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The Library of America's Complete Novels includes both Red Harvest and The Dain Curse as printed by Knopf. But all of these collections used the abridged versions Dannay created for his compilations. Up until the twenty first century these 3 volumes were the easiest way to access most of the stories. These new anthologies do not include the same stories as the similarly titled Mercury Publications. Of the 28 stories not a part of Red Harvest or The Dain Curse, 26 have been made available in one of three collections, The Big Knockover, The Continental Op, and Nightmare Town. In the late 1960s, Hammett's writing was rediscovered and republished with somewhat confusing titles. Many of these edited versions were later republished as Dell mapbacks. When the paperback collections proved popular, World Publishing under their "Tower Books" imprint, published them in hardcover. $106,000 Blood Money later republished as The Big Knock-Over, The Continental Op, The Return of the Continental Op, Hammett Homicides, Dead Yellow Women, Nightmare Town, Creeping Siamese, Women in the Dark. Of the ten, the following contain Continental Op stories: Frederic Dannay, half of duo using the pseudonym Ellery Queen, compiled and disappointingly edited the Hammett's stories such that these versions are not complete. The majority of these collections printed as paperbacks contained introductory essays by Ellery Queen.
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Ten collections of Hammett short works, including most of the Continental Op stories, were published by Mercury Publications under an imprint, either "Bestsellers Mystery", "A Jonathan Press Mystery" or "Mercury Mystery". Starting in the Second World War, many of the short stories were reprinted as serials in American newspapers, sometimes under different titles. The texts in the novels differ from the pulp magazine versions as they were revised by an editor at Alfred A. The transition culminated in 1927, with the linked stories which formed the basis for his first two novels, Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, both novels released in 1929. Two other related stories, "The Big Knockover" and "$106,000 Blood Money" appeared in Black Mask in 1927. With the intent of transitioning from short stories to novels, Hammett began writing linked stories in 1924, " The House on Turk Street" and "The Girl with the Silver Eyes". He appeared in 36 short stories, all but two of which appeared in Black Mask. The Continental Op made his debut in the October 1923 issue of Black Mask, making him one of the earliest hard-boiled private detective characters to appear in the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century. The Op is one of the first major hardboiled detectives later developed in such characters as Hammett's own Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer and others.Īs many of Hammett's short stories were later published in collected volumes, the publishing history of these works is sometimes confused. A nice one, an especially nice one to have around when you're in trouble, but a monster just the same, without any human foolishness like love in him, and-What's the matter? Have I said something I shouldn't?" "You came in just now, and then I saw-" She stopped. In the penultimate chapter of The Dain Curse, a female client, whose life the Op has saved three times, while also curing her of morphine addiction, says to him: He fears becoming like his boss, "The Old Man", whom he describes as "a shell, without any human feelings whatsoever".
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In his 1927 Black Mask story "$106,000 Blood Money" the Op is confronted with two dilemmas: should he expose a corrupt fellow detective, thereby hurting the reputation of his agency and should he also allow an informant to collect the $106,000 reward in a big case even though he is morally certain-but cannot prove-that the informant has murdered one of his agency's clients? The Op resolves his two problems neatly by manipulating events so that the corrupt detective and the informant get into an armed confrontation in which both are killed.ĭecades of witnessing human cruelty, misery, and ruin, as well as being instrumental in sending hundreds of people to jail, or to the gallows, have greatly weakened the Op's natural sympathy with his fellow men. The Continental Op is a master of deceit in the exercise of his occupation.