Feminism's Version of the Hard-boiled Sleuth is on the Wagon and Rides a Harley An Essay by Jill Edmondson Start with one serving of fingertips severed during a rather unfortunate version of Miller time. Blend in a blinding hangover buttressed by a British beer. Add the roar of a Harley drowning out the raspy hacking … Continue reading From Spenser to Yeats: Jane Yeats, That Is
Tag: Dashiell Hammett
Ned Beaumont (The Glass Key)
Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) "I can stand anything I've got to stand." -- Ned Beaumont Unlike Dashiell Hammett's other novel-length protagonists, Sam Spade, The Continental Op and Nick Charles, NED BEAUMONT is not a private eye--not even a retired one. He's a political hanger-on and fixer, a cigar-smoking, hard-drinking gambler with a weakness … Continue reading Ned Beaumont (The Glass Key)
Secret Agent X-9
Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) and Alex Raymond (1909-56) Despite being a collaboration between possibly the greatest private eye writer of all time, and one of the all-time great comic strip artists, the action/adventure strip Secret Agent X-9 was always something of a disappointment. The strip was originally conceived by King Features to compete with … Continue reading Secret Agent X-9
Forgotten Hammett: A Long Lost Interview
House Burglary Poor Trade By Helen Herbert Foster Fall-Winter 1929, The Brooklyn Eagle Magazine Of all the men embezzling from their employers with whom I have had contact, I can't remember a dozen who smoked, drank or had any of the vices in which bonding companies are so interested. Nor have I have ever known … Continue reading Forgotten Hammett: A Long Lost Interview
My Scrapbook: Owen Smith Does BART
My Scrapbook Owen Smith Does BART (Another one rides the bus) “I like the idea of reading a book and losing yourself on your train ride.” -- Owen Smith Four years after artist Owen Smith was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission to do a series of paintings to create a series of posters, Dashiell Hammett’s … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Owen Smith Does BART
My Scrapbook: Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco by Owen Smith
My Scrapbook Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco by Owen Smith In 2008, artist Owen Smith was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission to do a series of paintings to create a series of posters, Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco, for their annual “Art on Market Street” poster series. The over-sized posters featured moments and characters from Hammett's The … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco by Owen Smith
T.N. Thompson (Mister Dynamite)
Created by Dashiell Hammett At first glance, this 1935 film, based on a Dashiell Hammett short story, sounds like a blast! MISTER DYNAMITE is the titular private eye, an unscrupulous detective hired by a gambler to look into a murder committed in his casino. I figured it would be good for some hard-boiled P.I. action. … Continue reading T.N. Thompson (Mister Dynamite)
Rita Gaspereaux (The Big Man’s Daughter)
Created by Owen Fitzstephen Pseudonym of Gordon McAlpine Owen Fitzstephen's book is called The Big Man's Daughter, and it doesn't really have a detective in it, but... Explaining one of Fitzstephen's books is a bit like skiing about soup. This is really just the author playing fast and loose (and possibly avoiding lawsuits from the … Continue reading Rita Gaspereaux (The Big Man’s Daughter)
Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner (The Black Mask Boys)
Created by William F. Nolan Pseudonyms include Frank Anmar, F. E. Edwards & Warren Kastel (1928-2021) "All that talent -- and all that booze. A bad combination." -- Dashiell Hammett in The Black Mask MurdersTalk about resting in pieces. Of course, William F. Nolan didn't "create" Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or Erle Stanley Gardner. They … Continue reading Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner (The Black Mask Boys)
Dashiell Hammett (Rest in Pieces)
Fictionalized by Joe Gores and others Joe Gores' fictional, but affectionate, take on former Pinkerton man DASHIELL HAMMETT, the creator of Sam Spade and The Continental Op, pushing aside the typewriter and getting "back on the game", as a favor for a pal. Set in San Francisco in 1928, it's part biography and part novel. … Continue reading Dashiell Hammett (Rest in Pieces)