Politics and the 1920s Writings of Dashiell Hammett

Politics and the 1920s Writings of Dashiell Hammett 77

0026-3079/2012/5201-077$2.50/0 American Studies, 52:1 (2012): 77-98

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Politics and the 1920sWritings of Dashiell Hammett

J. A. Zumoff

Atfirstglance,DashiellHammettappearsacommonfigureinAmericanletters.He is celebrated as a left-wingwriter sympathetic to theAmericanCommunistParty (CP) in the1930samid theGreatDepressionand the riseof fascisminEurope.MemoriesofHammettareoftenassociatedwith laborandsocialstrugglesintheU.S.andCommunist“frontgroups”inthepost-warperiod.During the period of Senator JosephMcCarthy’s anti-Communism,Hammett,notably,refusedtocollaboratewiththeHouseUn-AmericanActivitiesCommittee’s(HUAC)investigationsandwasbrieflyjailedandhoundedbythegovernmentuntilhisdeathin1961. Histories of the “literary left” in the twentieth century, however, ignoreHammett.1Atfirstglancethisseemsstrange,givenbothHammett’sliteraryfameandhispolitics.Moreaccurately,thispointstothedifficultyofturningHammettintoamemberofthe“literaryleft”basedonhisliterarywork,asopposedtohislaterpoliticalactivity.Atthesametime,somewritershaveattemptedtoplaceHammett’swritingwithin the context of the1930s, some evengoing so farastopositthathisworkhadunderlyingleft-wingpolitics.MichaelDenning,forexample,arguesthatHammett’s“storiesandcharacters...inalargepartestablishedthehard-boiledaestheticofthePopularFront”inthe1930s.2ThisperspectivehighlightsthedangerofseeingHammettasawriterinthe1930s,insteadofthe1920s.Thus,inhisstudyofHammett,Beams Falling(1980),PeterWolfestatesthatHammett“waswooedbyMarxisminthe1920sor1930s.”3

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While technically correct, this imprecisionobscures the fact thatHammett’sliteraryactivity,inthe1920s,andhissubsequentpoliticalactivityinthepost-war period are different.CertainlyHammett’s importance as aCommunistsympathizerwasenhancedbyhiswritings,butthepropercontextinwhichtoplacethesewritingsisinthepre-Communist1920sandnotthe1930s. Whilemanywriters started on the radical left andmoved to the rightin the post-war period,Hammett started as amember of the notorious anti-laborPinkertonDetectiveAgency and ended a supporter of theCommunistParty.Hammett,perhaps,istheonlywriterwhomboththePinkertonandtheCommunistseachprominentlyclaimastheirownontheirrespectiveWebsites.4 Unlikemanyfamousleft-wingwriters,Hammettwrotehismajorworksbefore hebecamearadical.Notonlydidheoppose“proletarianliterature,”butalsohisworkislargelyanti-proletarian:itemphasizesindividualactioninsteadofcollectiveeffort,anditsgenre,detectivefiction,glorifiesaprofessionamongwhosejobsisrepressingthelabormovement. In examiningHammett’swritings against his political evolution in the1920s,thisessayarguesagainstthetendencytoread Hammett backwards.ThisarticlearguesthatHammett’searlystoriesdonotlendthemselvestoacoherentpoliticalreading,muchlessaradicalone.TheyfocusonthemescentraltotheGildedAge,ProgressiveEraandtheRoaring1920s:themessuchaspoliticalcorruption,socialtensionscausedbyurbanizationandindustrialization,andtheincreasingbreakdownofbourgeoisrespectability.Aswithotherwritersoftheperiod,distinctlyconservative,perhapsevenreactionary,elementscanbefoundinHammett’swritingsofthe1920s. LeRoyLadPanekhascomplainedaboutviewingHammett’searlywritingfromtheperspectiveofThe Maltese Falcon.5Oneright-wingjournalistclaimsHammett“portrayedasocietythatwasfodderforanti-capitalists.”6Onescholararguesthateventheearly“TheGuttingofCouffignal”(December1925),“showspronouncedCommunistthemes”andthatHammett’s“Communistsympathiesbeganconsiderablyearlier”thanoftenbelieved.7 Hiswritingsfromthetwentiesshouldnotbeconsidered“Marxist.”Beyondtheinherentlyproblematicconceptof“Marxistfiction”ingeneral(whichtendstoconfoundliteraturewithpoliticalpropagandaandassumesthatawriterwithparticularpoliticswillwriteinaparticularway),therearethreeproblemswithreadingHammett’swritingfromhislaterpolitics.HammettwasnotaCommunistwhenhewrotehispublishedwork;Hammett’sworkdoesnotarticulate,muchlessargue,Marxistconcerns;and,atleastinthe1930s,Hammettopposedtheconceptof“proletarianliterature.”8KarenConnolly-LanedescribesHammettin1929as“anot-yetMarxist,amanwho,findinghimselfthoroughlydissatisfiedwiththecurrent(capitalist)stateofaffairs,looksatoncebacktonineteenth-centuryRepublicanismandforwardtoMarxisminsearchofsomewayinwhichAmericansmight takecontrolof their lives.”9 Incontrast, through the1920sHammettwasindeedinpoliticaltransition,hisstartingpointwasaconservative,even reactionary worldview that saw the world as fundamentally and


irredeemably corrupt, violent, and irrational.As such,Hammett’swriting ismuchclosertofascism,inthesenseofitsuseofirrationality,thanMarxism.AnotherwayofstatingthepointisHammett’swritingsare,inapoliticalsense,contradictorywithnopre-determinedideologicalconclusion.

Hammett’s Pinkerton Experience Politically,oneparticularlyinterestingaspectofHammett’sbiographyisthathebeganhiscareerasananti-laborPinkerton.10HeenlistedinthePinkertonsin1915;althoughinterruptedbymilitaryserviceintheFirstWorldWarandbyhealthproblems,hisPinkertoncareerlasteduntilFebruary1922.Thiswashisfirstrealcareer,whichtaughthimprofessionalskillsandprofessionalpride—themescentraltohiswork.11Whenhejoined,thePinkertonsweresynonymouswithanti-laborrepression,basedonsomesixdecadesofunion-bustingandstrike-breaking.Scottish émigréAllanPinkerton foundedhis self-nameddetectiveagencyin1855,thefirstintheU.S.,beforethecreationofmostlocalornationallawenforcementorganizations.12Anti-workerrepressionwasacomponentofdetectiveworkfromthestart:spyingonworkerstopreventtheft;sabotaginganddisrupting tradeunions;defending strike-breakers andattacking strikingworkers.13Fromthe1870sthroughtheendoftheFirstWorldWar,asAmericanindustrialcapitalismexpandedandthelabormovementattemptedtoorganize,classstrugglewagedthroughoutthecountry,at timesbreakingoutintoopenwar.AccordingtolaborhistorianPhilipTaft,“violenceinlabordisputesismorecommon in theUnitedStates than inanyother industrialnation.”14There isprobablynomajorstrikeinthisperiodwhichthePinkertonswerenotinvolvedinbrutalizingthelabormovement.Inadditiontoviolence,thePinkertonsexcelledatframinguplaboractivists.Inthe1870s,aPinkerton,JamesMcParland,hadinfiltratedtheMollyMaguires,asupposedsecretterroristorganizationofIrishcoalminersinPennsylvania,andeventuallygottwentyminershanged.15 From1866to1892,thePinkertonsparticipatedinatleastseventystrikes.16 AkeymomentwastheHomesteadstrikein1892,ataCarnegieSteelplantnearPittsburgh.WhenHenryFrick,theplant’smanager,importedseveralhundredPinkertonstobreakaunion,strikersandtheirsupportersfoughtapitchedbattleagainstthem,repellingthem.17Atthetime,HarvardprofessorFrankW.Taussigwrote,“thehatredofthelabourclassesagainstthePinkertons,astheyarecalled,isbeyonddescription.Theyareregardedasvilehirelings,assassinsemployedbymonopolistsfortheoppressionofthelabouringman.”18Thesong“FatherwaskilledbythePinkertonMen”becamepopularafterthestrike,theSenateheldhearingsonthePinkertons,19andCongresspassedthe“PinkertonLaw”thatprohibitedthefederalgovernmentfromhiringan“employeeofthePinkertonDetectiveAgency, or similar agency.”20This did not stop thePinkertons. In1906-07,McParlandhelpedspearheadthecampaigntoframeWesternFederationofMiners leadersWilliam“BigBill”Haywood,CharlesMoyer andGeorgePettiboneformurderingthegovernorofIdaho.Infact,“thePinkertonagency

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prosperedduringtheProgressiveera,”accordingtoRobertWeiss.From1892to1910,itopenedfifteennewbranchoffices—eightalonebetween1903and1906—inordertorecruitlaborspies.“Thesuppressionofstrikes,”hecontinues,“reachedanunprecedentedferocitylaterintheProgressiveera,withtheyears1911-1916especiallynotable.”Furthermore,

Bytheturnof thecenturythecharacterof thosewhowererecruitedasstrikebreakerschanged.Atfirsttheywerechosenfrom among the honest but destitute and gullible newerimmigrantgroups,andwereusuallybroughttothesceneofastrikeunderfalsepretenses.Nowthese“finks”wererecruitedfromaclassofprofessionalstrikebreakers,alumpenproletariatwith longcriminal recordswhomadeaprofessionof theirwork.21

