Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories and Other Writings (Library of America)

There's not a Mt. Rushmore of American private eyes but Hammett's Continental Op wouldn't be one of the faces on it if there was. That's because he's a modest, faceless everyman though he's hardly anonymous or devoid of personality. I prefer the Op over Hammett's more infamous creation Sam Spade. That probably puts me in the minority, but I don't mind. Spade is not a particularly nice guy, on the other hand the Op is a regular Jack-the-lad, his voice like that of an old friend's to the reader. Even though he's a Roaring Twenties lawman who breaks heads and takes names he turns a blind eye to Prohibition, as eager to go into a speakeasy as the next man. It's worth mentioning there's a lot more Continental Op material than there is about Spade too, about six times as much. Fully two thirds of Hammett's crime fiction starred our man from the Continental Detective Agency instead of falcon statuettes, glass keys and thin men.DASHIELL HAMMETT: CRIME STORIES AND OTHER WRITINGS collects two dozen of the 36 stories Hammett published about the Continental Op, most of them novelettes. And distinguished, authoritative writing it is. The novels RED HARVEST and THE DAIN CURSE initially consisted of four Op novelettes apiece. I personally have never seen any of those eight segments published home or abroad in their original standalone form (and I've looked). That leaves only four other stories to collect if you want them all on your shelf. Three are easy to source. That fourth and elusive final Op caper, available nowhere but THE RETURN OF THE CONTINENTAL OP (1945), cost me as much as I paid for this volume! 'Death and Company' is, ultimately and unfortunately, for only the most diehard of collectors, a disappointing seven-page vignette. Beyond a shadow of a doubt the weakest entry in the Op's otherwise superlative casebook, it's unsurprising it's uncollected with the others. With the exception of 'This King Business' all 36 stories first appeared in Black Mask, the most feted extinct pulp magazine this side of the equally defunct Weird Tales. THE MALTESE FALCON also debuted in the Mask's pages before Knopf brought it out in hardcover; they'd already published HARVEST and DAIN.If you're reading this you probably appreciate the exploits of the Op, one of the pioneering first person hardboiled American private dicks, but not the first. Carroll John Daly's 'Three Gun Terry' sneaked onto Black Mask's table of contents months ahead of the Op. Terry Mack is Daly's pilot fish for his enormously popular Race Williams character, a homicidal maniac who rationalizes his shooting sprees as private detecting. The name of one of the stories in DASHIELL HAMMETT: CRIME STORIES AND OTHER WRITINGS is `Bodies Piled Up,' a title as gruesome as Daly's `The False Burton Combs' is clever for its misdirection. I shan't give away its secret to the few who've not read it. Cap Shaw didn't suffer journalistic fools lightly and even though he hated Daly's stuff he published it anyway because a Race Williams yarn touted on the Mask's cover boosted sales by 10,000 issues. Daly's stories are ridiculous enough to be farces, glutted with a toughness as counterfeit as a schoolboy's playground bluster. In his lifetime Daly enjoyed more glory in Black Mask than Hammett, but in the long run the Hammett legacy enjoys more success and respect, not that that ever does deceased authors any good. This is not to say Daly's writing sucks, it often makes for entertaining lightweight reading, but it's all hat and no cattle. The Op's romps in the Mask are steeped in a realism still resonant and relevant. If I may borrow a phrase from Hollywood Detective Dan Turner, the Op's adventures are as serious as `a rodney probing [one's] sacroiliac.'Hammett's strengths as a storyteller and prose stylist as well as his background with Pinkerton's enabled his work to endure. On a side note, Lillian Hellman claimed Hammett didn't work for the agency for as long as he often alluded to. His own publisher Knopf hailed him as better than Hemingway, a conceit, of course, but one I happen to agree with. I'll take Hammett's drunken private eyes and femme fatales over Hemingway's drunken sportsmen and forlorn expatriates anytime. Not to rip on Papa, but why read something to depress yourself? Hemingway's characters don't liberate and lift the spirit the way Hammett's do. To this day Hammett's influence on mystery novelists remains immense, justifying the mythic proportions of his literary reputation.Every Op story in DASHIELL HAMMETT: CRIME STORIES AND OTHER WRITINGS is good, if not great. In the product department the consumer gets his money's worth, excellent fiction on nice paper expensively bound. Library of America puts together handsome well-constructed editions designed to be read often and resist as much manhandling as an old medical desk reference printed in the forties. The quality of Library of America's books cannot be overemphasized; I own other collections from this same house, their books are built to last and can handle wear and tear. And they don't have those godawful Deckle edges.

