According to his profile at American Masters, Hammett published only 5 novels in his lifetime, but he established the hard-boiled detective genre. He was a detective before he went to fight in World War I and when he returned after the war he began writing stories based on his experiences as a detective. The Thin Man, the Continental Op, and Sam Spade were all his creations. There is an extensive article on Hammett's work in film at Mysterynet.com
This post is part of the Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012 at Mysteries in Paradise.
I envy your first encounter with the masterful Hammett - my personal favourite is probably THE GLASS KEY but it is usually a toss up between that and MALTESE FALCON from the novels. there are many that think his true achievement is best understood through the short stories. Not sure I agree, though historically it is hard not to see that his success with the form really helped consolidate the emerging hardboiled genre.
ReplyDeleteThe Maltese Falcon would be his best known work. Don't know much about him, but his background gave his excellent support for writing his novels.
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