NotonlydidHammettjointhePinkertonswhentheiranti-working-classnaturewas obvious, but hiswritings appear to studiously avoid this themewhichwasestablishedinpopularliteratureaboutthePinkertons.AsTaftputsit,“FromtheHomesteadstrikeuntilthe1930’s,employerswhoweredeterminedtopreventunionizationoftheirpersonnelcouldavailthemselvesofprofessionalstrikebreakersandguardswhomightormightnotbedeputized.Theappearanceof these guards and striker-replacements frequently triggered theworst riotsin labordisputes.”22Thishistorywas reflected innumerousbooksabout thePinkertons.AllanPinkertonhimselfwroteeighteenbooks.Thefirst,publishedin 1877, a year of great labor struggle and anti-radical hysteria, describes aPinkerton’s infiltration of theMollyMaguires. In 1907,MorrisFriedman, adisgruntledPinkertonemployee,wroteanexposé,The Pinkerton Labor Spy. ConanDoylewrote aSherlockHolmes story about thePinkerton campaignagainsttheMollyMaguires,The Valley of Fear (1915).23BeforeHammett,themostfamousPinkertonauthorwasCharlesA.Siringo,anoperativefrom1886untilthefirstdecadeofthetwentiethcentury.AnyliterateAmericanwouldhaveheardofSiringo’sA Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency (1912).24HefranklydescribeshowhedecidedtobecomeadetectiveinrevulsionagainsttheHaymarketSquare“riot”inChicagoin1886,whenpoliceattackedananarchistdemonstrationwhichwasdemandingan eight-hour day and subsequently arrested and executed several leadingChicagounionists.Siringodescribeshisroleininfiltratingunionsandrepressingorganizers,includingtheWesternFederationofMiners,thepredecessortotheradicalIndustrialWorkersoftheWorld(IWW).Siringo(likemanyPinkertons)spentmuchtimeinnon-labor-relatedactivities,suchastrackingstolencattleanddealingwithothercrimes,butrepressingorganizedlaborwascentraltohisPinkertonwork.


Frank Little and Hammett’s Political Evolution CentraltothemythofHammett’sconversiontoMarxismfromPinkertonisthemurderofIWWorganizerFrankLittleduringacopperstrikeinButte,Montana.For several years, there hadbeenwave afterwaveof anti-radicalviolence,especiallyagainstIWWmilitants,whichintersectedafearofradicalism,traditional anti-labor repression, and pro-war chauvinism.25Unlike the pro-capitalistleadershipoftheAmericanFederationofLabor,theIWWwasopenlyhostiletocapitalismand,whileitsleadershipwascautiousindirectlyopposingWorldWarI,refusedtostoporganizingstrikesinkeywarindustrieslikemining.In the summerof 1917,Little helpedorganize a strike by copperminers inBisbee,Arizona,whichendedaftertwoweekswhenafteratwo-thousand-strongposseforcedmorethanathousandstrikersandsympathizersintoboxcarsand“deported”them175milesawaytotheswelteringNewMexicodesert.26Barelyescaping,LittlewassenttohelporganizeButteminers.HisreceptionbytheAnacondaCopperMiningCompany,thepro-companypressandthepolicewasashostileinMontanaasinArizona.NotonlydidhetrytoorganizeworkersintotheradicalIWW,buthespokeagainstthewar.OnAugust1,hewaskidnappedandlynchedbyarmedvigilantes,likelyinthepayofthecoppercompany.Therewasnoinvestigationbyanylawenforcementagencyofthismurder.27 Accordingtohislong-termloverLillianHellman,Hammettclaimedthatthecoppercompanyhadofferedhim$5000tokillLittle:

ThroughtheyearshewastorepeatthatbribeoffersomanytimesthatIcametobelieve,knowinghimnow,thatitwasakindofkeytohislife.Hehadgivenamantherighttothinkhewouldmurder,andthatfactthatFrankLittlewaslynchedwiththreeothermeninwhatwasknownastheEverettMassacremusthavebeen,forHammett,anabidinghorror.IthinkthatIcandateHammett’sbeliefthathewaslivinginacorruptsocietyfromLittle’smurder.Intime,hecametotheconclusionthatnothinglessthanarevolutioncouldwipeoutthecorruption.Idonotmeantosuggestthathisradicalconversionwasbasedononeexperience,butsometimesincomplexmindsitistheplainestexperiencethatspeedsthewheelsthathavealreadybeguntomove.28

LiteraryhistorianRitaElizabethRippetoeobserves,“TheLittleincident,iftrue,maywell have influencedHammett’s presentationof the ethical dimensionsfacedbyhis protagonists.”29Crimenovelist JamesEllroyplacesHammett’s“mythicrefusal”tokillLittleatthecenterofhiswritingandhispolitics.HisactivitiesasaPinkerton“madehiminlargepartafascisttool.Heknewit.HelaterembracedMarxistthoughtasarightwingtoadyandusedleftistdialecticforironicdefinition.”30Howeverimportant,thisstoryisalmostcertainlyfalse.

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EvenifweignoretheissueofHellman’saccuracy—thepapersattheUniversityofTexasatAustin’sRansomCenterrevealherassertivecontrolofHammett’sposthumous image—and the context ofHammett’s supposed telling it toHellman—inwhichHammettwastryingtocourtHellman—wearestillleftwithseriousquestionsaboutitsaccuracy.HammettwasnotinMontanawhenLittlewaskilled;hewenttoButtein1920during(orshortlyafter)anotherstrike.31OfHammett’sbiographers,twoacceptthisincidentasfact,basingthemonHellman,andonelabelsit“implausible”evenifHammettlikelydidtellthestory.32 Karen Connolly-Lane’srecentexaminationofthepoliticsofHammett’swritingcreditsHellman’sstoryas“convincing.”33Interestingly,manyjournalists(asopposedtoliteraryscholars)disbelievethestory.34

Studies of theButte strike do not discuss thePinkertons (despite theirdecades-longhostilitytowardstheWFM),andthoseaddressingLittle’smurderdonotmentionHammett.35ContemporaryaccountsdonotmentionthePinkertons.Theinitial New York TimesarticleonLittle’slynching,insteadofblamingthePinkertons(oranybodyelseactingasanagentfortheminingcompany)blamedthekillingonanintra-radicaldisputeanddepictedLittleasapossibledetectiveagent;thenextday,droppingthisoutrageousclaim,theTimesquotedaunionstatementthat“thenameoffiveofthelynchingpartyareknown”and“‘twoofthemen,’itisdeclared,‘aregunmen,’andoneisconnectedwithlawenforcementinthecity.’”36In1926,theLabor Defender(publishedbytheInternationalLaborDefense,agrouporganizedbytheCommunistParty)issuedamemorialeditiondedicatedtoLittle;noneofLittle’sformercomradesmentionedthePinkertons.37 NordoesWilliamHaywood’sautobiography,writtenaboutadecadeafterLittle’smurder.38 ThePinkertonsengagedinanti-unionviolence,andLittle’smurdercouldhaveaffectedHammett,evenifhewasuninvolved.Hammettcouldhavebeeninvolvedinotherunsavory,ifnotinfamous,anti-laboractions.In1920,besidesbeinginButte,HammettalsowasaPinkertoninSpokane,Washington,whichhaditsownhistoryofmilitantlaborbattlesandanti-laborrepression.39Throughoutthe late teensand twenties,Butte remained inastateofclassstruggle, fromwhichHammettdrewhisvisionof“Poisonville”inRed Harvest.BecausethePinkertonagencyclaimedthattheirfilescontainednoinformationonhisactivity,wedonotknowwhatHammettdidinButte,40andgivenHammett’sreputationforsecrecy,wemostlikelywillnot.41

HammettdrewonhisButteexperienceswhenhewroteRed Harvest,buthedidnotwritea“Marxist”novel.42Statingconventionalwisdom,anarticleintheSanFranciscoChronicleclaims,“ThethingsHammettsawasaPinkertonoperativealsohelpedmakehimaMarxist.”43Crimewriter JoeGores—whowroteanovelaboutHammett44—makesHammett’santi-laborhistorycentraltohispolitics:“Hewasastrikebreaker,andhewasaverygoodstrikebreaker.Then,Ithink,hehadagradual,genuinerevulsionandturnedaround.”45Butthiswasaslowprocess:heremainedaPinkertonuntil1922,retiringonlywhentuberculosisforcedhim.ItisdifficulttodeterminewhenhefirstconsideredhimselfaMarxist,


but“itseemslikely”thatHammett,accordingtoRichardLayman,“joinedthe[Communist]partyin1937-38.”46AlettertohisdaughterinlateFebruary1936indicatesHammetthadbecomesympathetictotheCommunistsbythattime.47 Thatis,Hammettdidnotbecomearadicaluntilat least a decadeafterquittingthePinkertons—or, to put it in perspective,Hammett’s entire literary careerhappenedinthiswindow.Theradicalizationofthe1930s—whichpropelledmanyotherwriterstosocialism—probablyaffectedHammettmorethanthemurderofLittleadecadeearlier.

