Lighting The Pipes

Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" wastes no time cutting shapes and setting angles in its pursuit of modelling the hard-boiled genre. The opening sentence alone produces enough sharp edge to slice through a striploin at Herbert's on Powell Street: "Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting V under the more flexible V of his mouth." However, in spite of its influence, the whetted and defining weaponry of Hammett's straight-ahead narrative isn't to everybody's literary taste and debate remains strong over this classic crime story. Join us as we light the pipes and share conversation over this perennial text.