Dashiell Hammett, the creator of Sam Spade, The Maltese Falcon, and The Thin Man, was one of the 20th century’s most influential and entertaining authors. Even so, many of Hammett’s stories—including some of his best—have been out of the reach of anyone but a handful of scholars and collectors, until now. This essential compendium rescues 21 long-lost Hammett stories, all either never collected in an anthology or unavailable for decades. These stories appear nowhere else, and represent a variety of styles from the famous mysterysmith: his first detective fiction, humorous satires, adventure yarns, a sensitive autobiographical piece, and a Thin Man story told with photos. In addition, all stories have been restored to their original versions, replacing often wholesale cuttings with the original text for the first time. To round out this celebration of Hammett, three-time Edgar Award–winner Joe Gores has written an introduction describing how Hammett influenced literature, movies, television, and Gores’ own life.
All Right for Hammett Fans The `Background' by Vince Emery says this book has 21 Hammett stories that were never published in a book or are otherwise unavailable (p.1). The commentary gives the events in Hammett's life. Emery created the book he wanted to read (p.2). Hammett's stories reflect his life (p.3). The `Introduction' by Joe Gores tells of his life as a writer and private detective. He wrote the novel "Hammett" that was made into a film. Hammett's work influenced a lot of other writers (p.15). He quotes Raymond Chandler as to the importance of Hammett (p.18). Gores traces the Hammett influence on TV series (pp.29-30). "A Rough Start" tells about Hammett's life around the Great War. [The Spanish Flu was so named because it was first reported in Spain. Spain was at peace and had no censorship of the press like the warring powers (p.35).] "1922, New Writer" lists "Hammettisms" the recurring style of Hammett. They are all in "The Barber and His Wife".
Hammett's "The Road Home" went against the traditions of detective fiction (pp.76-77). The 8 innovations are listed (pp.82-83). ["Spicy slang"?] `Part Three' contains 8 stories that show Hammett's earliest writings. "The Green Elephant" is an interesting and ironic story. [O. Henry?] "Laughing Masks" shows more skill as a writer. `Part Seven' tells of Hammett's life in the 1930s. Hammett seems to have gambled away much of his earnings. [Some say gamblers really want to lose their money because of a subconscious hatred of money. Would that apply here?] Hammett's drinking was irresponsible (p.290).
In January 1936 Hammett had a "mental and physical breakdown" (p.292). Could this have affected his mind and explain his later actions and loss of writing skills? Hammett was involved with the Screen Writer's Guild in its battle against the mob-run and corporate favored IATSE. Hammett became a supporter of Stalin's policies; his personal life had problems (p.297). Was Hammett embarrassed by the Hitler-Stalin pact? No, he just reversed himself (p.301). Then he flip-flopped again in 1941 (p.305). ["Sam Spade" knew the value of putting on an appearance, but he had a purpose in that.] Did Hammett join the Army to make a break with his past or as a penitent?
One effect of the suit against Hammett was the ruling that a writer owned the rights for sequels to their stories (p.339). His last years were spent in poverty and poor health. He died of lung cancer (smoking) and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Hammett's works are still popular today, unlike the then better selling "S.S. Van Dine". Could this be due to the simplicity of the stories? Sam Spade wants to find out who killed Miles Archer. He can rule out Floyd, Joel, Wilmer, and Casper. Sherlock Holmes said that when you eliminated the likely suspects the unlikely suspect was the guilty party (or words to that effect). There is a similar surprise in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". [Did that story influence Hammett?]
Hybrid Hammett Biography and Collection of Long-Lost Work. "Lost Stories" is a compilation of 21 long-unavailable pieces of writing by Dashiell Hammett crossed with a biography by Vince Emery that follows Hammett's life and career in between the stories. I say "pieces of writing" because only about a dozen of them could be called "stories". The pieces range from one-paragraph vignettes to the 41-page story "Laughing Masks". All originally appeared in magazines between 1922 and 1941 and have not been available in recent decades -though "Night Shade" also appears in the "Vintage Hammett" sampler. I recommend "Lost Stories" to Hammett enthusiasts and scholars, not to casual fans. Combining a biography of Hammett with assorted obscure pieces of writing gives less informed readers a misleading picture of Hammett's work, because his best and most iconic work is absent.
Mystery writer Joe Gores introduces "Lost Stories" with discussion of Hammett's influence on 20th century American writers, his style, and themes. The bulk of the book divides Hammett's life into 8 parts, introduced with biographical essays by Vince Emery. Short stories and other writings are included chronologically, in the appropriate sections, often followed by critical analysis by Emery. The first and last sections contain no stories, but relate Hammett's life before he started writing and after World War II. Emery's essays include some info that was new to me in spite of my having read several Hammett biographies. Some of the essays contain too much hyperbole for my taste, however, and the conversions of Hammett's earnings to current dollar values are exaggerated. Emery may be using the unskilled wage rate to convert the values instead of comparing purchasing power using the CPI or GDP Deflator. To estimate current purchasing power, multiply 1930s dollars by 10 or 15.