The Pinkertons and Hammett’s Writing Hammett’sexperienceasaPinkertoniscentraltohisroleasanauthor.HemodeledhisfictionalContinentalDetectiveAgencyonthePinkertonsand,moreimportantly,createdaliterarypersonauponhishavingbeenarealPinkerton.The titleofanearlypiece,“MemoirsofaPrivateDetective” (March1923),establisheshisbonafides.Severalmonthslater,inNovember1924,Black Mask publishedashortautobiographicalnotethatstatedhisPinkertonexperience.48 Unlikehispredecessorswhoknewnothingaboutthecriminalworld,Hammettdid.Inhisfamousanalysisofthedetectivestory,“TheSimpleArtofMurder”(1944),RaymondChandleremphasizesthatHammettwasamongthose“whowroteortriedtowriterealisticmysteryfiction”:

IdoubtthatHammetthadanydeliberateartisticaimswhatever;hewastryingtomakealivingbywritingsomethinghehadfirsthandinformationabout.Hemadesomeofitup;allwritersdo;butithadabasisinfact;itwasmadeupoutofrealthings.49

ButhowmuchofHammett’sthinlydisguisedPinkertonexperienceisreal,andhowmuchismadeup?Hisexperiencehelpedhimavoidvariouspitfallsthatotherwritersfellinto.AreviewofseveralcontemporarydetectivenovelsthatHammettwrotefortheSaturday Review of Literature(January1927)establishesbothHammett’sdetectivecredentialsandhisdisdainforthegenreinthefirstparagraph:

In someyearsofworking forprivatedetectiveagencies invariouscitiesIcameacrossonlyonefellowsleuthwhowouldconfessthathereaddetectivestories.‘Ieat‘emup,’thisonesaidwithoutshame.‘WhenI’mthroughmyday’sgumshoeingI like to relax; I like to getmymind on something that’saltogetherdifferentfromthedailygrind;soIreaddetectivestories.”50

AlongwithHammett’sdistinctiveargot,thisexperiencecreatestheillusionofverisimilitude.YetthereisreasontodoubttheaccuracyofHammett’sstories.

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ProbablyGeorgeThompsoniscorrectthatHammett’s“eightyearsasaPinkertondetectivegavehimhismaterial,butfindingtherightwaytousethisexperiencewashisongoingconcern.”51Decadeslater,HammettimpliedthathisPinkertonpersonawasasvaluableformarketinghisworkasforprovidingmaterial.“Ifound I could sell the stories easilywhen it becameknown that I hadbeenaPinkertonman,”he told an interviewer in1957. “People thoughtmy stuffwas authentic.”52One example is bootlegged alcohol.Hammett’s charactersare constantlydrinking; besides reflectingHammett’s owndrunkenness, thiscontinual alcoholic theme highlights the corruption endemic in Prohibitionsociety,mostobviouslyin“NightmareTown.”53Yet,asQuanZhangpointsout,mostofHammett’sactualdetectiveexperiencetookplacebeforeProhibition.54 InhishistoryofthePinkertons,FrankMornargues,“Hammett’sidealdetectiveexperiencesandhisrealonesdidnotcoincide.”55Instead,Mornarguedthatmostofadetective’stimewastakenupwithboring,meaninglessandabsurdtasks.MornsuggeststhatHammett’s“MemoirsofaPrivateDetective,”acollectionoftwenty-nineshort,cynicalreminiscencesismoretypical.56

These“Memoirs”areoftenhumorousrecollections,focusingonirony—such as number eight: “I oncewas falsely accused of perjury and had toperjuremyselftoescapearrest.”SuchdisregardforandlackofinterestinthetruthwouldbecomeatrademarkofHammett’swriting.PoetGeorgeSterling,writingtoSmart SeteditorH.L.Mencken,capturedthisinhisstatementthat“‘DashiellHammett’puzzlesme:Ifindithardeithertobelieveortodisbelievehisexistence.Someoftheitems[inthe“Memoirs”]soundincredible;anditseemsimpossibletohaveinventedothers.”57However,noneoftheseanecdotesdealswith the labormovement—themost important Pinkerton activity. Infact,inHammett’sContinentalOpstories,thereisoneprominentreferencetothePinkertons’infamyasstrikebreakers.InRed Harvest (1929)—whichwasHammett’sfirstnovelandadaptedfromaseriesofBlack Maskstories—theOppresentsafraudulentmembershipIWWcard toa localorganizer.Detectivesdonotcarryaroundfakeunioncredentialswithoutasinisterpurpose,buttheOp’sinvolvementinsuchclassicPinkertonoperationsisonlyhintedat.InotherContinentalOpstories,theOpoccupieshimselfchasinganddodgingvariouscriminals,butnotanti-laboractivities.ThisisinstarkcontrasttopreviousbooksbyotherPinkertons—includingAllanPinkerton,MorrisFriedmanandCharlesSiringo—whichemphasizedtheanti-labornatureoftheagency. However, asRonGoulart points out, althoughHammett had “work[ed]asastrikebreakeronthesidesofthemoneyedinterests,”theOp“neverhadtoclubapicket.”58WhileGoulartattributesthistoHammett’sallowingtheOp“tohavemorescruples,”inrealityHammett’sfictionalizedPinkertonadventureswhitewash thePinkerton’s anti-labor activity.59Rather than being somehow“proletarian”or“Marxist”writings,Hammett’sOpstoriesdisappeartheclassstruggleentirelyandpresentaprettifiedimageofthePinkertons.


The Politics of Corruption in Hammett’s Early Fiction It is hard to saywhetherHellman is correct thatHammett’s experienceasaPinkertonmadehimgraspthecorruptnatureofAmericansociety.Ifso,thewonder is that it took so long for him to discover this.Corruptionwasomnipresent inAmerican society from theGildedAge through the 1920s,andwritersfromacrossthepoliticalspectrumtookturnsdenouncingitwhenconvenient.RepublicansdenouncedDemocraticmachinepoliticslikeTammanyHall;DemocratsdenouncedcorruptioninRepublicanadministrations,includingReconstructionandtheCréditMobilierscandalunderGrantandtheTeapotDomescandalunderHarding.CartoonistThomasNastdenouncedcorruption inallquarters,asdidwriterslikeMarkTwainandUptonSinclair.SomeprogressiveslikeSinclairtiedtheirmuckrakingtosocialism,butanti-corruptionpoliticscouldhavearight-wingcharacter.DuringthebriefperiodofReconstructionaftertheCivilWar,whenfortheonlytimeinU.S.historyblackpeopleheldbasicpoliticalandcivilrightsintheSouth,racistDemocratsrailedagainstthecorruptionofRepublicangovernments,anargumentechoedtwodecadeslaterbyNorthernhistorianssuchasWilliamDunning.Duringthe1920s,fundamentalistProtestantsandthemassiveKuKluxKlanattackedcorruption.In1924,theIndianabranchoftheKlanissuedthefollowingappeal,whichsoundslikeadescriptionoftheworldofHammett’sshortstories:

Everycriminal, everygambler, every thug, every libertine,everygirlruiner,everyhomewrecker,everywifebeater,everydopepeddler, every crookedpolitician, everypaganpapistpriest,everyshystalawyer,everyK[night]ofC[olumbus],everywhite slaver, every brothelmadam, every Rome-controllednewspaper,everyblackspiderisfightingtheKlan.60

Inshort,anyliterateAmericancomingofagebetween1870and1930wouldhavebeenawareofcorruption,butevenifthisawarenesstranslatedintopoliticalaction,itcouldhavebeenofanytype. CorruptioninHammett’sshortstoriestooktwoforms:personalandsocial.Hisconstantplaysonwords,ironyandsatire,wheretherealityofthingsandpeopleareasarulenotwhattheyseem,combinedwiththecriminalworldtheOpnavigates, leadsHammett tofocusonpersonalcorruptionanddeception.AccordingtoGeorgeThompson,Hammett’s“world[is]permeatedbydeception”andis“anambiguousone.”Asaresult,theOphimselfiscorrupted.61In“ArsonPlus”(publishedinBlack Mask,1October1923),noneof thecharactersarewhotheyseem;andthekeycharacter,Thornburgh,isafabrication.In“CrookedSouls”(15October1923),boththekidnapperandtheOpemploydeception:bydressinglikeawomanandpretendingtobeaninsuranceinvestigator,respectively.In“TheGoldenHorseshoe”(1924),almostallofthecharactersarecorruptanddeceptive.62TheseandHammett’sotherearlycrimestoriesarefilledwithurban

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cynicism,corruptionanddeception.ThetruthitselfbecomescorruptintheearlyBlack Maskstories,amotifthatHammettwoulddevelopthroughtheMaltese Falcon.Increasingly,itisnotonlyaquestionofthingsnotappearingwhattheyseem,butasinthecaseofthefamousfalconitself,thepretenceanddeceptionsurroundingpeopleandeventsbecomestheirreality. Thisdiffersfromtraditionaldetectivefictionwherethedetectivecutsthroughcriminaldeception.AttheendofthefirstSherlockHolmesstory,“AStudyinScarlet”(1887),Holmeshighlightstheimportanceofdeception:“Whatyoudointhisworldisamatterofnoconsequence.”Instead,“Thequestionis,whatcanyoumakepeoplebelievethatyouhavedone.”Underlyingthedeceptioninthetraditionaldetectivestoryisthebeliefthattheworldisarationalplaceandthatthedetectivecanresetthisfracturedreality.Attheendofhisinvestigation,HolmesexplainsthecrimetoDr.Watsonandmakestheworldrationalagain:“Theproofofitsintrinsicsimplicityis,thatwithoutanyhelpsaveafewveryordinarydeductionsIwasabletolaymyhandsuponthecriminalwithinthreedays.”63OrasonerecentreviewofabookaboutHolmesputsit:“Holmesisthemostconsolingofliteraryicons.Hecannotalwayspreventcrimeorpunishthecriminal,butheneverfailstoexplainwhathashappened,andhow,andwhy.”64

