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Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett
Book by Layman, Richard
- GenresNonfictionBiography
312 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 21, 2022
1980s bio-doc of Hammett. Covers a lot of the same ground of other Hammett biography and criticism.
Covers Hammett's early life mostly by his own telling, much of which has been subject to question. He did like to spin some twice told tales. Also the cursory examination of his time with the Pinkerton's has never been well established from primary sources.
His claim to have solved a gold heist onboard a steamer from Australia, along with the time he spent in Butte Montana that awakened his pro-labor leanings, even the canonical (prior to this) name of his operative mentor James "Jimmy" Wright have all been called into question since this was written.
Enjoyable read, probably fills in some gaps missing from later bios. Worth reading and re-reading as you search for the real Hammett.
Covers Hammett's early life mostly by his own telling, much of which has been subject to question. He did like to spin some twice told tales. Also the cursory examination of his time with the Pinkerton's has never been well established from primary sources.
His claim to have solved a gold heist onboard a steamer from Australia, along with the time he spent in Butte Montana that awakened his pro-labor leanings, even the canonical (prior to this) name of his operative mentor James "Jimmy" Wright have all been called into question since this was written.
Enjoyable read, probably fills in some gaps missing from later bios. Worth reading and re-reading as you search for the real Hammett.
October 6, 2021
While there is some good stuff within, his life seems to skate the surface when it comes to his interactions with others. If the book was fleshed out with letters or interviews with soldiers who were in Alaska with him or Hollywood actors, the story would be more satisfactory. For example, we learn that William Faulkner was one of his drinking buddies. What we don't learn is what Faulkner thought of him.
August 26, 2017
This is a fine biography of Hammett with special emphasis on analyzing his literary output. It helps the reader understand, for instance, the meaning of what Hammett meant by the words "The Glass Key" which is one of Hammett's famous novels.
May 20, 2021
Having read all of Hammett's major works, I was interested in learning more about the author. Richard Layman's bio did not fail to deliver. Samuel Dashiell Hammett was lauded during his short, productive career as a hard-boiled writer for his work with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. In reality, he didn't work all that long for the storied company. But he made the most of it in his popular books.
What's sad is the story about how when he made money on his writing, he spent it. He had a chauffeur, he spend gobs of money on liquor - even during Prohibition - and he seemed to easily move about the country. Also of interest is how he treated his wife and kids. Ostensibly, he separated because he had tuberculosis, and didn't want to affect the children. But this seems like it gave him the excuse he needed to ignore them, and live a life of luxury, even though he wasn't paying his taxes, and he spent frivolous and often.
And, surprisingly, there's his desire to join the War Effort, even though he had fought in WWI and gotten sick and became disabled. By 1943, Hammett was a bit long in the tooth, and still not 100 percent health-wise. Initially, he was rejected, but he tried again, and was enlisted and spent most of his time in the Aleutian Islands editing a camp newspaper.
The latter part of his life he devoted to what he believed were civil rights, but amounted to promoting and protecting Communism in America - his losing cause.
What's sad is the story about how when he made money on his writing, he spent it. He had a chauffeur, he spend gobs of money on liquor - even during Prohibition - and he seemed to easily move about the country. Also of interest is how he treated his wife and kids. Ostensibly, he separated because he had tuberculosis, and didn't want to affect the children. But this seems like it gave him the excuse he needed to ignore them, and live a life of luxury, even though he wasn't paying his taxes, and he spent frivolous and often.
And, surprisingly, there's his desire to join the War Effort, even though he had fought in WWI and gotten sick and became disabled. By 1943, Hammett was a bit long in the tooth, and still not 100 percent health-wise. Initially, he was rejected, but he tried again, and was enlisted and spent most of his time in the Aleutian Islands editing a camp newspaper.
The latter part of his life he devoted to what he believed were civil rights, but amounted to promoting and protecting Communism in America - his losing cause.
March 1, 2012
I read this book for a research project I’m working on, but it’s a mainstream book and pretty enjoyable. Layman takes a practical approach to writing about Hammett, not investing much of his personal voice in the writing, but still giving room to Hammett’s witty reparte and expansive personality. A few very quick comments:
Hammett describes himself as a “two-fisted loafer” who doesn’t work when he doesn’t have to. His track record on the job shows about the same amount of commitment. The sad thing was that he wrote only when he had to, despite his claims that writers don’t write for money. Once he had enough money to live on, he stopped writing (and drank himself into a two-decade stupor).
