone ridiculing by bad imitation a better writer.  (It's 
also the only way to enjoy Across the River and Into the Trees.)  He seems 
otherwise Walter Middy-ish and silly, and I think he was probably very frightened 
of women.