Hammett’sOpwouldagreewithHolmesondeception,butnotaboutthe“intrinsicsimplicity”ofsolvingcrimes.Red Harvest and“AStudyinScarlet”areopposites.TheOpcarriesacacheofdeceptivebusinesscards;hehasnoworryaboutlyingtohisclient,hisemployerortheworldingeneral.Insteadofintrinsicsimplicity,thereis“bloodsimple,”achievedbyrelentlessviolence.TheOpandHolmeshavecompletelydifferentgoals.Holmeswantstosolvethecrime;theOp,afteraboutathirdofRed Harvest,givesupallpretenseofsolvingacrimeanddedicateshimselftoplayingonecorruptgangofkillersagainstanother.ThereisnorationalunderpinningoftheOp’sworld:hisisaworldofmanipulation,violentpragmatismanddeception. InhisattemptataMarxistanalysisofmysterynovels,Delightful Murder, ErnestMandelarguesthatsuchstoriesplayan“integrativerole”fortheirreaders;theylegitimatethesocialorderandobscuretheclassnatureofthecriminaljusticesystemitself:

Thedetective story is the realmof the happy ending.Thecriminal is always caught. Justice is always done.Crimeneverpays.Bourgeois legality,bourgeoisvalues,bourgeoissociety, always triumph in the end. It is soothing, sociallyintegratingliterature,despiteitsconcernwithcrime,violenceand murder.65

Crimenovels, therefore, are based on themodel of “irrationality upsettingrationality”followed,throughtheinterventionofthedetective,by“rationalityrestored after irrational upheavals.”66AsSeanMcCann shows, the classicaldetectivestory reflectsandreinforces theclassical liberalviewofa rational,


orderlyworldruledbylaw.67AsGramsciputsit,“inSherlockHolmesthereisa(too)rationalbalancebetweenintelligenceandscience.”68Thedetectivestoryexpresses thevaluesofbourgeois rationality,ofadevelopingcapitalismthatpromisestomaketheworldmoreefficientandrational. Yet, this ismanifestly not the case forHammett’s novels.There is noreason;theOp’sworldisirrational.Crimesareinsoluble.Orwhen“solved,”theirsolutionisitselfirrational.Hammett’s“TheGoldenHorseshoe”isagoodexample.TheplotechoesHolmes’sdictumaboutmakingpeoplebelievesinceboththeOpandthemaincriminalrelatetoeachotherthroughthemediumofassumedidentities.Yet,therearenodeductionsorinternallogic.TheOp,actingasnarrator,describeshisphilosophy:“Onewayoffindingwhat’satbottomofeitheracupofcoffeeorasituationistokeepstirringitupuntilwhateverisonthebottomcomestothesurface.”69EvenwhentheOpsolvesthecrimeandtheguiltycriminalishanged,theendingisnotrational.Despiteaconfession,theOpcannotprovethemurderer’sguiltforthecrimehedidcommit,sotheOpframeshimforamurderhedidnotcommit.AstheOptellsthecriminal:“Ican’tputyouupforthemurdersyouengineeredinSanFrancisco;butIcansockyouwiththeoneyoudidn’tdoinSeattle—sojusticewon’tbecheated.”70 Later, in theMaltese Falcon,thestorythatSamSpadetellsaboutFlitcraftillustratesthefundamentalillusionofrationality.Flitcraft“adjustedhimselftobeamsfalling,andthennomoreofthemfell,andheadjustedhimselftothemnotfalling.”71 AsRobertParkerputsit,thisepisodeshowsthatforHammett,“theuniverseisrandom,thatordermaybethedreamofart,butchaosisthelawofnature.”72

Bythe1920s,bourgeoisrationalityhaditselfbecomeirrational.“Reason,byitself,”MabelVargasVergarawrites,“wasnotcapableofsolvingthenewproblemsandtheuncertaintythatoverlappedpositivistscience.Socialrealityexposed elements such as violence, corruption, and criminal organizations,againstwhicha lonedetectivecoulddo littleornothing.”73TheFirstWorldWar illustrated this: foughtwith advanced techniques and technologies, thewarstemmedfromthefailureoftheadvancedcapitalistcountriestorationallyordertheworld.Instead,theybledeachotherdryandkilledmillions.Thewar’sEuropeanaftermathcalledintoquestiontheabilityofcapitalismtorationallyordertheworld.ThisincreasedthepopularityofbothCommunists,wholookedtotheBolshevikRevolution’spromiseof internationalsocialistrevolutiontotranscend the bankruptcyof capitalism, aswell as fascistswhopromised torestorecapitaliststabilityandorderthroughviolenceandrepressionagainsttheworkingclass. TheU.S. was spared such dramatic polarization; although both therevolutionary left and the fascistic right grewdramatically, the countrywasmarkedbyso-called“normalcy.”Thelateteensandearlytwentiesexperiencedincreasing anti-labor, anti-socialist (and racist) violence and repression, butultimately,thestatewasabletomaintaincapitaliststabilitywithoutresortingtofascism.OrderandefficiencywerethewatchwordsofarapidlyindustrializingAmerican society.The study of businessmanagement attained academic

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legitimacy;Fordism—theideathatmassproduction,relativelyhighwagesandacloselypolicedworkforcecouldsustaincapitalistgrowthandTaylorism—theideathatmanagerscouldmoreefficientlyplanproduction—reflectedthisemphasisoncoerciverationality.74 SeanMcCannarguesinGumshoe Americathathard-boileddetectivefictionintheinterwarperiodechoedcontemporarysocialscience’semphasison“thegapbetweenthedogmaoftraditionalpoliticaltheoryandtheunacknowledgedfactsofsocialreality.”75ThesetensionsarethecoreofHammett’ssocialvision.Therationalityofbourgeoissocietycouldonlybemaintainedthroughviolentrepression;theorderednatureofclassicalLockeanliberalismhadturnedintoitsopposite,Hobbesianviolence. Hammett’sOpstoriesareextremelyviolent.Althoughthereisviolenceintraditionaldetectivestories,itisnottheircore.Instead,thepuzzle,themystery—andhencethestruggletoreturntheworldtorationality—iswhatthenovelisreallyabout.Hammettchangedthis.Violence—andviolentpeople—areHammett’srealsubjects.“HammetttookmurderoutoftheVenetianvase,”Chandlerwritesin“TheSimpleArtofMurder,”“anddroppeditintothealley.”76IntheOp’sworld,violence,ratherthanjusticeortruth,isthecoreofsociety.StevenMarcushaspointedoutthat:

InHammett’sstoriesthereisagreatdealofviolence—agreatdealofshooting,ofhitting,oftorturing.Indeed,hisdetectivesgetpleasureoutofit.Onceyouseethat,yourealizethatthemeansHammett’scharactersusearecorrupting....77

Hisisasocietyfundamentallycorrupted,andthereaderisleftwithouttherationalendingofaHolmesstory. Hammett’s emphasis on social corruption—and his sympathies for theCommunistPartyinthe1930s—haveledsomecriticstoascribeHammett’searlyworkwithleftistpolitics.Forexample,GrahamBarnfielddescribes“Hammett’svisionofthecity”as“acriminalunderworldshotthroughwithamixtureofhispoliticalcommitmentsandapossibilityofhuman improvement,” incontrasttomore recentwriterswhose“stylehasshifted fromahumanistperspectiveon thecity toadeeplymisanthropicone.”78Yet, this reading isproblematic.Hammett’sradicalpoliticalcommitmentscamemuchlaterandhisearlystoriescontainastrainofmisanthropy—oratleastmachismo.79ItaliancriticAlbertodelMontecharacterizesHammett’sworldasmarkedby“corruption,abuse,andviolence.”Ratherthanaworldsalvageablebypoliticalcommitmentandhumanimprovement,DelMontewritesthat“Hammett’sinnovationconsistedinmakingthedetectivenovelaninstrumentofrealisticrepresentationandprincipallyofdenunciation.Hisrealismconsists,ineffect,ofthedescriptionofcertainaspectsof contemporary society froma pessimistic perspective.”80 JamesNaremorelocatesHammett’spowerinhis“deeplycriticalandskepticalattitudetowardsAmerican society” andhis endingswhich “are always bleak.”81WhileSean


McCanniscorrectthathard-boiledauthorssharedsomethingwithNewDealliberalism,theysharedsomethingwithfascism.Hard-boiledfictionisneitherinherentlyradical(orliberal)norreactionary;onecantracethepoliticalevolutionofHollywood’sadaptationofhard-boiledstoriesinrelationshiptothepoliticalmoodoftheU.S.atthetimeofproduction.82

