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: Raymond Chandler
Rediscovered: Purist Outrage!
The idea that Brian Leno and Tom Krabacher and I cast wary eyes toward the new James Patterson “Shadow” novel recently drove the noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook into a berserker frenzy. “Why the [sulphurous blasphemy] do you … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Does Continuity Matter?
For those who enjoy chewing the fat about books and writers, in email the noted book and pulp collector Kevin Cook and I recently got off on another little thread that might interest some of you: Kevin: Of course the … Continue reading
Hammett: Another Sneaking into Jeopardy! Moment
I’m keeping a falcon-like eye on the current Jeopardy! battle of the super-champions, to see if Hammett pops up. I bet they all know the difference between Hammett’s Sam Spade and Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. But on January 7 in the … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: And Why Not Liam Neeson as Marlowe?
Brian Wallace sends me links to stuff all the time. He’s like my man-on-the-internet-street or an all-knowing stool pigeon or something, tracking down every hardboiled mention or rumor of a hardboiled mention. A reboot or new version of ace P.I. … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Chandler and the Great War
Brian Wallace lets me know about news popping in scattered corners of the noir universe. I suspect he thinks I’m too lazy to look for the stuff myself, and if so, he isn’t wrong. For many long years I have operated under the … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Brian Wallace, Literary Plaques, London's blue enamel plaques, Raymond Chandler, The Great War
Hammett: High Ticket
I don’t keep close track, but I am well aware prices on first editions of Hammett’s novels have jumped into the big money — kicked off by the legendary 1981 auction of the Adrian Goldstone crime fiction collection here in … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged Adrian Homer Goldstone, Autographs, Black Mask, Book Collecting, Brian Wallace, KoKo Collection, Paul Cain, Poe, Raoul Whitfield, Raymond Chandler, Red Harvest, Terry Zobeck
Hollywood Beat: When Chandler Was Home
Brian Wallace popped me the news that Raymond Chandler’s home in La Jolla — given how often he moved around, kind of his main lair — is up for serious renovation and the addition of a second story. If that … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, News
Tagged Gone with the Wind, Jimmy Stewart, La Jolla, literary homes, literary landmarks, Margaret Mitchell, Raymond Chandler, Vertigo
Rediscovered: Jeopardy! Double-Dips the Black Mask Gang
And good old Jeopardy! has hit the Hammett Clew Pile again! April 5, the category Avian Literature — you don’t have to be an expert in hard-boiled lit to just yell out “The Maltese Falcon!” before any hints get dropped. … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Carroll John Who? H. Warner What?
On the tour in recent years (three or four years ago, five, not twenty years ago, not thirty-five) a woman mentioned that her uncle — or maybe he was her great-uncle — like Hammett also had written for the pulp Black Mask. … Continue reading
Hammett: And Chandler, and Nigel, Bill and Don
Slightly over twenty people did the “just show up and walk the walk” routine for the tour yesterday. I always think of twenty as being the average number of tourists gumshoeing the mean streets on the walk over the years, though … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, BBC, Bill Arney, Delicatessen, Dominque Pinon, Dwight Frye, Fatty Arbuckle, Jo Hammett, Mark Murphy, Murphy bed, Nigel Williams, Raymond Chandler
