Nightmare Town
by HAMMETT, DASHIELL
- Used
- first
- Condition
- First Edition; original wrappers; very good.
- Seller
-
Newton, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Spivak, 1948. First Edition; original wrappers; very good.
Synopsis
Dashiell Samuel Hammett was born in St. Mary’s County. He grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Hammett left school at the age of fourteen and held several kinds of jobs thereafter—messenger boy, newsboy, clerk, operator, and stevedore, finally becoming an operative for Pinkerton’s Detective Agency. Sleuthing suited young Hammett, but World War I intervened, interrupting his work and injuring his health. When Sergeant Hammett was discharged from the last of several hospitals, he resumed detective work. He soon turned to writing, and in the late 1920s Hammett became the unquestioned master of detective-story fiction in America. In The Maltese Falcon (1930) he first introduced his famous private eye, Sam Spade. The Thin Man (1932) offered another immortal sleuth, Nick Charles. Red Harvest (1929), The Dain Curse (1929), and The Glass Key (1931) are among his most successful novels. During World War II, Hammett again served as sergeant in the Army, this time for more than two years, most of which he spent in the Aleutians. Hammett’s later life was marked in part by ill health, alcoholism, a period of imprisonment related to his alleged membership in the Communist Party, and by his long-time companion, the author Lillian Hellman, with whom he had a very volatile relationship. His attempt at autobiographical fiction survives in the story “Tulip,” which is contained in the posthumous collection The Big Knockover (1966, edited by Lillian Hellman). Another volume of his stories, The Continental Op (1974, edited by Stephen Marcus), introduced the final Hammett character: the “Op,” a nameless detective (or “operative”) who displays little of his personality, making him a classic tough guy in the hard-boiled mold—a bit like Hammett himself.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter L. Stern & Company, Inc.
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 23764P
- Title
- Nightmare Town
- Author
- HAMMETT, DASHIELL
- Book Condition
- Used - First Edition; original wrappers; very good.
- Publisher
- Spivak
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1948
Terms of Sale
Peter L. Stern & Company, Inc.
Items are returnable for any reason for a full refund. Please inform us within three days of receipt and provide the reason for the return.
About the Seller
Peter L. Stern & Company, Inc.
Biblio member since 2009
Newton, Massachusetts
About Peter L. Stern & Company, Inc.
With more than 35 years experience in the rare book trade, Peter L. Stern and Co., Inc. has established itself as a highly regarded firm of antiquarian booksellers.
Specializing in 19th and 20th century literature, signed and inscribed books, and manuscripts we maintain a high quality inventory. Our shop is located in the heart of Newton Centre where we are open by chance or appointment
In the long-standing tradition of the rare book trade we continue to mail regular catalogues to our customers. We are easily accessible via the MBTA Green Line's D Branch. We travel widely and attend both international and local book fairs.
Specializing in 19th and 20th century literature, signed and inscribed books, and manuscripts we maintain a high quality inventory. Our shop is located in the heart of Newton Centre where we are open by chance or appointment
In the long-standing tradition of the rare book trade we continue to mail regular catalogues to our customers. We are easily accessible via the MBTA Green Line's D Branch. We travel widely and attend both international and local book fairs.
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