Dashiell Hammett

Dennis Dooley studied the Middle Ages and has worked as a journalist and magazine editor. Half of this book is devoted to the short stories, the rest to Hammett's five novels. Hammett's knowledge of society came from his work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency (pp.6-7). Chapter 1 tells of the many changes in the 1920s. The `Continental Op' was a new kind of fictional detective (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 and 4 discuss parts of Hammett's short stories. Does Hammett enjoy and employ hyperbole (p.61)? "Corkscrew" is a story about a land development corporation that wants to eliminate their small-time competition (pp.63-64). "The Big Knockover" is a story where small crooks are bumped off by big crooks. Is this a comment on the business world of 1920s America? Chapter 6 has Dooley's thoughts on "Red Harvest". Could this story be a metaphor for the Great War, the conflict over who would rule the world? Chapter 7 discusses "The Dain Curse", a novel about family secrets. Chapter 8 discusses the plots of "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Glass Key", about one man's adventures in his society. "The Thin Man" was the most successful and led to a series of six films (p.117). The husband and wife team created a new form of detective stories. Dooley's comments on the empty lives of Nick and Nora may reflect the lifestyles of the rich and famous in their mindless consumption (p.125). Dooley says "The Thin Man" was Hammett's last novel and speculates as to what caused this (p.131). Didn't Hammett have a mental and physical breakdown that ended his creative life? Chapter 10 views Hammett's historical position as a writer of mystery and detective literature. Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories reached a wide public, and set the mark of a brilliant sleuth who was incorruptible. Wasn't that quote of Joseph Fouché first said by Talleyrand (p.137)? I haven't read Edmund Wilson's essay (p.138), but Agatha Christie's story dealt with the very important topic of poison-pen letters and gossip, a most often broken commandment ("false witness") in daily life. The "disillusionment" of post WW I was merely the loss of idealistic fantasies; they should have known better. Trade unions arose after the Civil War (p.140). The rise of gangs were caused by the ruling class's need for extra-legal powers. The "well-regulated militia" would have quickly put an end to them. Any history of Prohibition will tell how the big corporations were behind it. They promised prosperity and less crime. America got the Depression and organized crime. Hammett was the first writer who had worked as a detective (if you don't count Vidocq). No mention here of those writers who had worked in their country's secret services. Most crimes were committed by people in desperate circumstances, or by those at the top of the heap (p.142). [No crime in the middle classes?] Hammett knew of the effects of "breaks" (p.143). [Machiavelli called it "fortune".] Dooley accuses Erle Stanley Gardner of "parlor games