Dashiell Hammett, whom the New York Times once called the "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction," no doubt penned many of his short stories and novels under the influence of his experiences working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency from 1915-1921. His fictional characters Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, and the Continental Op are among the most enduring ever created in this genre:
In 1931 Hammett embarked on a 30-year affair with soon-to-be famous playwright Lillian Hellman. Three years later (1934), he penned his last novel (The Thin Man) and spent the rest of his life engaged in left-wing activism (also a favorite cause of Hellman's). Because both refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, they were both (like many other artists of the period) blacklisted.
Raymond Chandler, who created the fictional character Philip Marlowe, probably had an even greater influence on the stylistic development of hard-boiled detective fiction than Hammett. Chandler had begun his writing career as a poet and essayist (he once characterized this period as "Grade B Georgian," referring to his earliest literary influences). His first short story, Blackmailers Don't Shoot, was published in the influential pulp magazine Black Mask, the same magazine in which Hammett had first introduced the Continental Op.
Chandler penned seven complete novels and partially completed another (Poodle Springs, which was completed by Robert Parker in 1989). Most of these eventually were turned into films. He created in most of these novels particularly evocative (if fictional) portraits of Los Angeles. Many critics believe these bittersweet portraits may have been influenced by Chandler's long bouts with clinical depression:
Tomorrow, we look at a few of Hammett and Chandler's descendants....
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