Hammett was a patriotic Marxist, committed to defending the freedom of speech and willing to go to jail for same. He organized for the U.S. Communist party quite a bit in the late 1930s and the 1940s. When he refused to name names in the early 1950s, he went to jail and lost most of his income.
He was also remarkably loyal, honorable, and equality-minded. When he ran his camp newspaper during World War 2, he had the only integrated unit on the base. Later in life he hired a maid whom he gave extensive independence in how she ran his house — she became a lifelong friend and helpmeet.
His affability meant he often lived in excess of his funds, running up debts and living off friends so lavishly that he ended up broke and owing money to the IRS. One story goes that he came to town (San Francisco? to repay a debt of $500 to a friend. He visited the friend and gave him the money, then spent a week in town hosting lavish parties complete with exorbitantly-expensive prohibition booze. At the end of the week, he had to ask the same friend if he could borrow $800 to pay his debts and get himself back to L.A.
Because of his drinking and high-living lifestyle, Hammett only wrote five books, publishing all of them within a few years. For a man with such a distinctive voice, it’s too bad that his habits and life kept him from producing a bigger body of work.
Shadow Man represents a nice summary and discussion of Hammett’s life, and is generally cited as the key biography currently in print. It’ not particularly well-written, but a good read if you want to know about the man who created Sam Spade and could arguably be credited with creating the hard-boiled sub-genre.
Hammett describes himself as a “two-fisted loafer” who doesn’t work when he doesn’t have to. His track record on the job shows about the same amount of commitment. The sad thing was that he wrote only when he had to, despite his claims that writers don’t write for money. Once he had enough money to live on, he stopped writing (and drank himself into a two-decade stupor).
Hammett was a patriotic Marxist, committed to defending the freedom of speech and willing to go to jail for same. He organized for the U.S. Communist party quite a bit in the late 1930s and the 1940s. When he refused to name names in the early 1950s, he went to jail and lost most of his income.
He was also remarkably loyal, honorable, and equality-minded. When he ran his camp newspaper during World War 2, he had the only integrated unit on the base. Later in life he hired a maid whom he gave extensive independence in how she ran his house — she became a lifelong friend and helpmeet.
His affability meant he often lived in excess of his funds, running up debts and living off friends so lavishly that he ended up broke and owing money to the IRS. One story goes that he came to town (San Francisco? to repay a debt of $500 to a friend. He visited the friend and gave him the money, then spent a week in town hosting lavish parties complete with exorbitantly-expensive prohibition booze. At the end of the week, he had to ask the same friend if he could borrow $800 to pay his debts and get himself back to L.A.
Because of his drinking and high-living lifestyle, Hammett only wrote five books, publishing all of them within a few years. For a man with such a distinctive voice, it’s too bad that his habits and life kept him from producing a bigger body of work.
Shadow Man represents a nice summary and discussion of Hammett’s life, and is generally cited as the key biography currently in print. It’ not particularly well-written, but a good read if you want to know about the man who created Sam Spade and could arguably be credited with creating the hard-boiled sub-genre.
July 13, 2015
This is a comprehensive, well researched biography of Dashiell Hammett, the author of 'The Maltese Falcon'. It focuses on his writing and sources for the background for his writing. It does cover his private life including his relationship with Lillian Hellman, his health problems, and his drinking. These personal aspects are not covered in as much detail. This book is from 1981, and it one of many books the author has written about authors of detective fiction. I plan to read some of his later books. The author points out that the narrative suffers from the lack of cooperation by Ms. Hellman. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and by reading it I got a better understanding about how Hammett's tough life influenced his fiction.
October 13, 2008
Years of research make this biography of the first great hardboiled detective writer a must-read. Very good on Hammett's time as a Pinkerton, and also his later years as a Hollywood hack and a Communist sympathiser hounded by the FBI. Fine discussion of his many short stories, many of which are hard to come by.
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September 23, 2009Mostly a review of Hammett's fiction. Diane Johnson's is by far the superior biography.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews