The Dashiell Hammett Tour: Thirtieth Anniversary Guidebook (The Ace Performer Collection series)

Expanded and revised, this 30th-anniversary edition guides readers over the fog-shrouded hills stalked by Sam Spade, the Continental Op, and other legendary characters created by San Francisco’s most famous mystery writer, Dashiell Hammett. Detailing locations of interest, including all of Hammett’s known residences and the majority of settings from The Maltese Falcon , this guidebook contains maps, self-guided tours, and photographs of Hammett-related locations from both then and now. A new preface by Jo Hammett, the detective writer’s daughter and Edgar Award–nominated writer, is also included. Publishers Weekly Hammett fans, whether or not they have taken the Dashiell Hammett walking tour that Herron has been conducting in San Francisco since 1977, will welcome this 30th anniversay edition of the guidebook. Herron has a deep reservoir of knowledge of the life of the father of the hard-boiled detective genre, as suggested by the biographical essay that constitutes part one. Part two lays out the itinerary of Herron's tours, including Burritt Street, where a plaque commemorates the first murder in The Maltese Falcon-that of Sam Spade's partner, Miles Archer. In the book's preface, Jo Hammett, Hammett's daughter, reminiscences about taking Herron's tour. The late Charles Willeford's introduction still remains relevant, though as Herron points out in an informative new afterword, Willeford garbled Herron's own biographical details. Admirers of Herron's biography of the cult crime writer, Willeford (1997), will be interested to learn that he met Willeford, whom he had never heard of before, when Willeford took the tour in 1984. Illustrated with maps and photos throughout, this volume will appeal not just to students of Hammett but to anyone curious about the relation between a writer's life and his work. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright ......Page 5 Table of Contents ......Page 8 Back Where I Might Have Been by Jo Hammett......Page 13 Hammett’s San Francisco: On the Trail of Sam Spade by Charles Willeford......Page 19 Dashiell Hammett: A Brief Biography......Page 25 The Dashiell Hammett Tour......Page 73 1. 200 Larkin: Hammett’s Reading Room......Page 74 Walking Map #1......Page 76 Driving Map #1......Page 77 2. Civic Center Park: Kids’ Playground......Page 80 3. City Hall: Politics and Murder......Page 83 4. 580 McAllister: Whosis Kid Gundown......Page 84 5. Redwood Alley: Unexpected Palm Tree......Page 89 6. 408 Turk: TB Flare-Up......Page 90 The Puzzle of the City Streets......Page 97 Timeline of Hammett’s San Francisco Residences......Page 72 7. 620 Eddy: Blackmasking......Page 91 8. Blanco’s: Dain Curse Cuisine......Page 99 9. 811 Geary: Stalking Sam Spade......Page 103 10. 891 Post: Sam’s Place......Page 105 The Puzzle of Spade and the Falcon......Page 112 Walking Map #2......Page 116 Driving Map #2......Page 117 11. 1309 Hyde: Big Knockover......Page 115 12. 1155 Leavenworth: Writer at Last......Page 121 13. 1201 California: Brigid’s Place......Page 125 The Puzzle of the Blocked Writer......Page 129 14. Dashiell Hammett Street: Street Cred......Page 132 15. 20 Monroe: Ad Man......Page 133 16. Stockton Tunnel: Death by Night......Page 135 17. Burritt Street: Crime Scene......Page 138 The Puzzle of the Billboard and the Brick......Page 141 18. 111 Sutter: Spade & Archer......Page 143 Walking Map #3......Page 148 Driving Map #3......Page 149 19. Sir Francis Drake Hotel: Gunsel and Gutman......Page 150 20. St. Francis Hotel: Fatty Arbuckle......Page 151 21. Geary Theatre: Pound of Flesh......Page 156 22. Clift Hotel: Sherlock Slept Here......Page 157 23. Bellevue Hotel: Cairo’s Place......Page 158 24. Floyd Thursby’s Apartment: Dead Gangster......Page 162 26. 114 Powell: Wife to Be......Page 163 27. Samuels Street Clock: Diamond Days......Page 167 28. 870 Market: Pinkerton’s Man......Page 168 The Puzzle of the Jobs and the Years......Page 173 29. John’s Grill: Chop House......Page 177 30. Off-Tour Hammett Sites......Page 182 A. Pickwick Hotel: Black Bird Hideaway......Page 183 C. Remedial Loan: Brigid Hocks Her Jewels......Page 184 Chinatown Action......Page 185 I. Holly Circle: Big Flora’s Hideout......Page 186 Notes from Thirty Years Up and Down the Mean Streets ......Page 187 Sources: Annotated Bibliography......Page 197 Index of Streets and Addresses......Page 213 Index......Page 215 About the Writers......Page 223 Related Books ......Page 225 This is the current version of Don Herron’s popular book. It is essential for those who want to visit the places written about in Dashiell Hammett’s book and John Huston’s movie The Maltese Falcon. ----------