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The Continental Op
by Dashiell Hammett
- Used
- Condition
- Very Good+
- Seller
-
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Random House, 1974. 4th. Very Good+. Edited and with an introduction by Steven Marcus. Fourth printing based on copyright number line. In original unclipped dust jacket in mylar with light rubbing to edges and a few small chips to head, tail, and back. Red boards with impressed letters, darker red spine with gilded lettering. Deckled long fore edge, yellow stained top fore edge. Interior is very clean, clear, and crisp.
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
- John and Tabitha's Kerriosity Bookshop
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1974TCO-HAM-4-VG
- Title
- The Continental Op
- Author
- Dashiell Hammett
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 4th
- Publisher
- Random House
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1974
Terms of Sale
John and Tabitha's Kerriosity Bookshop
Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Each book is carefully described, and any condition issues are carefully called out. Any purchase can be returned for a full refund if initiated within 5 business days of your receipt (day of receipt, as noted by shipping tracking, begins day 1). Refunds will be processed once the item is shipped back and received – return shipping is at the cost of the buyer.
About the Seller
John and Tabitha's Kerriosity Bookshop
Biblio member since 2022
Minneapolis, Minnesota
About John and Tabitha's Kerriosity Bookshop
I love books. Always an eager reader, I started collecting Antiquarian books while a teenager and studying history. Flash forward a couple of decades and I am excited to open a new all-digital bookstore to continue my love of books, while bringing desired books to readers, collectors, and other sellers. From Post-Incunables to modern First Editions, I will be regularly adding new stock.
Please reach out with any questions on books, their condition, or additional photos as needed.
Please reach out with any questions on books, their condition, or additional photos as needed.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- 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....
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Fore Edge
- The portion of a book that is opposite the spine. That part of a book which faces the wall when shelved in a traditional...
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 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...
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