One of the 2 most important books about Hammett The only nonfiction book about him written by someone who knew him. His daughter Jo is a good writer. Her book provides a more deeply-felt look at the man than any other book. It also provides by far the best selection of photos of Hammett: his early days, his Hollywood-NY celebrity time, his final years. Recommended for anyone interested in Hammett.

A brief, handsomely-designed biography of Hammett, written after Layman had done his investigations for the Selected Letters book, and therefore based on more recent research than other biographies. If you haven't read any other biographies of Hammett, this book and Jo Hammett's biographies are good places to start. Includes an annotated bibliography of writings about Hammett.

Herron has conducted his Dashiell Hammett Tour of San Francisco since 1977. The first part of the book is a short bio of Hammett. The rest is a tour of places Hammett lived, worked, and wrote about, including the majority of locations in The Maltese Falcon, all written in Don's breezy, fact-packed style. Great fun. Includes an intro by Charles Willeford and a preface by Hammett's daughter Jo.

Not every reader wants to go deeper into Hammett's novels. However, if you want insights into Hammett's values and his characters, and what his novels and scenes mean, read this book. I published it because it is an important work. It is especially good in covering The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key (in my opinion, the best piece on The Glass Key), and The Thin Man. Intro by William F. Nolan.

Okay, this book is mostly not Hammett. But it does contain Chandler's famous essay "The Simple Art of Murder," the single most important piece of literary criticism about Hammett. It is also the most popular piece of literary criticism about mysteries, because it is the most fun to read: insightful, opinionated, hilarious.

Of the biographies of Hammett, this packs in the most facts. The facts are usually correct; Layman is accurate and precise. Recent research makes some points obsolete, but Jo Hammett's book and this book are the biographies I turn to most often. Includes short descriptions of every piece of Hammett's fiction published. An appendix provides a useful bibliographical checklist of Hammett's writings.

A foundational book for serious Hammett research, this is the only detailed bibliography of Hammett's writings: books, magazine appearances, movies, radio, etc. New findings after the book was published make it incomplete, but still extremely useful. If you don't need this much detail, a condensed checklist version is included as an appendix in Shadow Man, Layman's biography of Hammett.

This is a book about Lillian Hellman with Hammett included, but still a key source about Hammett's later life. Mellen did groundbreaking research, but she gets some dates wrong, and some of her surprising statements are unsupported by citations. Insights into Hellman's writing, not much on Hammett's. Notable for the glee with which Mellen pounces on anything sordid.

This bio came out before the Selected Letters book. It does not include recent research, but it was authorized by Lillian Hellman (who rewrote a section when the facts did not match what Hellman wanted to say), so Johnson had access to documents unavailable to other writers. If you read this, be sure to read Johnson's article about how Hellman interfered with and changed the biography.