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 idea that Chandler just might have begun writing first and made Frisco his own. Intriguing, worth a little mulling over.
Would — all else being equal — Hammett have rolled into his residences in Eddy Street and others and still begun his Black Mask career? So you’d have had — all things being equal — two major talents working these mean streets.
But the all things being equal hits the pause button when you factor in that Chandler only began his crime writing career after encountering Hammett and the Mask crew. No Hammett at the typewriter keys in San Francisco, no Chandler with the brooding meditations on Los Angeles and environs.
