The Continental Op.
by Dashiell Hammett
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- Seller
-
Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
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
- Roz Hulse (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 94247
- Title
- The Continental Op.
- Author
- Dashiell Hammett
- Format/Binding
- Black boards, silver title to spine. With unclipped dustwrapper.
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Book Club Associates
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1975
- Pages
- 287
- Size
- 8vo
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Roz Hulse
Goods remain the property of Roz Hulse until payment is cleared. All goods are returnable if you are not happy with your purchase. You must contact me within 7 days of receipt for return and refund instructions. When item is received in the same condition as sent a full refund is given. I look forward to providing you with the book or map you are seeking and giving you the best customer care.
About the Seller
Roz Hulse
About Roz Hulse
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
- Dustwrapper
- Also known as book jacket, dust cover, or dust wrapper, a dust jacket is a protective and decorative cover for a book that is...
- 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...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.