I debated whether this should be 3 stars or 4, and decided on 4 because of the creative plots and characters. Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) dropped out of school at the age of 15, working at a variety of jobs before joining the Pinkerton Dectective Agency at the age of 21, working there before and after his service in the US Army during World War I. He came down with TB in the Army, and continuing illnesses made it difficult for him to work, so he became a writer. He is best known for the "Maltese Falcon" and other novels. He died penniless, largely due to judgements by the IRS for unpaid income taxes.It is apparent from some of the other reviews that reviewers are unfamiliar with the process of publishing a collection. There are copyrights involved, and it is necessary to obtain permission from the copyright holders, often a different publisher (which may or may not be forthcoming). There are also fees payable to copyright holders, and demands sometimes make it impractical to include material (I am speaking from personal experience).This collection contains 24 shorter stories originally published between 1923 and 1934, mainly in "Black Mask," with one each from "Argosy," "Mystery Stories," "Liberty," and "Colliers." The 20 stories from "Black Mask" feature the Continental Op, a detective from the Continental Detective Agency who is described as fat but never identified by name - call him "the Fat Man" for purposes of reference. The stories are in narrative form, as told by the main character. There is also an early typescript of "The Thin Man," various notes by the author, and biographical material on his life.Rather than being literary masterpieces, these stories were written as entertainment for the masses. They are written in the somewhat macho style of that time period, with dead bodies left about the landscape. The Fat Man is not quite Fearless Fosdick, but he survives more than a normal amount of blows, knife wounds, and near misses from bullets. The stories will appeal to those readers who like live action. They may have less appeal to readers looking for high tech (computers, cell phones, etc.). There are interesting references to the time period with people driving Locomobiles, etc., and directing someone to "keep the steam up." A lot of the action is in San Francisco in the 1920's. This was an era before Miranda Rights, etc., when police were more inclined to kick in a door and sometimes slap people aside the head.There are interesting characters sprinkled through the stories. One man has the ultimate con game, hiring himself out as a hit man and collecting the advance with no intention of performing the hit. What can his clients do, complain to the police? His idea of a money tree is someone with lots of enemies.Like most collections, there is some variation in quality. The volume is good value for the money with 900 pages of stories. While well bound, the volume is printed on somewhat thin paper which could be easily damaged.

A fantastic collection of his early works mainly from Black Mask magazine and other pulp magazines. Beautiful hardcover. Includes hammett's notes and advice to Crime fiction writers. Along with a simple chronology of his entire life. The bulk so are the 25 stories all of which are a must-read for hard-boiled fans! Arrived in padded envelope and was also double wrapped very nicely keeping the book perfectly pristine, sent proper care. A great experience. I will be buying from this person again!

I love the Library of America series of hardcovers. They're handsome on the shelf, they're durable hardcover editions, the font and feel of the pages are wonderful, you get a massive trove here of Hammett's stories in one volume (great for trips), and they come with an interesting biographical timeline of the author so you can see their life story and how the work was influenced by their experiences. If you're browsing this particular edition here on Amazon, then you've got great taste and you're looking for something special.Having read the other Library of America volume of Hammett's larger novels, this was a must buy. The plots, the characters, the settings, the dialogue - you'll realize that you've been reading pale imitators of this style for decades. I really enjoy the Continental Op stories, one of the great hard boiled detective characters in crime fiction. Heartily recommend to those who like a good little crime story!

It is not neccessary to review the stories themselves – they are well known and classics in the best sense. This edition is superb, fairly complete, well readable, and features thin but high quality paper and bindings.