Customer Reviews

Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett (Harvest/Hbj Book)

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Richard Layman's very detailed biograghy of world-famous American detective-story writer Dashiell Hammett, written in the early 1980's, is nearly a lost relic today. Thanks to Amazon, you can buy this book, and peruse this flighty gentleman's wild and crazy life. Hammett's 1929 "Maltese Falcon" novel changed the entire literary world, as the first authentic "hard-boiled" detective story. It's success was astounding, and world-wide. Movie offers followed(three film versions were made), and Hammett became very wealthy. Unfortunately, wine, women,and smoking damaged his already fragile health, and eventually dried up-up his writing career. Admittedly wasteful with money, Hammett abandoned his wife and family, moving to New York, and then to Hollywood, and installed himself at the penthouse at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Working for Universal, MGM, and Paramount Studios, Hammett cranked-out screenplays and advised producers for a few years, helping turn his "Thin Man" into a huge movie hit(He was paid for work on the first three of six "Thin Man" films). Hammett complained that, at MGM studios, he was bothered by Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, who pestered and distracted him. Hammett had many girl-friends, and a long-term relationship with writer Lillian Hellman. His brutish behavior and sporadic drinking ruined his career; and, of course, he had invested and saved nothing. By the end of the 1940's, he was not only broke, but under investigation for being a Communist. Hammett eventually does jail-time for his liberal politics, and dies sadly in debt. "Shadow Man" is an unsentimental, detailed report on a true American icon. It is also a valuable lesson for us all. Dashiell Hammett was a poor boy who rose to the top(he earned a million dollars in the 1930's), fell to new lows, and died without a penny.

Layman's Shadowman is a biography of Dashiell Hammett, the author of the Maltese Falcon.(If you don't know who Hammett is, google is more helpful than me.) The book's name is taken from a term Hammett used to describe his own abilities as a Pinkerton private detective in the 1920s. (Hammett never claimed to be a good detective, just good at following people).

The book is well written in my opinion and Hammett's life is portrayed kindly and with humor but also less romantically than it is shown by later authors. I imagine it was hard not to be romantic with Hammett. The guy was a veteran of both world wars, worked in Hollywood and later imprisoned for his priniciples by McCarthy.

I could give you more of my opinion but I won't waste your time or mine. (What good is the opinion of a stranger?)I'll close by saying if you are a fan of the Maltese Falcon, or you've read Gore and Nolan's fictional Hammett stories and your curious then check this book out. It's listed as "THE" reference for all the fictional accounts of Hammett's life written later.

This is an excellent biography of Dashiell Hammett--the man who gave us the Continental Op Stories and also the Sam Spade stories (including the famous 'Maltese Falcon' which was made into a renowned movie starring Humphrey Bogart). There are a few things about Hammett's life which make him stand out from the run of the mill detective story writer.

First, he was himself a Pinkerton detective for more than ten years. This inevitably gave his detective stories a certain authenticity. He had first hand experience of what he was writing about.
Second, his writing was done at a time when his health had begun to fail. Indeed, since he could no longer function as a detective due to poor health he first worked as a copy writer at an advertising agency. But he could not hold on to this job as well and so became a full time writer.
Third, he enlisted in the U.S. army in both the first and second world wars (and is consequently buried in Arlington cemetry).
Fourth, his romance with Lillian Hellman about which the reader will have to read about on their own.
Fifth, his prolonged writer's block sometime after he wrote 'The Thin Man'. Even with respect to 'The Thin Man' one can tell that the Hammett of 'Thin Man' was no longer the Hammett of the older, far more tougher and grittier stories. Several reasons for this. Hammett was presumably an alcoholic and the end of prohibition meant he had easy access to alcohol. Also, it is said that Hollywood spoilt him.

Sixth, his descent from someone who was making a million dollars an year at his peak (in the 1930s) due to Hollywood taking interest in some of his writings to someone who ended up living and dying in something akin to poverty due to extremely poor financial planning and decision making has lessons of of its own.

The author was aided by other researchers in gathering facts about Samuel Dashiell Hammett's life. He followed leads, found answers to questions, and interviewed anyone who claimed to have known Dash. SDH worked at different jobs before joining Pinkerton as a detective. He joined the Army in 1917, and contracted a lung disease and TB during the 1918 Flue Pandemic. His disability pension wasn't enough for his family; he studied at a Business College and started to work in advertising. He then began to write for publication. In spite of his lung disease he smoked and he drank.

SDH began to gain success by 1923 with his short stories; he was too sick for any other work. His advertising job ended when he collapsed with bleeding lungs; he also had hepatitis. He renewed his literary efforts, and success followed. He then wrote longer novels, and gained more wealth and fame. He left his family and moved to New York's literary milieu. He indulged in liquor, women, money, and fame; he was "Nick Charles", not "Sam Spade". Drinking handicapped his Hollywood career, and flushed away his talents. Recycling his writings on radio during the 1940s earned him money; this ended after his refusal to testify in 1951. The next ten years were spent in poverty. After his death in 1961 he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, far to the left of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

(This book repeats sentences on the bottom of page 161.)