Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

Dashiell Hammett: A Life

diane johnson

... Show More
An authorized biography of the enigmatic, popular, and legendary American writer, written with the full cooperation of Lillian Hellman, chronicles the shaping of his vision and his bursts of creativity

344 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12,1983

This edition

Format
344 pages, Hardcover
Published
September 12, 1983 by Random House
ISBN
9780394505015
ASIN
0394505018
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for diane johnson

diane johnson

... Show More
Diane Johnson is an American novelist and essayist whose satirical novels often feature American heroines living in contemporary France. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Persian Nights in 1988.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4.2 / 5.0, 13 votes)
5 stars
4(31%)
4 stars
8(62%)
3 stars
1(8%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
13 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
QuietDiscourse
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
This was a great book about the author's life, but I felt like it barely scratched the surface. The author sterilized Hammett's life, leaving out all of the fun stuff and downplaying the fact that he was a pretty terrible father. An okay read but I have a feeling there is probably a better book out there.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
zombihead1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
This biography of one of my mystery writer idols didn't mince words in revealing Hammett with all his defects, faults, foibles and vices--I realize these are pretty much the same thing, and he pretty much had them all. The author presented a complete picture of an interesting man who was so much a man of his times and more. The picture was not a pretty one very much of the time. But still, I wish I'd known him--if anyone could really have known him. From the author's depiction, I suspect there was a lot of himself he never revealed to anyone including Lillian Hellman.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, especially noir, and the middle years of the 20th century, but not to the faint of heart, not to those who wish not to be disillusioned.

I'm no expert on biographies or autobiographies, but it's worth a read.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Pessimistic
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
Hammett's life was a unique one. An exemplar in both overachieving and underachieving, or an overgrown Holden Caulfield, the man was the profligate bar none. Johnson attempts, and for the most part succeeds in aping Hammett's "clear-eyed prose," and manages to keep the book going through Hammett's very long second act, during which very little happens... Well, he does go to jail, but even then, it is largely due to his own torpidity, and nothing happens there.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
twinkletoes
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
After reading Hammett's letters and another biography of Hammett, there was not much new left for Ms. Johnson to dig up. It was well written, and somehow, perhaps because Hammett and I have both spend time in the Aleutian Islands, I am addicted to reading about him. Like Hammett, I am largely self-educated. I like his sledgehammer style. After his Aleutian adventure, the communist trials and his time in jail are much less interesting. I don't hold it against him that he happened to catch the brain disease of the age- however I'm far less tolerant of 'wokesters.' What I do hold against Hammett is the beastly way he treated Lillian Hellman. He preferred visiting hookers to hooking up with her. She rejects him once, and he's done for life. Despite his incredible intellectual curiosity, he didn't have enough get-up=and-go to visit another country? So, yes, Hammett was a flawed man.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
ghostdoctoraki
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
Mildly interesting. Given that this is an "authorized" biography, it was surprising that we get to see so many of Hammett's warts. Granted, there is a significant amount of excuse making, but the picture that emerges is not all that flattering.

By the way, I am not a robot. (It appears we have to click on that now to post a review.)
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Synthoen
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
As far as biographies go, this was fine? Hammett had a fascinating and extraordinary life, from impoverished Baltimorean Youth (Go Ravens!) to Pinkerton Agent to Tuberculosis patient to beloved novelist and bon-vivant to political dissident, and Johnson offers a nuanced and basically well-written view of the man. I found myself sort of annoyed at the brevity with which Hammet's time time as private investigator was given, which of course is more interesting than him being, say, an elderly alcoholic armyman in the Aleutians during WWII, but that might be because there isn't a lot of information on Hammet's life at that point, I'm honestly not sure. I'll keep it for the moment because I might have an idea for a Hammet related project, but as a rule only the most exceptional biographies tend to make my cut and I don't this will survive another move.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Rusafa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
... Show More
Since I saw the film 'Julia' which starred Jason Robards as Dashiell Hammett and Jane Fonda, I've always been interested in the life of Hammett. I read The Maltese Falcon many years ago and really can't recall it, however he was a man who lived to his own beat and principles. I can wholeheartedly recommend this read.
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.