You Can Quote Me on That

Kenneth Millar, who would grow up to become the detective novelist known as Ross Macdonald, was born on December 13, 1915—103 years ago today. To honor his life and literary works, CrimeReads has compiled “30 unforgettable lines” from his books. They include this haunting quote from his 1964 Lew Archer private-eye novel, The Chill: “Some men spend their lives looking for ways to punish themselves for having been born.” And among the Macdonald lines I’d most like to steal is this description taken from 1961’s The Wycherly Woman: “She was trouble looking for somebody to happen to.”

Macdonald has enjoyed a good amount of coverage in The Rap Sheet. Last year I put together a list of those stories, found here.