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
Category Archives: Dash
Hammett: Reviewer Remorse
Now Terry Zobeck is worried that his review of the new Hammett bio by Nathan Ward — because of a few quibbles he throws in — might not have given a fair account of how much he liked it: I hope … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Ace Atkins, Art Taylor, Bill Arney, Black Mask, Bogie, David Fechheimer, Jose Hammett, Nathan Ward, Red Harvest, Terry Zobeck, Washington Post
Hammett: Terry Zobeck Reviews The Lost Detective
Since we’re hosting Biography Month because of the new Hammett bio by Nathan Ward, how about we kick the thing into gear with a full-fledged review by none other than Terry Zobeck, the most prolific Guest Blogger here on Up … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco
Tagged David Fechheimer, Frederic Dannay, Nathan Ward, Phil Geauque, Richard Layman, Steven Marcus, Terry Zobeck
Rediscovered: Biography Month Once More on These Mean Streets
What ho, it is Biography Month once again on Up and Down These Mean Streets — last time I did one was July 2012. The new bio of Jim Tully was a big excuse that time, and no doubt the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged 620 Eddy, 811 Geary, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, Geary Street, Hyde Street, Jim Tully, Leo Grin, M. P. Shiel, Miriam Allen DeFord, Morgan Holmes, Musso & Frank, Nathan Ward, PulpFest, Saigon Sandwich, Saroyan, Stan McNail, Stan Sargent, Tenderloin Museum, Terry Zobeck, William Vollmann
Frisco Beat: Noir at SFO
Man. Look at this ultra-Frisco display of noir: Left to right, the latest and greatest edition of the Hammett Tour book (trade paperback state), Nathaniel Rich’s survey of noir films shot or set in the Cool Grey City, and the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Akashic, Devon Morf, Hammett Tour Book, Nathaniel Rich, Peter Maravelis, SFO
Hammett: And Walker Martin
Even rambling on at some length, I couldn’t cover every detail or drop every name in my PulpFest report — though I consider some of that action taken care of by links to other posts, which namecheck people I skip … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged August Derleth, Fritz Leiber, John D. Haefele, Nick Certo, PulpFest, Smart Set, Tom Krabacher, Walker Martin
Frisco Beat: “Cairo’s Hotel” Grabs a New Alias
In the latest and greatest edition of The Dashiell Hammett Tour book, I advance a new theory about why the various fictitious hotels in The Maltese Falcon picked up their names — one of several fresh litcrit wrinkles I toss in, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged Geary Street, Hammett Tour Book, Hotel Bellevue, Hotel Belvedere, Hotel Marker, Hotel Monaco
Hammett: “The Nails in Mr. Cayterer”
Remember the fireworks going off boom! and bang! a couple of days ago? As I watched the explosions I was thinking, yeah, if they only knew that Terry Zobeck was about to finish off — complete, fini — his now … Continue reading
Hammett: In Constant Jeopardy!
As I’ve reported on a few times, the quiz show Jeopardy! just loves Hammett trivia. On Wednesday June 24 our favorite gumshoe/crime writer popped up again in the category A Bit About Authors, the $2000 clew: For refusing to testify … Continue reading
