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: After Chandler
Mark Coggins just dropped a bit on The Rap Sheet about how Raymond Chandler got to San Francisco before Hammett hit town. Check it out. Got some dates, some buildings and addresses. The elephant in the burg, though, is the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Black Mask, Eddy Street, Mark Coggins, Raymond Chandler, The Rap Sheet
Hammett: Jeopardy! Slips Another Clew from the Dash Deck
January 13. S41 E91. Champions Wildcard Game 1. Double Jeopardy Round. Category: People of the Book. $800 clew: Contestant buzzes in: “What is The Maltese Falcon?”
Hammett: Who Is?
Jeopardy! October 22, 2024. S41 E32. In the Final Jeopardy round the category Detective Authors. “For much of the 1920s, he lived on Eddy in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.” “Who is I had fun,” responded one contender. “Who is Mosley?” … Continue reading
Hammett: Jeopardy! Rides Again
Only a month after dropping a Hammett clew into the mix, Jeopardy! quickly pulled the creator of Sam Spade out of the trick bag once more — S40 E210 for June 28, 2024. The first round. $400 clew in the … Continue reading
Hammett: Back into the Jeopardy! Proper Mix
After the surprise appearance on the spinoff show Jeopardy! Masters on May 17 earlier this year, Hammett quickly returned to his old Jeopardy! stomping grounds. May 29, 2024. S40 E188. Category: Don’t Stop Retrieving. $1000 clew: “In a 1930 novel … Continue reading
Hammett: Cracking Jeopardy! Masters
After Jeopardy! had their full category blowout of Hammett clews in January, who knew what might happen? Could that have been it, a swansong to send him off into the used-up clew pile by an exhausted clew crew? Months began … Continue reading
Hammett: When Jeopardy! Dropped the H Bomb
I’ve had this one hidden away almost all year, waiting to ease under the Xmas tree. . . . Or: Would you believe I was so daunted when I saw it that I froze solid? Dropped as if I had … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Jeopardy!, Lillian Hellman, Raymond Chandler, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Tenderloin
Rediscovered: Death Lit on the Block
If you picked up my most recent book Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years 1937-1973, I am here to slip you the word that no longer is it the latest title to leap to life. The newest of the new … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, DMac, Film, Frisco, Lit, News, REH, SFSC, Tour, Willeford
Tagged Arkham House Ephemera The Classic Years 1937-1973, Book Collecting, Death Lit Essays and Reviews 1974-2024
Hammett: P. I. Sam, Reanimated
Brian Wallace keeps sending me the news that when the copyright expires early in 2025, Max Allan Collins has a deal with Hard Case Crime to pick up Sam Spade in (dum-dum): The Return of The Maltese Falcon Of course, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Brian Wallace, Hard Case Crime, James Patterson, Joe Gores, Max Allan Collins, Sam Spade pastiches
Hammett: Prowling Burritt Alley
I guess it was in 2021 when I shot some footage with Duane and Rachel Anderson of Travel by the Book TV. Took them awhile, but they’ve got about 20 minutes now up on YouTube, touring Hammett sites in San … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged Burritt alley, Dashiell Hammett Street, Duane and Rachel Anderson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Travel by the Book TV
