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: Frederic Dannay
Hammett: Rhea, Wilmer, or. . . ?
Mike Humbert refreshes his name in my Tag Cloud by sending in a link to a bit about The Maltese Falcon he’s found hanging out in the web — as he notes, it is an “Off-the-wall theory, but interesting. . . .” The … Continue reading
Hammett: “Albert Pastor at Home” and “His Brother’s Keeper”
Our frequent Guest Blogger Tenderloin Terry Zobeck returns — finishing off his examination of the first set of pure text Hammett stories he had in his files, to see what sort of blue pencil Frederic Dannay put them to as he assembled ten paperback … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged "Albert Paster at Home", "Death and Company", "His Brother's Keeper", "It", Black Mask, Collier's, Esquire, Frederic Dannay, pure texts, Terry Zobeck, Zobeck Series One
Hammett: Another “Clew”
The last time Hammett’s 1924 Op story “The Tenth Clew” got a mention on this site was when we linked to a bit where Mike Nevins covered some odd editing Frederic Dannay did on the ending in the 1940s. I figured … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged "The Tenth Clew", Black Mask, Frederic Dannay, John D. Squires, Mike Nevins, newspaper action, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Terry Zobeck, The Fat Man, Vince Emery
Hammett: The Sam Spade Stories
Frequent Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck returns, to survey the three short stories featuring Sam Spade that Hammett sold to the slicks in 1932. I echo his opinions on these tales — compared to the best of the Op yarns, the … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Digging Out the Dannay
I’ve never been interested in the fiction of author “Ellery Queen” — nom de guerre for the cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee. The only Queen titles I ever recall reading were some of the 1960s novels ghost written … Continue reading
Hammett: Before Dannay. . .
Our frequent Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck returns with a fresh discovery in his investigation into how Frederic Dannay edited Hammett’s short stories for paperback publication, decades ago. Hey, you jump into the pool, you can dive deeper — and deeper. Take it, … Continue reading
Hammett: “Ruffian’s Wife”
Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck returns with another post about the edits Frederic Dannay made while collecting Hammett’s short stories into paperback format decades ago. I notice he drops the name James Sandoe for the first time on this site — … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged "Ruffian's Wife", Frederic Dannay, James Sandoe, Jo Hammett, pure texts, Sunset, Terry Zobeck, Zobeck Series One
Hammett: “One Hour”
Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck returns with another look into the edits made by Fred Dannay, and this time finds that the blue pencil smote lightly back in 1944! Plus he discovers yet another “pure text” Hammett story available in a modern … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged "One Hour", "The Gutting of Couffignal", Black Mask, EQMM, Frederic Dannay, Pulps, pure texts, Terry Zobeck, Tony Goodstone, Zobeck Series One
Hammett: “The New Racket”
Terry Zobeck kicks off another month for us here at Up and Down These Mean Streets with an entry in his series of pure text corrections for Hammett’s short fiction — contrasting the blue pencil work editor Frederic Dannay was making on the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged "The Judge Laughed Last", "The New Racket", Black Mask, EQMM, Frederic Dannay, pure texts, Terry Zobeck, The Adventures of Sam Spade, Zobeck Series One
