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The Life of Dashiel Hammett

diane johnson

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Hardcover. Slight scuff on jacket's rear, faintly affecting rear board; page block head is foxed. Content is clear, and pages are clean and sound. TS

344 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12,1983

This edition

Format
344 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 23, 1984 by Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group)
ISBN
9780701127664
ASIN
070112766X
Language
English

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About the author

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diane johnson

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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.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 13 votes)
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13 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Anime12
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Great biography of a great writer and complicated individual. Hammett came under fire during the McCarthy witchhunts and chose jail before giving up names of friends and colleagues. Doing time was no problem for a former Pinkerton agent more at home with murderers and thieves than literary types.

Hands down, a great read thanks to the skilled hand of biographer Diane Johnson.
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
LauruxKittyCat
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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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.
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Constantine821
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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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.
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dorayakichann_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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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.
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MikeMike
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I came to this book on a circuitous route via the American musician Ry Cooder. I have loved Cooder's work for many years, and when I discovered he had written the soundtrack for the movie 'Paris, Texas' (directed by Wim Wenders), I was curious to watch it. I loved the film, and was then curious to learn more about Wenders. I also really liked 'Buena Vista Social Club', the Wenders' film documenting Cooder's musical collaborations in Cuba. I learnt Wenders had also directed a film about the writer of mystery novels, Dash Hammett. I had never heard of Hammett before, but I then read his first book, 'Red Harvest'. What a wild ride! When I came across 'The Life of Dashiell Hammett' by Diane Johnson in a second hand book shop I decided I had to buy it.

I can scarcely imagine the amount of work that must go into writing a book like this. First there is all the research, then there is the process of writing itself - distilling an enormous amount of background material into a readable form that tells the story of Hammett's life. This book is an incredible achievement.

Hammett reminded so much of the Australian writers C. J Dennis and Henry Lawson - particularly Dennis. They all shared the same fondness for alcohol, and the same careless attitude to money. Both Hammett and Dennis made a huge amount of money in a very short space of time, and frittered it away just as quickly. They all died young, at least in part due to alcohol, and in poverty. Hammett was 66, but in very poor health for a number of years before that. Dennis was 61, and Lawson only 55. Perhaps one day the neurophysiologists will be able to explain this phenomenon to us properly. (I wouldn't hold your breath, though...)

The book also gives an insight into the years of McCarthyism in the U.S. I hadn't realised before now how the defeat by America of fascism in Europe paved the way for the introduction of fascism to America. I still don't understand how this works, but there is a grain of truth in there somewhere, I am sure.

The last chapters are painful to read. The early glory days were followed by long periods of restlessness and low productivity. Then came the accusations of anti-American activity, the trial, the imprisonment, the deteriorating health and the slow, drawn-out death.

Many of Hammett's personal letters to friends and family are included, and give a good insight into how he thought and wrote. He was clearly a very funny guy, and must have been great company - at least for those few people he liked and respected. His way of letter writing also reminds of C. J. Dennis, though I would be hard pressed to explain exactly why.

I wouldn't describe this book as a particularly easy read. (Let's face it, most really worthwhile books aren't!) However, if Hammett has in any way got under your skin (as he has mine), then reading this is an excellent way to learn much more about him.
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The_Arbitrator
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Johnson's biography of Hammett takes the most unvarnished perspective of the books I've read, focusing mostly on his life and very little on his writing. Following the years of his life with only a brief discussion of his parents, Johnson presents the full biography authorized by Lillian Hellman (Layman, the author of ​Shadow Man​ complains quite a bit about Hellman in his preface, suggesting that she kept a stranglehold on biographers so she could write her preferred vision. Certainly, Hellman comes off nicely in the book, but she's actually not all that present). A few thoughts:

- Hammett really didn't think much of his detective stories. He was happy that they brought him money, but he always wanted to be a literary writer. I was particularly amused to learn that he mentioned new novel ideas in many interviews, even though he showed little (to no) evidence that he was working on them. At one point, after mentioning another new idea to a journalist, he wrote in a letter "It's nice to have a new novel not to work on."
- The other books acknowledged Hammett's womanizing, but this book made it clear that he was as hooked on women as he was on alcohol, not only chasing casual sex with casual partners, but also hiring prostitutes. Lots of prostitutes. He got the clap three times, and the third time he had to endure a three-day fever treatment to cure it.
- His time as a Pinkerton detective helped shape his later political views, in which he saw the bosses as cruel and corrupt, hence his socialist leanings. Once, when he was working to prevent union organizers from making headway, he was offered $5,000 to "take care" of union leader Frank Little. Hammett declined, but Little died a couple days later in a suspicious suicide. Hammett later attributed that experience to his allegiance with workers.
- Hammett believed strongly in the first amendment, and much of his support of communism and socialism was about defending peoples' rights to freedom of thought and assembly. Along those lines, Hammett may be the first Godwin. Hammett wrote that outlawing Communism was unconstitutional, and reminded his readers that the first thing the Nazis did was to make the Communist party illegal.
- He went on and off the wagon throughout his life, often going on major benders. But when the doctor told him if he kept drinking he would be dead in a month, he quit forever. Apparently the doctor expressed sad skepticism to Hellman that Hammett could stay dry, but Hellman knew he would -- he'd given his word.

​Dashiell Hammett: A Life​ is a well written, if depressing, sketch of a skilled writer who ruined himself with alcohol and debauchery. It's a fair book, though, that also highlights many of the good things he did, both on the page and off.
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