Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers [Hardcover]

Jo Hammett (Author), Richard Layman (Editor), Julie M. Rivett (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2001

For more than forty years, since the day her illustrious father died, Jo Hammett has kept her silence. Now, for the first time, with uncompromising candor and profound admiration, she tells the story of Dashiell Hammett—Hollywood screenwriter and high-flying author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man—as she knew him. In Jo Hammett’s earliest recollections, although her already famous father exists outside the sphere of the daily life she shares with her mother and sister, he writes to Jo frequently and visits when he can. Jo’s memories of him are golden: She recalls a trip to the Santa Anita racetrack in a chauffeur-driven limousine, where Hammett plays more on the horses than he can afford; she recalls a Depression-era excursion to Beverly Hills and a splurge that would have supported an entire family for a month—on a riding outfit. With more ambivalence, she remembers the 1950s, when she assumes her responsibility as the sole designated correspondent with her blacklisted, imprisoned father and her role as go-between for him and Lillian Hellman. The notorious Hammett-Hellman romance, Dash’s rude flirtations, his heavy drinking, his attraction to Communism, his quirks and betrayals and paternal love—Jo Hammett neither blinks at her father’s faults nor diminishes his humanity. In straightforward prose, with unaffected charm, she offers in this generously illustrated volume a revealing personal reminiscence that contributes immeasurably to Hammett biography.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This short but compelling memoir is a must-read for anyone interested in the author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Abetted by the most generous selection of photos ever to see print, it joins Lillian Hellman's writings on her years living with Hammett as one of the two comprehensive looks into his life from a personal viewpoint. Both portray an almost fiercely private individual "In our family much unsaid was nonetheless understood" but the paternal influence seems to have been passed on, with Jo Hammett commenting on her mother: "I realize that I didn't know her any more than my children know me." Insights and personal observations nonetheless build to a convincing portrait, with numerous humorous asides (comparing Hellman to good and bad cholesterol being quite the coup). The memoir encompasses several decades, with pictures bringing those eras to life, along with telling details in the text the fact, for example, that only two families on their block during the Depression owned a car. The cover price for this book is more than justified by the photographs, drawn from family archives, with a great many of these predating the previous "earliest known photo." Of particular interest to fans of Hammett's crime writing are several shots covering his years working as a Pinkerton operative and the time in San Francisco when he was writing the stories and novels that made his name. This is a perfect book for the Hammett enthusiast.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This is the memoir Lillian Hellman tried her best to suppress by threatening Hammett's daughter when she was a child. Now, with both Hammett and Hellman long gone, Jo Hammett breaks her silence to render what she calls a family portrait. She has her father's breezy, irreverent style, his way of capturing character in a few strokes--as in her revealing that her father, hospitalized during World War I, used to throw pie tins over the hospital partitions where the shell-shocked soldiers lay. No other Hammett biography has what his daughter's has--the first-time published family photos, many of them captioned by Hammett himself; an ad for diamond jewelry that Hammett wrote; the Manhattan night-school listing of a class called "Mystery Story Writing," taught by Hammett at the height of his fame; Hammett's confession to Jo that he believed he was "as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of." Jo's unblinking portrayal of Hellman, "the Boogie Man of my childhood," skewers her as manipulative while admiring her audacity. Jo Hammett writes impressionistically, as memory takes her, with powerful effect. In a foreword, Richard Layman (editor of Selected Letters of Dashiell Hammett [BKL My 1 01], for which Jo Hammett was editorial advisor) provides a marvelous appreciation of both this memoir and Hammett himself. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708921
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708925
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Insightful Collection of Memories & Photographs., June 20, 2005

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover)

In "Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers", Jo Hammett has compiled her own impressions and memories of her father, in part to dispute some of his more careless biographers. I didn't expect much beyond sentimental and possibly superficial recollections of a daughter who saw her father only occasionally when I began reading this book. I must admit I underestimated the author's forthrightness. Jo Hammett obviously loved and admired her parents, but she doesn't hesitate to speak of their faults. Jo was a child in her father's productive writing years, but in his later years she was his frequent correspondent and link to his family. This book starts with a little history of the Hammett, Dashiell, and Dolan (her mother's) families and general history of her parents' romance and her father's life before he settled down to family life in San Francisco. Jo Hammett goes on to speak of Dashiell's relationship with his usually estranged family, Lillian Hellman, his time in the Army, in prison, his drinking, poor health, and the time she spent with him the year before his death. I felt that I got a clearer picture of Dashiell Hammett's personality from this book than from reading some of his biographies. It is from one person's perspective, but the book is insightful as far as it goes. The text and about 130 photographs and illustrations, mostly from family albums, are printed on slick white paper that displays them well. Fans and scholars of Dashiell Hammett will appreciate Jo Hammett's observations and fond memories in "A Daughter Remembers".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great..., September 13, 2003

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover)

While I enjoyed this book by Dashiell Hammett's daughter, Josephine, it was not quite what I expected. I purchased Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers thinking that it was going to be an in-depth biography about Dashiell Hammett. Instead, it is a short book filled with remembrances of her dad that are short snippets and stories and anecdotes. While the book is filled with many wonderful photos, the story skips around a bit and Jo Hammett doesn't delve into any one topic (early years, married life, Lillian Hellman, service years, prision time, etc.) in any great detail. Still, Hammett was a very fascinating character and his daughter tries to give us just a little insight into the real man. She also tries to separate some of the Hammett-myth that was created and perpetuated by long-time friend and lover, Lillian Hellman. While I enjoyed the things that I read, I just wish there had been more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a distant relationship, October 7, 2002

By 

Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover)

Jo Hammett's book about her father, fabled tough-guy writer Dashiell Hammett, includes many family photos and documents never before seen by Hammett enthusiasts. The book, printed on glossy paper, is visually appealing. Jo Hammett's description of her childhood years, when her father's presence was a treat and time spent with him seemed magical, must be weighed against her growing realization that her parents were hopelessly mismatched, that her father was an intensely private man who shared his life with no one, not even his long-time mistress, Lillian Hellman.

Her father found his niche in American publishing, and is beloved by many readers devoted to his hard-boiled style. His family life, or the lack of it, may take some of the sheen from his image. A pervasive sadness invades this book.