Premium 41 - Novels as Spycraft 7 - Dashiell Hammett part 2: a Hardboiled Marxist

[originally published on Patreon Nov 7, 2022]

Today's the second of two episodes on the hardboiled novelist Dashiell Hammett. Today I discuss several Hammett's wartime experiences, his tuberculosis, the tail end of his private detective career, and his writing career. Hammett went to Hollywood and became a committed communist, and was targeted by McCarthy and HUAC. Fundamentally, though, we can learn much from Hammett.

Songs:

I'm No Communist by Lulu Belle & Scotty

When I'm Gone by Phil Ochs