Samuel Dashiell Hammett's The Dain Curse

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Samuel Dashiell Hammett was a american author who wrote hard-boiled detective novels. His realism within his novels altered the way that detective novels were originally written. In his early life, Dashiell Hammett was born on May 27,1894 in St. Mary’s, Maryland. At age 13, he dropped out of school to work so that he could support his family(“Dashiell Hammett.” Biography.com ). He then, worked numerous of jobs as a freight clerk, messenger boy, railroad laborer, etc. At the age of 20, Dashiell went to go work at the Pinkerton Detective Agency. When he moved to San Francisco, California, he continued his investigative work. He then, enlisted in the army He then, enlisted in the army and became a sergeant in the Motor Ambulance Corp, where he developed tuberculosis(“Dashiell Hammett.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service). Even though his health put a stop to his …show more content…

The storyline of the novel is about a detective known as The Continental Op, investigates diamonds that were stolen from Leggett family who happens to be cursed. The book was the second book written by Dashiell. The book was published in 1929(“The Dain Curse.” Wikipedia). Although, Dashiell Hammett was a hardworking man who had a great impact on the genre of detective fiction, his life gradually started to take a turn for the worse. At age 40, Dashiell enlisted in the army as a private. He served 3 years and then was honorably discharged as a sergeant. After the army, Hammett started teaching writing in New York at the Marxist institute. Soon after, Hammett was sent to jail. Being the president of the New York Civil Rights Congress, Hammett had to post bail for a group of communist who were on trial for conspiracy. In addition, the communists jumped bail. When police questioned Hammett about where he go the money from, he refused to give up the name. He was then sent to jail for 5 months(“Dashiell Hammett.” PBS, Public Broadcasting

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