DASHIELL HAMMETT

by Julian Symons ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1985

If the HBJ Album Biography series had purposely gone looking for the writer in least need of a short profile, it couldn't have come up with a better candidate than Dashiell Hammett--subject of no less than three biographies (Layman, Nolan, Johnson) in the past four years. Symons bases his condensed life-history largely on those previous works; he does occasionally disagree (on small points) with his colleagues; he tends to be less sentimental than any of them when discussing Hammett's dried-up career (""He wanted the good life, the rich life, and once it had been given to him by Hollywood, he could not let it go"") or his politics. (As for his Communist about-turns during WW II, ""it is shameful that a man of Hammett's independent mind should have behaved like any party hack."" As for his Fifth Amendment stand against the HUAC, resulting in a prison term, ""high-flown language about 'what democracy is' seems wholly inappropriate."") But for the most part this is the very familiar story--from Pinkerton days to Black Mask and the novels, from stifling marriage to Lillian Hellman, Hollywood, boozing, womanizing, WW II service in Alaska, and the sharp career-decline. And Symon's critical comments, though sound, are unsurprising, especially to readers of his previous writing on Hammett: The Glass Key is a great novel (the ""technique of revealing character by indirection was pushed much further by Hammett than by Hemingway""); The Thin Man ""should be regarded as a comedy of contemporary American manners, and viewed in this light it is a sparkling piece of work""; and The Maltese Falcon is outstanding for its unforgettable characters--with Symons dismissing most attempts to approach Hammett too intellectually or literarily. (""One can read symbols into anything, but there is no indication that the falcon was chosen for any reason other than to provide a good focal point for a thriller, a focal point which also had a basis in fact."") A competent mini-text, to be filled out with some 75 photos--but no real addition, either in style or substance, to the Hammett shelf.

Pub Date: March 15, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION