Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Monthly Archives: December 2025
Rediscovered: Eph Book Now 9% Off
And as the year 2025 rolls to a close, I notice that currently Eph Book — a.k.a. Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years — is priced at 9% off retail on Amazon. A few days ago it was 11% off, … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Leno Comes Off the Ropes!
After I reported yesterday that neither Brian Leno nor I could dope out six of the signatures on the 1977 Bouchercon program booklet, Brian waded back in. Nothing he likes better than deciphering autographs and kicking ass — and he’s … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Bouchercon, Brian Leno, Charles Shibuk, Dorothy B. Hughes, John Nieminski, Michael Eaton, Peter E. Blau
Rediscovered: The Shadow and His Signatories
Autograph Hound Super-Sunday once more! Haven’t done one of these in awhile — and for once it’s not coming from that maniacal Autograph Hound Brian Leno. At least not directly. Brian did tip me to a plethora of John Hancocks … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Lit
Tagged Anthony Boucher, Arkham House, Autographs, Bouchercon, Brian Garfield, Brian Leno, Christiana Brand, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Edward D. Hoch, Frederic Dannay, Gahan Wilson, Gary Phillips, Isaac Asimov, Jack Kerouac, John Ball, Jon L. Lellenberg, Kent Harrington, Lin Carter, Maxwell Grant, Michelle Slung, Phyllis A. Whitney, Phyllis White, Posse McMillan, Richard Lackritz, Robert Fish, Ron Goulart, Stanley Ellin, Steranko, The Shadow, Walter Gibson
Rediscovered: Charles G. Finney
Autograph Hound Saturday, and again that distinguished Autograph Hound Brian Leno provides the John Hancock for the delectation of the discriminating connoisseur of the holographic arts. Here’s Brian: I got to thinking that more books inscribed to the late bookseller … Continue reading
Hammett: Dashammet
Will Murray digs away in aging archives, turning up cool tidbits. Here’s Will: I came across these excerpts from Mort Weisinger’s Pony Express gossip column in Writer’s Review back in the 1930s. “DASHIELL HAMMETT is busy in Hollywood working for … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco
Tagged Erle Stanley Gardner, Mort Weisinger, Will Murray, William Powell
Rediscovered: Og
Autograph Hound Saturday yet again, and Brian Leno goes all caveman on us. I’ve always liked cavemen. Here’s a quick note from Brian: Thought you might like to see the Og books, all inscribed by Irving Crump to the late … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Charles Livingston Bull, Gerry de la Ree, Irving Crump, Og
Rediscovered: It’s Gotta Be Xmas
Now I notice that Amazon is offering Eph Book — which is to say, Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years — at 11% off retail. Will they do the limbo and go lower? I have no idea.
Rediscovered: Eph Book 5% Off
Just noticed that Amazon has knocked 5% off the retail on Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years, if you go for deals. Must be some Xmas shopping thing. Or an algorithm gone wild.
Rediscovered: A MetaNoir Worth Another Mention
I’m poking along, compiling another LitCrit MegaPack of my selected essays and reviews. Just scanned through the over 200 reviews I did for Publishers Weekly. Almost all short. Very tight word count. One that caught my eye was Noir by … Continue reading
