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
Tag Archives: Cacophony Society
Rediscovered: The Bill Breiding Omnibus
Pretty much the last thing I might have expected to roll in would have been an omnibus — under the banner of Rose Motel — of Bill Breiding’s “Fanzine Pieces 1980-2014.” Years pass and I don’t hear from Bill, then Bingo. … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News, SFSC
Tagged Bill Breiding, Burning Man, Cacophony Society, Clan Breiding, Fritz Leiber, G. Sutton Breiding, Gary Warne
Rediscovered: Xmas Noir
Got a note from the Jersey Noir photog Mark Krajnak — he appreciated my comparison of his cover for the new Race Williams omnibus to Alan Ladd, somehow summoning that sort of evocative iconography. That’s what happens with art, if you … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, SFSC, Tour
Tagged Alan Ladd, Cacophony Society, Fritz Leiber, Fritz Leiber Tour, Jersey Noir, John Law, Kepler space telescope, Mark Krajnak, Race Williams, SantaCon, Xmas
Tombstone: Phil Geauque
Image above: another shot from the Mechanics’ signing, Nathan Ward inscribing a copy of his Hammett bio while I look on; standing to left, Vince Emery in blue, John Law — of The Suicide Club, Cacophony Society, primal Burning Man, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, SFSC
Tagged Blackjack Jerome, Burning Man, Cacophony Society, Colma, John Law, Kendallville Indiana, Leo Grin, Mechanics' Library, Nathan Ward, Phil Geauque, Vince Emery
Rediscovered: The Great War — Circa 1914
One reason I scheduled a tour for Sunday July 26 was to get myself within striking distance of the Erik Chipchase art reception in Lanesplitter Pizza & Pub on the Emeryville/Oakland borderlands — that showing ends in a couple of … Continue reading
Posted in News, SFSC, Tour
Tagged "This King Business", Cacophony Society, Erik Chipchase, The Great War
Tour: And As the Year Ended, the MWA Slipped on Their Gumshoes
For the penultimate walk of 2013 I took out no less than twenty members of the Mystery Writers of America on a two hour version of the tour, highlighting The Maltese Falcon — you’ve got to figure that if someone … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News, SFSC, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Cacophony Society, Claudia H. Long, Clyde Long, Diane R. Chambers, Julie Smith, Miss P, Mystery Writers of America, P. Segal, San Francisco Mysteries, Sheldon Siegel, The Harlot's Pen
Frisco Beat: Doggie Diner Heads Defying Entropy!
What do you know, but they’ve got a Kickstarter campaign going to restore the roving pack of Doggie Diner heads to refurbished glory — just like they did for the Doggie out near the entrance to the Zoo several years … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, News, SFSC
Tagged Cacophony Society, Castro Theatre, Chuck Palahniuk, Doggie Diner, Fight Club, John Law, Zippy the Pinhead
Frisco Beat: Tad Dorgan at Poly
Cartoonist Tad Dorgan’s name continues gumshoeing Up and Down These Mean Streets. San Francisco native. Pal of black heavyweight champ Jack Johnson. Credited with coining the term “hot-dog” in 1906— though I see that claim has been debunked (if I learn … Continue reading
