National Review, April 20th, 1984
EVERYBODY NEEDS a hero. Some liberals, however, prefer political martyrs to men on horseback--Alger Hiss, Karen Silkwood, and why not Dashiell Hammett? Hammett's qualifications are pretty impressive: a distinguished career, influential friends, a reputation for integrity, a great profile. In fact, the Hammett-as-hero industry has already chalked up quite a tally: one bad novel, two bad movies, four appalling memories from Old Mother Hellman, and, now, two new and thoroughly uncritical biographies.
As it happens, the myth of Dashiell Hammett's integrity, like the myth of Alger Hiss's innocen...
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