Facts about Dashiell Hammett
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Dashiell Hammett
Reliable basic background from the Books and Authors siteAbout Dashiell Hammett
American Masters looks at his careerBefore "The Thin Man"
Salon Magazine recaps Hammett's writing history, razzes Lillian HellmanLet's Talk About the Black Bird
2005 memorial tribute to his careerShare this:
Dashiell Hammett Biography
Dashiell Hammett is often called the father of the modern American detective story. Hammett was himself a private detective for Pinkerton’s before turning to writing at age 28. Many of his subsequent stories featured the Continental Op, the nameless private detective — a tough, smart, streetwise and unsentimental loner — who became the archetype for a generation of hard-boiled mystery story detectives. Among Hammett’s best-known novels are The Dain Curse (1929), The Maltese Falcon (1930), and The Thin Man (1932). The hero of The Maltese Falcon, detective Sam Spade, is a famous fictional character and was played by Humphrey Bogart in the film version of the novel. Dashiell Hammett had a long and feisty love relationship with author Lillian Hellman, which is sometimes blamed for his minimal writing output from 1934 until his death.