May 27, 2009
Washington, DC
Happy 115th Birthday to Dashiell Hammett who was born on this date in 1894 in St. Mary’s County, Maryland! From the Reader’s Guide to The Maltese Falcon, here’s Hammett’s take on his predilection for writing about P.I.s:
“I’m one of the few — if there are any more — people moderately literate who take the detective story seriously. . .Some day somebody’s going to make “literature” out of it . . .and I’m selfish enough to have my hopes.”