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: Tenderloin
Hammett: Who Is?
Jeopardy! October 22, 2024. S41 E32. In the Final Jeopardy round the category Detective Authors. “For much of the 1920s, he lived on Eddy in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.” “Who is I had fun,” responded one contender. “Who is Mosley?” … Continue reading
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: 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: Frisco Apartment on the Block
Yeah, people have been bombarding me with queries about the recent article which reports a Hammett San Francisco residence — 237 Leavenworth — up for sale if you’ve got a few million. Four million — sounds cheap: An early 1920s … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: A Slice of Life 1979-90
Our man on the street, Nathan Ward — keeping his eye on the New York scene — sends along his latest find: “I liked this evocation of San Francisco from 79-90 by the novelist Rachel Kushner in the current New … Continue reading
Two-Gun Bob: Conan — in Jeopardy(!)
After getting back to the lair after rolling up to catch Peter Field’s talk in the Tenderloin Museum last night (also grabbed a copy of his new history of The TL — you’ll like it, lots of pictures), I opened … Continue reading
Suicide Club: Peter Field Drops a Book
A fellow adventurer from the glory days of The San Francisco Suicide Club, 1977-82, has dug around, done a bunch of research, and written a book. I went on one of the first walking tours of the Tenderloin that Peter Field … Continue reading
Rediscovered: A Tough Guy Amidst Books
Woke up today to find Nathan Ward had dropped a link on me to his latest tidbit on CrimeReads, of which he says: “Has nothing to do with Hammett or the (newly discovered by the NY Times) Tenderloin. Thought you … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged Attica, Crimereads, Izzy Zimmerman, Nathan Ward, New York Times, Sing Sing, Tenderloin
Tour: Some (Semi-Complicated) October Walks
Shot above: standing on the n.e. corner of Geary and Mason for a tour by appointment with Sisters in Crime, Saturday August 5, 2017. Looking west out Geary, the old Geary Theatre looming above the first red car. . . … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tagged "Whosis Kid", Blanco's, Geary Street, Geary Theatre, Larkin Street, Mason Street, Olive Street, Sisters-in-Crime, Tenderloin
Frisco Beat: Back to the TL Museum for The Penalty
At top and bottom, a couple of shots from my July 13 appearance in the Tenderloin Museum, talking up The Thin Man and with some snippets of the 1931 Falcon — high point being when we spotted the heart of the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged CitySleuth, Lon Chaney Sr., Tenderloin, Tenderloin Museum, The Big Knockover, The Penalty
