Blog Posts - Dashiell Hammett

Today we present a few of the many covers gracing my favorite book of all time. If you notice a few important editions missing, stick around. I have a feeling they'll turn up here on Friday. ...

The Continental Op (short for Continental operative) has done a lot of returning. After making his debut in the story "Arson Plus" in the October 1, 1923 issue of Black Mask, he returned in 27 more magazine adventures. Eight of those stories for...

 Today we present some of the many covers devoted to Dashiell Hammett's Man With The Unnamed Name. Excluded are books we saw here on Friday and Sunday, those that will appear tomorrow, and those with only postage-stamp sized images on the '...

A couple of years ago I began re-reading the complete adventures of the Continental Op, in order of publication, and noted steady improvement. The first few Op tales are well-written, and groundbreaking in that they present a realistic look at the wo...

"The Gutting of Couffignal" Dec 1925Here's the big finish to our galley of mags featuring the adventures of the Continental Op. All these but one (you can guess which) was borrowed from Galactic Central, HERE. "Creeping Siamese" Mar 1926"The Big...

"Arson Plus" Oct 1 1923Today and tomorrow we proudly present peeks at the covers of all but one of the 36 magazines featuring first appearances of Continental Op stories. Most of these were borrowed, with much gratitude, from the spectacular website...

Yeah, I have the Continental Op (and "The Continental Opposite," upper left) on the brain, so I'm presenting this encore performance of a Forgotten Book post from 2012. I'll present lots more Op stuff a the week rolls on.The Continental Op has been u...

I'm in an Op mood this week because my story "The Continental Opposite" (bringing the old guy out of retirement) appears in the just-out May 2015 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. I blabbed more about that yesterday, HERE.The Continental...

I'm mighty pleased to announce that the May 2015 issue of AHMM is now on sale, featuring a story inspired by Mr. Dashiell Hammett - and the great nonfiction book Portland Confidential by Phil Stanford.  It's 1953, and Portland's mayor, police ch...

This Friday is blacker than most. Mr. Bill Crider has been a stalwart contributor to FFBs, and the recent loss of his wife Judy makes all this posting and reviewing seem trivial. I only met Judy once, and that was a long, long time ago, but I feel li...

I read somewhere recently that the idea for The Fat Man radio series originated with Hammett's agent, and was pitched as Casper Gutman playing detective. As preposterous as that idea is, I have no reason to think it isn't true. Gutman was referred to...

Here's the second leg of our salute to the three incarnations of The Glass Key. If you missed Tuesday's assessment and showing of the 1935 film version, that's HERE.The first time I read this novel - sometime in the late '70s, I think - I wasn't sure...

All hail YouTube! I've been wanting to see this first screen version of The Glass Key for thirty-some years and had just about given up on it. Then a couple days ago, while searching for I-don't-remember-what, I stumbled across it on YouTube.In honor...

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OR What do I want to watch? What do I watch? Why do I watch? What wonders will my chosen watch reveal? Hiya Wonder Followers Have you had a good week? I’ll wait so you can respond. As good as that. Wow! Did you make new pals? Great That will ke...

When James Reasoner reviewed John C. Hocking's Conan and the Emerald Lotus some time back (that's HERE), Charles R. Rutledge commented, "Robert E. Howard's Conan was to most fantasy what Dashiell Hammett was to Agatha Christie. Later, one of the John...

Editor's Note: There are only two located Hammett stories that have never been reprinted (a third is known to exist, but no copy has yet been found). Last week we presented the first of those stories, "The Diamond Wager" (HERE). This week we tak...

Editor's Note: This story appeared in the October 19, 1929 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly, and is believed to have been written by Samuel Dashiell Hammett. It has never been reprinted in any Hammett collection, and no notice of copyright renewal h...

Editor's Note: This story appeared in the October 19, 1929 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly, and is believed to have been written by Samuel Dashiell Hammett. It has never been reprinted in any Hammett collection, and no notice of copyright renewal h...

Editor's Note: This story appeared in the October 19, 1929 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly, and is believed to have been written by Samuel Dashiell Hammett. It has never been reprinted in any Hammett collection, and no notice of copyright renewal h...

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