THE DAIN CURSE
by Hammett, Dashiell
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good+/Very Good
- Seller
-
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
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
- J. Wyatt Books (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 004268
- Title
- THE DAIN CURSE
- Author
- Hammett, Dashiell
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Publisher
- Grosset & Dunlap
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1929
- Keywords
- Mystery, Detective
Terms of Sale
J. Wyatt Books
Visa, MasterCard accepted. 5% GST will be added to Canadian orders. All books guaranteed as described and may be returned within 2 or 3 days of receipt and notification. Restocking charges may apply. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer. We Track every parcel..
About the Seller
J. Wyatt Books
About J. Wyatt Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- VG+/VG
- A book in slightly better than Very Good Condition with a Very Good Condition dust jacket. Very Good Condition indicates a used...
- FFEP
- A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.