Nightmare Town: Stories

The Black Mask publishings and novels of Dashiell Hammett are the genesis of noir fiction. However, as Dashiell Hammett was in fact a private eye, he has a credibility and a realism not found in other Noir. The origin of his writing was in paperwork on his missions as a private detective. As for this particular collection, the title story opens with the proverbial bang. The character of this story with his drunken ride through the southwest and use of a cane as a weapon is vastly unique, entertaining, and fun. One can see the unique quality of the work that only a man of Hammett's past and originality could write.

echo through the twenty short stories and novellas by Dashiell Hammett contained in Nightmare Town. Before turning to a full-time writing career, Hammett traveled around the country holding a series of different jobs. Most notably he spent considerable time as a detective for the Pinkerton Agency. He worked in Baltimore, San Francisco, and in mining towns throughout the American west. He was exposed to murderers, grifters, con artists, graft, violent union-busting by the Pinkertons (which he abhorred and which help turn him into a lifelong radical) and corporate and governmental corruption. He made friends with other hardboiled detectives and saw first hand how life was on the dark side of town. He drank in bars that served `hard drinks for hard men. These experiences suffused Hammett's writings and the ultra-realistic atmosphere he created lifted almost single-handedly the detective genre from parlor room mysteries to the very real, very gritty streets of the country. Although best known as the author of such detective classics as The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon, and The Glass Key, Hammett wrote almost one hundred stories in a twelve-year period from 1922 to 1934 for pulp detective magazines such as Black Mask, True Detective Stories, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Many of the stories in Nightmare Town have not been seen in print since their original publication. Some of the stories are rough around the edges but they are all terse and well-written. It is easy to see how Hammett's craft evolved from these short stories evolved into his full length classic. The title story, "Nightmare Town", is a barn-burner. Steve Threefall awakens from a drunken bender in a small-town jail on the California-Nevada border. The town is violent and corrupt. From the time he awakes from his drunken stupor until the stories climax the reader is taken on a dramatic roller coaster ride. This short story reminded me of a classic boxing match between Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns which lasted under three short rounds but which many boxing fans claim to be the most intense nine minutes of boxing they have seen. This is early Hammett and the story is not terribly polished but it is immensely enjoyable. This sea-change brought about by Hammett was described succinctly by Raymond Candler (noted in William Nolan's excellent introduction): "He took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley. Hammett gave murder back to the people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse." In "Ruffian's Wife" we see the hard-edged life through the eyes of the wife of a seemingly violent thug. She takes delight in having such a husband and living on the edge of violence, until the violence comes to her door step. There are stories involving Sam Spade and the Continental Op, two figures made famous in Hammett's full-length novels. The cynical world-weary view of the world is already apparent even if it is clearly a work in progr

"Nightmare Town" is a collection of 20 stories written by Dashiell Hammett between 1924 and 1934, spanning nearly his entire writing career. Seven of the stories feature the indomitable Continental Op: "House Dick", "Night Shots", "Zig Zags of Treachery", "Death on Pine Street", "Tom, Dick, or Harry", "One Hour", and "Who Killed Bob Teal". "Zig Zags of Treachery", about the apparent suicide of a prominent San Francisco surgeon, is superb, perhaps the best story in this collection. The Continental Op is a character rooted in realism whom Hammett based on a fellow detective from his days at Pinkerton Detective Agency, Jimmy Wright, and on himself. Hammett's second most famous detective, Sam Spade, hero of his novel "The Maltese Falcon", is featured in 3 stories: "A Man Called Spade", "Too Many Have Lived", and "They can only Hang You Once". These are the only short stories Hammett wrote about Spade, who was in some ways the flip side of the Continental Op. At first glance, the two detectives have more in common that not, but where the Op represents the way detectives of the era really were, Sam Spade represents the way they wanted to be. The stories in this anthology demonstrate the variety of writing techniques that Hammett applied to hard-boiled detective fiction. "His Brother's Keeper" and "A Man Named Thin" feature first-person narration, but are otherwise divergent in style. "A Man Named Thin" is narrated by a poet who is a reluctant detective. I can't say that I like the ornate prose style, but it suits the narrator. "The Second-Story Angel" shows that Hammett wasn't above making fun of himself. The last story in this collection is the first ten chapters of a story that Hammett wrote in 1930 and never finished. The editors have called it "The First Thin Man". Hammett apparently intended the story to be called "The Thin Man", but by the time that novel was published in 1934, he had reworked it entirely. The only resemblance this story bares to the later novel is that one of characters is named "Wynant". "The First Thin Man" is interesting, though. It introduces a new detective, John Guild of the Associated Detective Bureau, Inc. Guild's manner is smoother than than Hammett's earlier detectives. The story is pretty good; it's a shame it wasn't completed. Hammett may have intended to make a novel out of it, but it lends itself well to a novella, which would have taken little further work. "Nightmare Town" offers a broad selection of Dashiell Hammett's short stories, representing a variety of narrative techniques. All but one ("A Man Named Thin") are from the hard-boiled school of detective fiction, which Hammett invented and perhaps perfected. Hammett biographer William F. Nolan has written an informative introduction to the book. So this is an excellent collection for Hammett fans and and a good introduction for newcomers as well. If you have other Hammett short story collections and are wondering what might be repeated in this one: Nothing

Great addition to the works of Hammett. I'm only half way through it, but the first story is worth the price of admission. I wish the slime that sent Dash to prison could see how beloved he is today. For that matter, I wish he could. Thank you, Black Lizard. The Continental Op lives. For those who remember, even Dorothy Parker said nice things about Hammett. For those who don't, you might start with "The Maltese Falcon", "The Glass Key", (which became "Yosimbo" and " A Fist Full of Dollars"), or "The Big Knockover". This is the guy who created"Crime Fiction", and Big Jim Thompson, John McDonald and Ross McDonald would be the first to credit him. If those names mean nothing to you, you are very fortunate, you have some great reading to do! If you know who they are, you have probably already ordered this so enjoy! Black Lizard, More Please!

Dashiell Hammett is The Man. He wrote with such realism and truth, he was so dead-on right in almost anything he said, and he managed to convey important lessons and wisdom, sometimes without you even realizing that you were retaining these valuable pieces of information. Nightmare Town, a collection of a variety of his short stories has a few brilliant selections, a few average ones, and yes, even a few not so good fictions. The title story is one of the strongest in the book, and the Continental Op stories-- my favourite ones in the book overall-- are above-average as well. Even the stories that aren't all that excellent usuallly do have a good punchline at the end-- contrary to what those not in the know believe, Dash Hammett did have a great sense of humour, and if you read carefully enough, you'll be amazed at the wit and irony you'll find. Even though this book doesn't do him the best justice and others are superior to it, this collection is great for the non-fan as well as the Hammett lovers. Bing, bang, boom-- 5 stars!