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: Frisco
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
Rediscovered: 50 Years Ago
Usually, I don’t bother going out of my way to meet someone or see something. Only a very few possible high points kick me in the ass. I made sure I went to the screenings in Pacific Film Archive in … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Willeford’s Cockfighter
Fifty years slips past when you’re not even looking. For example, how long ago was it that Warren Oates in Cockfighter hit the silver screen? Fifty years? Correct you are. Based on the novel by Charles Willeford. The blurbage for … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, News, Willeford
Tagged Betsy Willeford, Four Star Theater, Kier-la Janisse, Warren Oates
Rediscovered: The Burnt Machens
Speaking of burnt books, the most notorious examples I personally saw in a bookstore, actually offered for sale, were several first edition Arthur Machen titles. Early stuff. Fin de siècle. Previous siècle. I remember a brief talk with my pal … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Frisco, Lit
Tagged Alan Warren, Arthur Machen, Book Collecting, McDonald's Bookstore, Peter Howard, Serendipity, Stephen King, Tenderloin, Vincent Starrett
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
Hammett: Some Thoughts on M. Spade from Kent Harrington
That prolific writer in the Posse McMillan crew, Kent Harrington, asked if I’d seen Monsieur Spade yet. Not yet, but give me a day or two free and I’ll binge my way through. (Meanwhile, I have binged the two seasons … Continue reading
Hammett: Nathan Ward v. M. Spade
Got a note from our pal Nathan Ward — author of the Hammett bio The Lost Detective — that he’s getting sucked into the current Sam Spade experience of watching Monsieur Spade on AMC. “I have only seen one episode,” … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: Nathan Ward Goes to Sea
You’ll remember Nathan Ward and his Hammett bio The Lost Detective. That one really gets going when Hammett rolls into San Francisco and sits down at his typewriter. Over on CrimeReads Nathan has just kicked a story off from San … Continue reading
