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Nightmare Town (Dell "map back")
by Dashiell Hammett
- Used
- good
- first
- Condition
- Good
- Seller
-
Bordentown, New Jersey, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Dell, 1948. First edition thus. Softcover. Good. First papeback edition, a Dell "map back" in color illustrated softcovers and rear cover map of Izzard-in-the-Desert", scene of the mystery. Introduction to this edition by Ellery Queen. Good, crease to the fornt cover, ususal embrowing ot the pages and the upper tips of the first several pages clipped but not affecting the text; some scraping to the rear cover. "Nightmare Town" first appeared in short story form in the December, 1924 issue of "Argosy All Story Weekly" pulp magazine. Set in a Depression Era desert town established by violence and criminality, a theme Hammett carried forward in his 1926 novel "Red Harvest
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
- The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- E26628
- Title
- Nightmare Town (Dell "map back")
- Author
- Dashiell Hammett
- Format/Binding
- Softcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition thus
- Publisher
- Dell
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1948
- Keywords
- mystery, map back, vintage, desert, suspense, noir,
Terms of Sale
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
TRACKING AND INSURANCE AT OPTION OF BUYER. ON UNINSURED ITEMS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY ENDS WITH PROOF OF SHIPPING---NO EXCEPTIONS! Books are returnable if misdescribed; we must be notified within 48 hours of receipt if making a return. We conform to accepted ABAA grading. "First edition" means "first printing" unless noted; if it doesn't say it has a jacket then it doesn't; faults such as ownership signatures, price clipping, etc. will be noted in the listing. Member ABAA, ILAB, ABNJ.
About the Seller
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
Biblio member since 2005
Bordentown, New Jersey
About The Old Book Shop of Bordentown (ABNJ)
The Old Book Shop of Bordentown is a general used/rare bookshop open to the public Tues.-Sunday 11AM to 5PM (8 PM on Fridays). 10,000 books on premises with another 25,000 in stock. Areas of speciality include baseball, New Jersey, American literature, mysteries. Member, ABAA, ILAB,Antiquarian Booksellers of New Jersey. Located in historic Bordentown City, New Jeresy (est. 1682).
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