Hammett’s Politics, Modernism and the 1920s AlthoughHammett is best known for his popular detectivefiction, hiswritingsinthe1920ssharemuchwithcontemporarymodernistwriters.Bothwerereactingtothemodernizationintellectuallyandindustrially.Theiroverlapincludespoliticalambiguity.Likemanymodernists,Hammett’swritingsofthe1920scanbereadaseither“leftist,”“right-wing,”orentirelynon-political.Asthe founderof themodernAmericandetectivenovel,Hammett’searlyyearsillustratetherefractedculturaltensionsoftheUnitedStatesintheearlytwentiethcentury. Hammettdidnotoriginallywanttowritedetectivefiction.Hisfirstpublishedpiecesappearedin1922inH.L.Mencken’sSmart Set; the journalpublishedauthorssuchasF.ScottFitzgerald,W.B.Yeats,W.SomersetMaugham,AldousHuxley,EzraPoundandJamesJoyce.83TheseSmart Setarticles,suchashisfirst,“TheParthianShot”(October1922),emphasizeironyandsatire.WecanseetheoutlineofHammett’slaterwork:anemphasisonnames,surpriseendings,ironyandasensethattraditionalsocialrelationships(thefamilyinthiscase)havedegenerated.84Hammettsettledondetectivestoriesbecausetheyallowedhimtousehisownexperienceasliteraryrawmaterial.85EvenafterstartingtowritedetectivestoriesforThe Black Mask,hecontinuedtowriteothertypesofstories. ManyofhisliterarycontemporariessharedHammett’spreoccupations,suchasF.ScottFitzgerald’sThe Great Gatsby(1925).JayGatz/GatsbyappearsaninversionofHammett’sNormanAschraft/EdwardBohannonfrom“TheGoldenHorseshoe,”publishedayearearlier.GatsbyreinventedhimselffromanAmericangangsterintoawealthyBritishmanofsociety,whileBohannonhasreinventedhimselffromaBritishprofessionalintoacriminal.Botharethoroughlycorrupted,and,intheend,neithercansustainthedeceptionthatdefineshim.Tellingly,bothwritershavebeencomparedtoT.S.Eliot’sThe Waste Land (1922).86Hammett’swork also shared the alienation, disjointedness and stream-of-consciousnessnarrative,anddespondencyofmuchmodernistwriting. Hammetthadanaversiontoart-as-politicsandavoidedaknee-jerkanti-radicalism.AsheexplainsinaJune1924articleinWriter’s Digest,Hammettseesliteratureas“goodtotheextentthatitisart,andbadtotheextentthatitisn’t;andIknowofnootherstandardbywhichitmaybejudged.”87 Atthesametime,againsttheclaimthatthereadersofthesexstoryarelargely“radicals,”“socialperverts”and“moral lepers,”hequips,“InJackLondon’sday,Iunderstand,thereweremanygoodpeoplewhothoughthimaradical!”88London—whodied

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in1916—wasbothaliteraryiconofCaliforniaandone-timesupporteroftheSocialistParty.In“TheGuttingofCouffignal”(1925),thevillainsareRussianroyalsinexilefromtheBolshevikRevolution.In1927,hecriticizedamysterynovel:“Mostoftheactivityseemspurposeless,butintheendofdearoldEnglandissavedoncemorefromtheBolshevists.”89Tilton’sconclusionthatHammettinterjects “Communist themes” into his earlywritings seems far-fetched;90 Hammett’snovelsavoidedeitherpro-oranti-Communistsentiments. PoliticsforHammettwerenotaboutbigideologiesbutsqualidcorruptionlinked to the criminalworld. “Women,Politics andMurder,” (Black Mask, September1924)dealswithcorruptlocalpoliticians.“Yourpolitician-contractor,”theOpmusesatonepoint,“doesn’talwaysmoveintheopen.”91Thetownin“NightmareTown”(Argosy,December1924)wasamodern-dayPotemkinvillageto hide illegal alcohol production.A character demolishes the false divisionbetweenlegitimateandcorruptsociety:

“Youcanguesshowmuchmoneythereisinthiscountryinthehandsofmenwho’dbegladtoinvestitinaboozegamethatwas airtight.Not only crooks, Imean, butmenwhoconsiderthemselveshonest.Takeyourguess,whateveritis,anddoubleit,andyoustillwon’tbewithinmillionsofarightanswer....Thewordwentaroundthatthenewtownwasaplacewhereacookwouldbesafesolongashedidwhathewastold.TheslumsofallthecitiesinAmerica,andhalfof‘emoutofit,emptiedthemselveshere.Everycrookthatwaslessthanastepaheadofthepolice,andhardcarfarehere,cameandgotcover.”92

Hethenexplainshowthetownhandledtheinevitableinvestigation:

“Wehavebankers,andministers,anddoctors,andpostmasters,andprominentmenofallsortseithertotanglethesleuthsupwithbumleads,or,ifnecessary,toframethem.You’llfindaflockofmenintheStatepenwhocamehere—mostofthemasnarcoticagentsorprohibitionagents—andgotthemselvestiedupbeforetheyknewwhatitwasallabout.”93

Corruption,deceptionanddisguiseappearinmostofHammett’swork,includinghisnovels.Red Harvestdepictsthecorruptionofthelocalpoliceandpoliticalestablishment;The Maltese Falconpresentspoliceandpoliticiansasnotinterestedintruthorjustice,andThe Glass Key(1931)isentirelyaboutcorruptpoliticianswho are involved in bootlegging and other criminal activities. “Business isbusinessandpoliticsispolitics,”onegangsterwithpoliticalconnectionstellsapoliticianwithgangsterconnectionsinthatnovel.“Let’skeepthemapart.”94ButtherestofthebookprovesthatforHammett,thiswasimpossible.


Scholars ofEuropean literature have debated the relationship betweenreactionary politics, including fascism, andmodernism.Many Europeanmodernistwriters—suchasEliot—hadreactionarypolitics.95 Hammettwasnotafascistinthe1920s.Tolabelhimpoliticallyactive,muchlessareactionary,wouldalsobefalse.ButsomeofhispreoccupationswerethesamethatdrovesomemodernistwritersinEuropeinareactionarydirection.IntheU.S.,asT.J.JacksonLearshasshown, therewasanoverlapbetweenbourgeois reactionstomodernizationandEuropeanfascistconcerns.Oneofthesewastheroleofviolence,“thedesiretorecombineafragmentedselfandre-createaproblematicrealitythroughaggressiveaction”which“haslainbehindfascismaswellasthemass-marketmurderstory.”96ItisbeyondthescopeofthisessaytoteaseouttherelationshipbetweenfascismandmodernisminEurope—ataskmadeevenmoredifficultbecausethetheambiguousdefinitionofeachterm.97 Europeanfascism98 wasatbottomnotanintellectualorartistmovement.Itwas a social and politicalmovement. It consisted of extra-parliamentarymobilizationsofthepettybourgeoisie,madedesperatebyeconomicandsocialcrisis,alongwiththelumpenproletariatandevenasectionofmoreeconomicallydistressedworkers.99Hammett’swritingreflectedthesamesocialcrisesthatgaverisetofascism.AsJacksonLearshasshown,thesamesocialsituationalsogaverisetonon-fascistculturalmovementsintheUnitedStates. Modernist elementswithinHammett’s stories does notmakehisfiction“reactionary”—since evenJews Without Money (1930),writtenby the arch-“proletarian”writerMikeGold,containedsuchelements.100AccordingtoJohnP.Diggins,fascismprovedattractivetosomeAmericanwriterswho“wereattractedtoMussolini’sItaly,inpart,asanexpressionoftheirownalienationfromandindictmentagainstthedecadentchaosandfrantictempoofmodernAmericanlife.”101 Mussolini’sfascism,althoughpopularamongsomeItalianAmericans,didnotfindfertilegroundintheU.S.asapotentialmassAmericanmovement. Therewasno significantmass fascistmovement in theU.S. thatwouldattractsophisticatedintellectuals.IfoneoftherolesoffascistsinEuropewastosmashtheorganizedworkersmovement,itshouldbekeptinmindthatintheU.S.theorganizedlaborwasmuchweakerthanitsEuropeancounterparts.IntheU.S.bothpublicandprivateforces,includingthePinkertons,hadsufficientlyweakenedthelabormovement.TheKlan,whilepopular,didhavethesamepullamongwritersandartiststhatMussolinididinItaly.While“Americanism,”anti-immigrantxenophobia,racismandanti-Semitismwerewidespreadinthelateteensandtwenties,theyweremorethehallmarksofthosewhoresistedtheriseofmodernization.ModernistwritersintheU.S.tendedtooverlapwithleftists,immigrants,Jews,socialreformersandurbancosmopolitans—i.e.,peoplenotlikelytobeattractedtotheKlan.102

Initsownway,hard-boileddetectivefictioncrystallizedthesesamecrisesthatgave rise to fascism inEurope. Inher studyofBlack Mask,ErinSmithclaims,“hard-boiledfictionbetweenthewarswasconcernedwithrethinkingidentitiesinthelightofemergentconsumerculture,withreconcilingaresidual