If you want to make a beeline for the stories without wading through the rest, these are my picks: "The Barber and His Wife", because it's the first story Hammett wrote. The best crime stories in this book are "The Sardonic Star of Tom Doody", "The Joke on Eloise Morey", "Laughing Masks", "The Green Elephant", and "Itchy". Two very disparate stories about a writer are "The Dimple" and "This Little Pig", which comments on a screenwriter's dilemma. "Ber-Bulu" takes place in the 1890s on a Philippine island and is Hammett's only period story.
Hammett Revisited I have to perfectly honest: after the first chapter and first story, I was convinced that this book was going to be, largely, a forgettable exploration of the smaller, lesser, and perhaps even unknown works of Dashiell Hammett, arguably one of the singlemost unacknowledged literary genius of our times. Hammett's crisp, clean prose has influenced hundreds if not thousands of writers, not to mention the influence his work has had on countless readers of noir and even general crime fiction. Compiler and author Emery points out that the contemporary crime novel really owes its legacy to Hammett, who brushed aside the literary tradition of the elitist ubermensch as detectives and, instead, focused on less honest, far from perfect, flawed central characters who still managed to solve the case without tossing "justice" -- far more important to today's readers than "law" -- out the window.
However, after realizing that what truly mattered here through Emery's contribution was revisiting Hammett's artful prose not so much against the perspective of only world history but equally against the private, personal, flawed life of the author. Stories are broken up with Emery's biographical summation, and it becomes much easier to see how Hammett's own life -- the people, the places, the persuasions both good and bad -- helped contribute to the overall shape and spectacle that was to become these works and the larger works such as THE MALTESE FALCON and THE THIN MAN novels. Hammett's prose takes center stage here, but, under Emery's direction, it shares screen time with Hammett, a writer arguably as flawed as he was gifted.
The final accomplishment here is the principle reason for the five-star review: there's no way any reader can go back and enjoy any of Hammett's work WITHOUT rethinking what influenced the work. The stories will all have new meaning, and, quite possibly, you'll never read one of Hammett's handful of novels without turning back to LOST STORIES to get a better grasp of the personal context under which the tome was written.
For Those Who Want to See Hard-to-Find Hammett Material Hammett fans owe Vince Emery a big "Thanks!" for putting this volume together. I spent a lot of delightful time going over this enjoyable book and reconsidering the origins of the detective as the focus for a story . . . rather than the mystery.
As the title of this volume suggests, these are Hammett stories that you cannot easily find elsewhere. Since they are not usually available in complete form, these are obviously not his most famous stories.
There are other available collections of the better known Hammett stories (such as The Big Knockover edited by Lillian Hellman, The Continental Op Short Story Collection edited by Steven Marcus, Nightmare Town edited by Kirby McCauley, Martin H. Greenberg and Ed Gorman, and Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories and Other Writings edited by Steven Marcus). You'll probably like the stories in those collections better than in Lost Stories.
But after you've finished all of Hammett's novels and short stories, you'll yearn for more. And that's where Lost Stories will become a treasure for you.
This extensive volume also contains a running commentary on Hammett's life and times which will give you a good perspective on his career and family life. . . especially through the lenses of being a soldier, tubercular invalid, new husband and father, private detective, hungry writer, advertising man, famous writer, incorrigible drunk and gambler, script doctor and Communist. I found it helpful to know where he was in his life when each story was written. I also appreciated understanding how his earnings translate into buying power today.
I didn't expect a lot from these stories. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hammett was always a good writer . . . before he became an astonishingly good writer.
Since many of these stories are quite brief, I won't attempt to describe each one except to note which ones I especially enjoyed. The book begins with Hammett's very first story, The Barber and His Wife, which displays a powerful ability to portray character with a few actions and words. The first published story (for Smart Set) was the anecdote-length tale called The Parthian Shot. Hemingway would have admired such a story.
The Road Home was his first detective story . . . and you can already feel the power of Sam Spade in it.
By 1923, Hammett's skill as a satirist was fully developed in such stories as The Master Mind and The Sardonic Star of Tom Doody. The stories begin to take on a special quality with The Joke on Eloise Morey as he employs stream of consciousness narrative and a dark-tinged sense of humor. Some of the stories seem almost autobiographical like Holiday. Plot lines begin to emerge in stories like The Green Elephant, Laughing Masks, Itchy, Ber-Bulu and This Little Pig that have the germs of full-fledged novels in them.
I particularly commend Laughing Masks, Ber-Bulu and This Little Pig to you. They are the crown jewels of this collection.
Ardent Hammett fans will also cheer for Joe Gores' delightful introduction.
Get these stories!
Extremely disappointing As a hardcore Hammett fan you are always excited about the discovery of additional Hammett stories coming back into print. Alas, these stories are a real disappointment. There's a reason they aren't in print. Short (several less than 2 pages), mostly disconnected from the Continental Op & Novels that Hammett fans love; they often simply showcase a talented writer's future, much the way some early pencil sketches done by a famous painter are intersting but not worth purchase. The book was written not so much as to present unpublished Hammett as for the author/editor to get his 15 minutes of fame. I will admit, that if you don't know much about Hammett's life the book has some value as the biographical pieces are accurate and interesting.
Perhaps all the Hammett that's worth being in print has already been printed. Put simply, my copy of this book had to be purchased shrink wrapped - and it is obvious why the book was shrinkwrapped. If you had a chance to open and review it before puchasing, you simply wouldn't pay the price.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
