More Dashiell Hammett is Available in the Kindle Store!

In my December 25, 2010 review of The Assistant Murderer by Dashiell Hammett, I mentioned that none of Hammett's novels were available for Kindle.  I mentioned a few collections of short stories that were available.  The Assistant Murderer, alas, is no longer available in the Kindle Store.

The novels, however, are.  That's right, all FIVE of Hammett's longer works are available, along with several collections of short stories.  Three of the books became available in the two weeks after writing my article.  The other two are available for pre-order.

Red Harvest ($8.59 - available as of 12/29/10)
The Dane Curse ($9.88 - available for pre-order)
The Maltese Falcon (8.89 - available as of 12/29/10)
The Glass Key ($9.99 - available for pre-order)
The Thin Man (9.88 - available as of 12/30/10)


Now, I would love to be able to say that I somehow influenced the introduction of these books into the Kindle store.  It would be great to be able to claim some sort of precognition that they were coming (I mean, really, it would be cool to be psychic).  Or to be able to say I was able to use my powerful influence with the publishing companies to twist their arms into bringing the novels to Kindle (but I'm only a blogger).  Or maybe I could claim that my blockbustingly well-read blog caused an uprising that brought the absence of these novels to the attention of the publishers (but I just don't know that a blog with less than fifty subscribers is really big enough to make the publishers take notice).

That's right, folks!  I make NO attempt to claim credit for these books being available.  I do claim the fact that I am grateful.  Truly grateful.

I am a HUGE fan of The Thin Man movies.  I've always wanted to sit down and read the novel that started it all.  I am only about 30% into the book, but I can honestly say that it doesn't disappoint.  As I read it, I can see William Powell and Myrna Loy snapping out that dialogue as I read.

A small bit of trivia related to the movies:  The series had the words "The Thin Man" in every one of the six titles.  In fact, it would only have been accurate to contain those words in the title of the first movie.  The fact of the matter is that because William Powell was slender, movie-viewing audiences mistakingly felt that the title of the film referred to him.  The movie companies capitalized on this error when making the other five films in the series.

The title character in the books is not Nick Charles, but Clyde Wynant (another character).  Mr. Wynant is missing, and when his family attempts to hire Nick to locate him, we Nick describes this character to the reader.  One of those descriptors is "tall and thin".  Hence, the title "The Thin Man".

I love Hammett's work and have just started reading The Thin Man, but thus far, I can highly recommend it.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.