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cultureofmanly,autonomouscraftsmenwithanemergingcommodityculture.Asaconsequence,hard-boiledstorieswereloadedwithcontradictions.Theyofferedtheheroasanhonestproletarianandachampionofunalienatedlabor,buttheirtorturedplotsfollowedthelogicofscientificmanagement.”103YetitismucheasiertoreadHammett’sstoriesfromtherightthanSmithassumes,sinceratherthanbeingan“honestproletarian”thePinkertonagentwasadishonestanti-proletarian.Accordingtoonecontemporaryarticle,whenhewasnotprotectingscabs,adetectivecarriedout“shadowwork,theatres,attendanceatballgames,social gatherings, and industrial under-coverwork” and thenwrote secretreports.104Hewasoftenasmallbusinessman,withanethosofindividualism;ifheworkedforanagency,hisworkwasstillanti–workingclass.InthecaseoftheOp,whoworkedforalargeagency,petty-bourgeoisindividualismwasincreasingly undercut by the growthof industrial capitalism, something thatreflectedtheprecariouspositionofthepettybourgeoisieasawhole.AsSmithherselfshows,theadvertisementsinBlack Maskweregearedtowardsobtaininglowermiddle-classjobs—salesmen,railwayinspectors—andadescriptionofpulppatronscontainsasmanypetty-bourgeoisasproletarianjobs:“locomotiveengineers,musicians,mechanics,salesmen,clerks,waitresses,writers,editors,schoolteachers,ranchersandfarmers.”105 Mostimportantly,the(real)detectiveisnotapolicemanisnotproletarianbecauseakeyelementofhisjobistodestroytheorganizationoftheproletariat,throughstrikebreakingandspying:hisjobwasbydefinitionanti–workingclass.Asaprivatedetective,theOpisanauxiliarytothecapitaliststate,i.e.,hehelpsincreasetherepressionofworkersbycapitalistsandmaintainsthesystemofexploitationinherentincapitalism.InaMarxistsense,heformspartofwhatLenin’sState and Revolution(1917)referstoas“specialbodiesofarmedmenplaced above society and alienating themselves from it” toprotect capitalistpropertyinterests.106 BothHammett’swriting andEuropean fascists stressed the irrationalityofmodern industrial capitalismwhile emphasizing its corruption.EdwardTannenbaumobservesthat“from1919until1925,themajorityoftheBlackShirts[inItaly]werealienatedyoungmen,aself-styled‘lostgeneration,’determinedto overthrow the liberal establishment by violentmeans and restore a ‘sicksociety’tohealth.”107TheOpcombinesredemptiveviolencewithsexist,racistandxenophobicviews.Hedislikeslarge-scalecapitalism,butdoesnothaveasocialistvision.WhatdistinguishesHammett’svisionfrombothCommunismandfascismisthatheseemsnottohaveanyvisionofapurifiedsociety.Thestoriesharkbacktothepre-industrialWildWest;hard-boileddetectivenovelscanbereadastwentieth-centurycowboystories.108(TheessentialconnectionbetweenthesedefinitionscanbeseenintheappropriationofthethemesofHammett’sRed Harvest tobedepictedintheAmericanwestbySergioLeone.)109Hammett’smachismo—Freedman andKendrick label himas a “paradigmofAmericanmacho”whileBreuanalyzes“hard-boiledmasculinity”—alsosharesmuchwitharight-wingmisanthropyatthecoreoffascism.110Asaformercadreinaviolent


strike-breakingarmy,asaveteranoftheFirstWorldWar,HammettwouldhaveappearedmorelikelytohavejoinedanAmericanversionoftheNazisthantheCommunistParty.ThisisnottosaythatHammettwasaproto-fascist;Hammettdidnotbecomeafascist;infact,hisdedicationtoCommunismwasduetohisaversiontoHitlerandFranco.Thereasonsforthis,however,arehistorical,notliterary. Judgedbyhiswritings in the1920salone,Hammett’spoliticswereveryambiguousandshouldnotbeseenasleadinginevitablytoCommunism.Hammett’sownpoliticalambiguityisalsoreflectedinthatofthegenrehecreated.Hammettfirmlyestablishedthedetectivestoryasaformofsocialcriticism,yethealsoensuredthatthegenrecouldassumedifferentpoliticalprofiles.

Hammett the Communist In the 1930s,Hammett became aCommunist.Yet there is nothing inhiswritings that suggests,much less predicts, this. IfHammett haddied oftuberculosis in the early 1930s, hisworkwouldnot havebeen classified asMarxist.AsCynthiaHamiltonputs it,Hammett’s leftistactivism“shed littlelightbackwardonhisfiction.”111Hammett’spolitical evolution in the1930sreflectedtheradicalizationofalargeportionoftheintelligentsiainreactiontotheDepression,militantlaborstruggles,theriseofFascismandthepopularityoftheSovietUnion.Whencapitalismseemeddoomedtoeithercollapseorfascism,CommunismgainedsupportersamongAmericanintellectualsandworkers. TheextentanddepthofHammett’sCommunistconvictionswarrantfurtherstudy.ToWolfe,“hiscommunismremainsapuzzle.”112However,thereisnoreasontodoubtthathissupporttotheCommunistPartywasgenuine.Likemanyotherwritersandartists,hebecameradicalizedduringtheDepression.Buthewasnotafair-weatherfriendandmaintainedhisloyaltytothePartythroughtheMcCarthyperiod,includingspendingseveralmonthsinprisonandbeingbankruptedbytheIRSbecauseherefusedtocooperatewithanti-Communistprosecutions.FiveyearsafterHammett’sdeath,HellmanwrotethatHammett“wasoftenwittyandbitingsharpabout theAmericanCommunistParty,buthewas, in the end, loyal to them.”113MauriceRapf, anotherCommunist inHollywood,recalled,“Hammettwasthebest-educatedofusaboutMarxandMarxism.”114 AnanalysisofHammett’sleftistpoliticswouldnotbealiteraryanalysis,however.Hammett’swritingdidnotdrivehimtowardsCommunismsincehedidnotpublishanythingimportantafterThe Thin Man(1934).EventhoughHammettis often seen as having supportedHellman’s socially engagedwriting,115 hisownworkneverdirectlydealswithpoliticalthemessoopenlyfromaleft-wingperspective.Hammett’simportancetotheleftinthe1930swasnotasawriter,evenif,asAlanWaldputit,“heispresentontheleftsceneinthe1930sasapersonality,and...alsodidquiteabitofteachingatParty-ledschools.”116 It is impossibletodrawapoliticalthreadfromHammett’searlywritingtohisfinaldaysaroundtheCommunistParty.

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Notes 1.NeitherBarbaraFoley’sRadical Representations: Politics and Form in U.S. Proletarian Fiction (DurhamandLondon:DukeUniversityPress,1993)norJamesMurphy’sThe Proletarian Moment (Urbana andChicago:University of Illinois Press, 1991)mentionsHammett;DanielAaron’sWriters on the Left (NewYork:Avon,1961)mentionsHammettonce(397),butnotinthecontextofhiswriting.AlanWald’sExiles from a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth Century Literary Left(ChapelHill:UniversityofNorthCarolinaPress,2002)mentionsHammettthrice(173,269,371),butagainnotinaliterarycontext.Wald’searlierWriting from the Left: New Essays on Radical Culture and Politics(LondonandNewYork:Verso,1994)citesHammettasawell-knownexampleofamysterywriterwhohadbeenaleftist—tourgestudyofother,lesserknown,examples—butcontainsnopoliticalanalysisofHammett’swork(79,104).AmorerecentarticlementionsHammettinpassingasoneofalistof“writersontheLeft,”butagaindoesnotanalyzehisrelationshiptotheLeft:AlanWald,“InconvenientTruths:TheCommunistConundruminLifeandArt,”American Literary History 21 (2009), 368-403. 2.ThisisespeciallytrueaboutRed Harvestwhichwas,infact,writtenbeforethestockmarketcrashof1929,althoughitwaspublishedlater.SeeWoodyHaut,Pulp Culture: Hardboiled Fiction and the Cold War (London:Serpent’sTail,1995),1;CarlFreedmanandChristopherKendrick,“FormsofLaborinDashiellHammett’sRed Harvest,”PMLA106,no.2(March1991),209-21.MichaelDenning,The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century (London:Verso,1997),256. 3.PeterWolfe,Beams Falling: The Art of Dashiell Hammett(BowlingGreen,OH:BowlingGreenUniversityPopularPress,1980),5. 4.For thePinkertons, see thePinkerton “WeNeverSleep”: http://www.pinkertons.com/neversleep.htm[accessed6November2007].FortheCommunists,seetheCPUSAfrequentlyaskedquestionspage:http://www.cpusa.org/article/static/511/[accessed6November2007]. 5.LeRoyLadPanek,Reading Early Hammett: A Critical Study of the Fiction Prior to The Maltese Falcon(Jefferson:McFarland,2004),3. 6.RonCapshaw,“RememberingaStalinist,”Front Page Magazine,4January2007.[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=00610401-2EB7-4082-8712-64252943D6F1]Viewed13June2008. 7.MargaretTilton,“ThePinkPinkertonAgent:CommunistThemesinDashiellHammett’s‘TheGuttingofCouffingal,’”unpublishedpaperpresentedattheRockyMountainModernLanguagesAssociationConvention,October2003.Unfortunately,theredoesnotseemtobeanextantcopyofthepaper,butthegeneralargumentismadeclearbothintheabstractpublishedontheRMMLAwebsite [http://rmmla.wsu.edu/conferences/conf03Missoula/GetAbstract4cbc.html?session_id=215&present_id=1662(accessed13February2008)]andMargaretTilton’scorrespondencewiththeauthor,18and20January2008. 8.TheseideasaredevelopedatlengthinJ.A.Zumoff,“ThePoliticsofDashiellHammett’sRedHarvest,”Mosaic40(December2007),119-34. 9.KarenConnolly-Lane, “Politics and thePrivateEye: Ideology andAesthetics in theHardboiledTradition”(PhDdiss,UniversityofMinnesota,2006),54. 10. Theonlystudy tocentrallyaddress this transition isDanielOpler,“FromCannibal toCommunist:TheOriginsofDashiellHammett’sRadicalism,”Columbia Journal of American Studies 3,no.1(1998),47-55. 11. TheclassicstudyoftheimportanceofdetectiveworkasajobisDavidT.Bazelon,“DashiellHammett’sPrivateEye:NoLoyaltyBeyondtheJob,”Commentary 7 (1949): 467-472. 12. SeeFrankMorn,“The Eye That Never Sleeps”: A History of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (Bloomington: IndianaUniversityPress, 1982).Amore precise summary ofthePinkertonscanbefoundinMiltonLipson,“PrivateSecurity:ARetrospective,”Annals of the American Academic of Political and Social Science498(July1988),16-21. 13. Theanti-laboraspectofthePinkertonsiscoveredinRobertMichaelSmith,From Blackjacks to Briefcases: A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting in the United States (Athens:OhioUniversityPress,2003).SeealsoWardChurchill,“FromthePinkertonstothePATRIOTAct:TheTrajectoryofPoliticalPolicingintheUnitedStates,1870tothePresent,”New Centennial Review 4 (2004), 1-72. 14. PhilipTaft,“ViolenceinAmericanLaborDisputes,”Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science364(March1966),128. 15. SeeAnthonyBimba,The Molly Maguires(NewYork:InternationalPublishers,1932). 16. ElizabethE.Joh,“TheForgottenThreat:PrivatePolicingandtheState,”Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies13,no.2(2006),364-65;StevenSpitzerandAndrewT.Scull,“PrivatizationandCapitalistDevelopment:TheCaseofthePrivatePolice,”Social Problems25,no.1(October1977), 22. 17. SeeDavidP.Demarest,FanniaWeingartnerandDavidMontgomery,The River Ran Red: Homestead 1892(Pittsburgh:UniversityofPittsburghPress,1992). 18. F.W.Taussig,“TheHomesteadStrike,”The Economic Journal3,no.10(June1893),312.


19. JeremyBrecher,Strike!(Boston:SouthEndPress,1997),75. 20. Joh,“ForgottenThreat,”366-67. 21. RobertP.Weiss,“PrivateDetecitveAgenciesandLabourDisciplineintheUnitedStates,1855-1946,”The Historical Journal29,no.1(March1986),95-96. 22. Taft,“ViolenceinAmericanLaborDisputes,”133. 23. SeeMarcusKlein,Easterns, Westerns and Private Eyes: American Matters, 1870-1900 (Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1994),chapter8.Seealso,CatherineWynne,“Mollies,FeniansandArthurConanDoyle,”Jouvert 4,no.1(Fall1999)accessed24June2008,http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/jouvert/v4i1/wynne.htm. 24. CharlesA.Siringo,A Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency (LincolnandLondon:UniversityofNebraskaPress,1988). 25. SeeMichaelCohen, “‘TheKuKluxGovernment’:Vigilantism, Lynching, and theRepressionoftheIWW,”Journal for the Study of Radicalism1,no.1(2006),31-56. 26. SeeJamesByrkit,“TheBisbeeDeportation,”inJamesC.Foster,ed.,American Labor in the Southwest: The First One Hundred Years (Tucson:UniversityofArizonaPress,1982),86-104. 27. MelvynDubofksy,We Shall Be All: A History of the IWW (NewYork:Quadrangle,1969),391-92.OnthelynchingofLittle,seeArnonGutfeld,Montana’s Agony: Years of War and Hysteria, 1917-1921(Gainesville:UniversityofFloridaPress,1979),23-36;MichaelPunke,Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 (NewYork:Hyperion,2006),202-12;WillRoscoe,“UnsolvedMystery,”Montana Standard,7October2006,accessed11June,2008,http://www.montanastandard.com/articles/2006/10/08/featuresbigskylife/hjjdijjchhggjc.txt. 28. LillianHellman,Scoundrel Time(Boston:LittleBrown,1976),48. 29. RitaElizabethRippetoe,Booze and the Private Eye: Alcohol in the Hard-Boiled Novel (Jefferson,NC:McFarland,2004),36. 30. JamesEllroy,“ThePoetofCollision,”Guardian,29September2007. 31. GeorgeEverett,“TheSeedsofRedHarvest:DashiellHammett’sPoisonville,”“OnlyinButte”webpage,2004,accessed11August,2007,http://www.butteamerica.com/hist.htm. 32. WilliamF.Nolan,Hammett: A Life at the Edge(NewYork:CongdonandWeed,1983),14;DianeJohnson,Dashiell Hammett: A Life(NewYork:RandomHouse,1983),20.ThedissentingbiographyisRichardLayman,Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett (NewYork:HarcourtBraceJovanovich,1981),13.Opler,“FromCannibaltoCommunist,”essentiallyacceptsthetruthoftheLittlestorywhilenoting“thisclaimisdisputedbysomescholars”(48,54). 33. KarenConnolly-Lane,“PoliticsandthePrivateEye,”60. 34. Everett,“TheSeedsofRed Harvest,”;DavidWalshinterviewwithTravisWilkerson,WorldSocialistWebsite, 4October 2002, accessed30 June, 2008, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/wilk-o04_prn.shtml;JesseWalter,“TheHammettEpisode,”The Pacific Northwest Inlander Online,accessed30June2008,http://www.inlander.com/topstory/290998944020752.php. 35. Noneofthebookscitedinnote27,above,mentionHammettintheirdiscussionofLittle’smurder.FrankMorn’shistoryofthePinkertons,“The Eye That Never Sleeps,”doesnotmentionLittleortheButtestrike.Cohen,“‘TheKuKluxGovernment,’”54,quotesHellman,butdoesnotanalyzetheveracityofherclaim. 36. New York Times,2August1917;ibid.,3August1917. 37. Labor Defender,August1926.Theissuecontainsarticlesby,amongothers,WilliamF.Dunne,whohadbeenactiveintheButtestrikeandJamesP.Cannon,aformerprotégéofLittleintheIWW.BothweremembersoftheCommunistPartyatthetime. 38. WilliamD.Haywood,Big Bill Haywood’s Book: The Autobiography of William D. Haywood (NewYork:InternationalPublishers,1929),301. 39. SeeRobertL.Tyler,Rebels in the Woods: The I.W.W. in the Pacific Northwest(Eugene:UniversityofOregonBooks,1967). 40. “Wehaveresearchedourfilesandfindnodocumentaryevidencethathewasinouremploy....WealsoknowfromhearsaythatMr.HammettdidinfactworkoutofourPhiladelphiaandSanFranciscooffices.”EugeneC.Fey,presidentandCEOofPinkerton’s,Inc.,toLillianHellman,16May1979,inLillianHellmanpapers,HarryRansomHumanitiesResearchCenter,UniversityofTexasatAustin,62.4. 41. OnHammett’ssecrecy,seeWolfe,Beams Falling, 1. 42. SeeZumoff,“ThePoliticsofDashiellHammett’sRed Harvest.” 43. JesseHamlin,“DashiellHammett’slegacyliesnotonlyinhiswriting,butinhisliving—rough,wildandontheedge,”San Francisco Chronicle,7February2005,accessed11August,2007,http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/07/DDG3DB68LD1.DTL&type=books. 44. JoeGores,Hammett: A Novel(NewYork:Putnam,1975). 45. QuotedinMonaGable,“MysteryMan,”Focus(October1982),33;inHellmanpapers,box62,folder8. 46. Layman,Shadow Man, 175. 47. DashiellHammetttoMaryHammett,21February1936,RichardLaymanandJulieRivett,eds., Selected Letters of Dashiell Hammett, 1921-1960(Washington:Counterpoint,2001),98-99.

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Theletterrefersto“ourCommunistParty”inGermanyandindicateshewasactiveinthedefenseoftheScottsoboroBoys. 48. “ThreeFavorites,”Black Mask,November1924,reprintedinMatthewJ.BruccoliandRichardLayman,eds.,Hardboiled Mystery Writers: A Literary Reference(NewYork:CarrollandGraff,1989),86. 49. RaymondChandler,“TheSimpleArtofMurder,”Saturday Review of Literature,1944;reprintedinRaymondChandler,The Simple Art of Murder(NewYork:PocketBooks,1952),189. 50. DashiellHammett,“PoorScotlandYard!”Saturday Review of Literature,15January1927,reprintedinBruccoliandLayman,eds.,Hardboiled Mystery Writers, 105. 51. GeorgeJ.Thompson,“TheProblemofMoralVisioninDashiellHammett’sDetectiveNovels”(PhDdiss.,UniversityofConnecticut,1972),9. 52. InterviewintheTimes Herald,1957,quotedinCynthiaS.Hamilton,Western and Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction in America: From High Noon to Midnight(IowaCity:UniversityofIowaPress,1987),128. 53. ThisthemeisexploredinRichardA.Filloy,“OfDrinkandDetectives:TheGenesisandFunctionofaLiteraryConvention,”Contemporary Drug Problems 13 (Summer 1986), 249-71. 54. QuanZhang,“BehindBlack Mask:TheMarketplaceandBlackMaskFictionofthe1920sand1930s,”(PhDdiss.,UniversityofMaryland,1993),155. 55. Morn,“Eye that never sleeps,”157. 56. DashiellHammett,“FromtheMemoirsofaPrivateDetective,”Smart Set(March1923);republishedinStevenMarcus,ed.,Crime Stories and Other Writings(NewYork:LibraryofAmerica,2001), 905-909. 57. GeorgeSterlingtoH.LMencken,3March1923,inS.T.Joshi,ed.,From Baltimore to Bohemia: The Letters of H.L. Mencken and George Sterling (Madison,NJ:FarleighDickinsonUniversityPress,2001),176. 58. RonGoulart,The Dime Detectives(NewYork:MysteriousPress,1988),36. 59. SeeZumoff,“ThePoliticsofDashiellHammett’sRed Harvest”foradiscussionofthisthemeinmoredepth. 60. WynCraigWade,The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1987),232. 61. Thompson,“TheProblemofMoralVision,”5-6. 62. SeeJ.A.Zumoff,“TijuanatheAmericanTown:ImagesoftheCorruptCityinHammett’s‘TheGoldenHorseshoe,’”Clues,26,no.4(2008),35-48. 63. ArthurConanDoyle,“AStudyinScarlet”(1887),inThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Ware, 1992), 60-61. 64. DinahBirch, “TheGhosts ofArthurConanDoyle,”TLS 7November2007, accessed15November, 2007, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article2823942.ece. 65. ErnestMandel,Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story (Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,1984),47-48. 66. Mandel,Delightful Murder, 44. 67. SeanMcCann,Gumshoe America: Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Rise and Fall of New Deal Liberalism (Durham,NC,andLondon:DukeUniversityPress,2000). 68. AntonioGramsci,Selections from Cultural Writings,editedbyDavidForgacsandGeofreyNowell-Smith(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1985),368.GramscifavoredthewritingsofC.K.ChestertonoverDoyle,seeingtheformertranscendingthestrictrationalismofHolmes(seeAnneShowstackSassoon,“GramsciandtheSecretofFatherBrown,”Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy8,no.4[December2005],395-405.) 69. DashiellHammett,“TheGoldenHorseshoe”(1924),inDashiellHammett,Crime Stories and Other Writings, 250. 70. Hammett,“GoldenHorseshoe,”263. 71. DashiellHammett,The Maltese Falcon(NewYork:VintageBooks,1992[1929],64). 72. RobertB.Parker,“TheViolentHero:AStudyofthePrivateEyeintheNovelsofDashiellHammett,RaymondChandlerandRossMcDonald”(PhDdiss.:BostonUniversity,1971),114. 73. MabelVargasVergara,“MichelFoucaultyel relatopolicialeneldebateModernidad/Posmodernidad,”Cyber Humanitatis 35 (Winter 2005), accessed 11 June 2008, http://www.cyberhumanitatis.uchile.cl/CDA/texto_sub_simple2/0,1257,PRID%253D16159%2526SCID%253D16179%2526ISID%253D576,00.html. 74. OnFordism,seeStephenMyer,The Five Dollar Day: Labor Management and Social Control in the Ford Motor Company, 1908-1921(Albany:StateUniversityPress,1981);onTaylorism,seeHarryBraverman,Labor and Monopoly Capitalism: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century(NewYork:MonthlyReviewPress,1974). 75. McCann,Gumshoe America, 17. 76. Chandler,Simple Art of Murder, 190.


77. WaynePond, “Hard-BoiledWriting fromaPrivateEye:AConversationwithStevenMarcus,”Ideas5,no.1(1997),accessed9December,2007,http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ideasv51/marcus.htm. 78. GrahamBarnfield, “HardBoiledCities:DashiellHammett’sDemocraticMoment andBeyond,”Diatribe1,no.6(1996),68. 79. OnthequestionofgenderinHammett,seeChristopherBreu,Hard-Boiled Masculinities (Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2005).SeealsoJamesNaremore,“DashiellHammettandthePoeticsofHard-BoiledDetection,”inBernardBenstock,ed.,Art in Crime Writing: Essays on Detective Fiction(NewYork:St.Martin’sPress,1983),51-53,67. 80. AlbertodelMonte,Breve Historia de la Novela Policiaca(Madrid:Taurus,1962),174-75. 81. Naremore,“DashiellHammett,”62. 82. DennisBroe,“Class,Labor,andtheHome-FrontDetective:Hammett,Chandler,Woolrich,andtheDissidentLawman(andWoman)in1940sHollywoodandBeyond,”Social Justice32,no.1 (2005), 167-86. 83. KarenLeick,“H.L.Mencken,”The Literary Encyclopedia,accessed23September,2007,<http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3079>. 84. ThestoryisreprintedinDashiellHammett,Lost Stories,ed.,JoeGores(SanFrancisco:VinceEmery,2005),68-70. 85. Thompson,“TheProblemofMoralVision,”8-10. 86. Seeforexample,MarkMcGurl,“Making‘Literature’ofIt:HammettandHighCulture,”American Literary History9,no.4(Winter1997),714;StoddardMartin,California Writers(London:Macmillan,1983),125-26;Naremore,“DashiellHammett,”67-68;RogerL.Pearson,“Gatsby:FalseProphetoftheAmericanDream,”The English Journal59,no.5(May1970),641. 87. DashiellHammett,“InDefenceoftheSexStory,”Writer’s Digest,June1924,reprintedinBruccoliandLayman,eds.,Hardboiled Mystery Writers, 97. 88. Ibid. 89. DashiellHammett,“PoorScotlandYard!”Saturday Review of Literature,15January1927,reprintedininBruccoliandLayman,eds.,Hardboiled Mystery Writers, 105. 90. Tilton,“ThePinkPinkertonAgent:CommunistThemesinDashiellHammett’s‘TheGuttingofCouffingal.’” 91. Crime Stories and Other Writings, 193. 92. Ibid., 300. 93. Ibid. 94. DashiellHammett,The Glass Key(NewYork:Vintage,1989[1931]),69. 95. SeeforexamplePaulMorrison,The Poetics of Fascism: Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Paul de Man(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1996). 96. T.J.JacksonLears,No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920(NewYork:Pantheon,1981),137. 97. Onthiscomplicatedsubject,see,forexample,SusanneBaackmannandDavidCraven,“AnIntroductiontoModernism—Fascism—Postmodernism,”Modernism/Modernity15,no.1(January2008),1-8;andRogerGriffin,“Modernity,ModernismandFascism:A‘MazewayResynthesis,’”ibid.,9-24.RogerGriffin,Modernism and Fascism: The Sense of a Beginning under Mussolini and Hitler (Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan,2007);JeffreyHerfReactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1986). 98. Inthediscussionthatfollows,“fascism”referstovariousnationalmovements,notjustItalianfascism.Itisbeyondthescopeofthisarticletoanalyzethesimilaritiesanddifferencesamongthese. 99. Justasnotallmodernistswerefascists,notallfascistsappreciatedmodernliteratureorart. 100. SeeMarkSchoening,“T.S.EliotMeetsMichaelGold:ModernismandRadicalisminDepression-EraAmericanLiterature,”Modernism/Modernity3,no.3(1996),63. 101. JohnP.Diggins,“TheAmericanWriter,FascismandtheLiberationofItaly,”American Quarterly18,no.4(Winter1966),600. 102. SeeLynnDumenil,Modern Temper: American Culture and Societies in the 1920s(NewYork:HillandWang,1995),200-50;ChristineStansell,American Moderns: Bohemian New York and the Creation of a New Century(NewYork:HenryHolt,2000),147-77. 103. Smith,Hard-Boiled, 168. 104. JeremiahP.Shalloo,“ThePrivatePoliceofPennsylvania,”The Annals of the American Academy of Political Science 146 (1929), 56. 105. Smith,Hard-Boiled,25(listofjobs),58(advertisements). 106. V. I.Lenin,The State and Revolution (1917), in Collected Works,vol.25 (Moscow:International,1964),394. 107. EdwardR.Tannenbaum,“TheGoalsofItalianFascism,”The American Historical Review 74,no.4(April1969),1204. 108. SeeMarcusKlein,Easterns, Westerns, and Private Eyes: American Matters, 1870-1900 (Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,1994);JulianC.ChamblissandWilliamL.Svitavsky,

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“FromPulpHerotoSuperhero:Culture,Race,andIdentityinAmericanPopularCulture,1900-1940,”A&S Faculty Publications 2(2008),5,accessed14May2010,http://scholarship.rollins.edu/as_facpub/2/. 109. ThisisalsoshowninboththetitleandcontentofoneofthemostfamousbookswrittenbyaPinkertonagentbeforeHammett:Siringo’sCowboy Detective.OnthecloserelationshipbetweenHammettandwesterns,seeRobertB.Parker,“TheViolentHero,”97. 110. SeeFriedmanandKendrick,“FormsofLabor,”211;Breu,Hard-boiled Masculinities. Itshouldbenoted,however, thatmachismo isnot theexclusivepropertyof theright,andotherAmericanwriters,includingleft-wingwriters,expresseditinthe1920sand1930s. 111. Hamilton,Western and Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction, 126. 112. Wolfe,Beams Falling, 8. 113. LillianHellman,“DashiellHammett:AMemoir,”New York Review of Books,25November1965,accessed15June,2008,http://www.nybooks.com/articles/12676. 114. Hellmanpapers,box62,folder8. 115. SeeforexampleJoanMellen,Hellman and Hammett(NewYork:Harper,1997),131-43,forHammett’sroleinwritingThe Little Foxes. 116. “TheUrbanLandscapeofMarxistNoir.”

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Politics and the 1920s Writings of Dashiell Hammett