The Thin Man

For other uses, see Thin Man.
The Thin Man

Cover of the first edition
Author Dashiell Hammett
Country United States
Language English
Genre Detective
Published 1934 (Alfred A. Knopf)
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 259
Preceded by The Glass Key

The Thin Man (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in the December 1933 issue of Redbook. It appeared in book form the following month.

Hammett never wrote a sequel, but the book became the basis for a successful six-part film series, which also began in 1934 with The Thin Man and starred William Powell and Myrna Loy. The television series The Thin Man television series was produced in the 1950s.

An early draft of the story, written several years before the published version and now in print in several collections of Hammett's work, does not mention the main characters of the novel, Nick and Nora Charles, and ends after ten chapters. It is about a quarter of the length of the finished book.

Although Hammett lived until 1961, The Thin Man was his last published novel. Lillian Hellman, in an introduction to a compilation of Hammett's five novels, contemplated several explanations for Hammett's retirement as a novelist:

I have been asked many times over the years why he did not write another novel after The Thin Man. I do not know. I think, but I only think, I know a few of the reasons: he wanted to do a new kind of work; he was sick for many of those years and getting sicker. But he kept his work, and his plans for work, in angry privacy and even I would not have been answered if I had ever asked, and maybe because I never asked is why I was with him until the last day of his life.[1]

Following the success of the movie version of The Thin Man in 1934, Hammett was commissioned to work on screenplays for sequels. During the course of this work, he wrote After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man, which, discovered amongst Hammett's papers in 2011, together with instructions by Hammett for incorporation of additional elements written by screenwriters Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, were edited by Hammett's biographer Richard Layman in collaboration with Hammett's granddaughter Julie M. Rivett and published as novellas in Return of the Thin Man in 2012.[2][3][4]

Plot

The story is set in New York City in December 1932, in the last days of Prohibition. The main characters are a former private detective, Nick Charles, and his clever young wife, Nora. Nick, son of a Greek immigrant, has given up his career since marrying Nora, a wealthy socialite, and he spends most of his time cheerfully getting drunk in hotel rooms and speakeasies. Nick and Nora have no children, but they own a female Schnauzer named Asta. (In the film adaptation, Asta is a male wire-haired fox terrier.) Charles is drawn, mostly against his will, into investigating a murder. The case brings them in contact with a rather grotesque family, the Wynants, and with various policemen and lowlifes. As they attempt to solve the case, Nick and Nora share a great deal of banter and witty dialogue, along with copious amounts of alcohol.

Characters

Nick Charles: the narrator, a onetime detective, now a lumberman. Humorous, self-possessed, tough, and intelligent, he discovers clues, arranges them, makes deductions, and solves the murders. He then summarizes the whole solution for his admiring wife, Nora.

Nora Charles: Nick’s wife, a woman with a well-developed sense of humor, who finds him fascinating.

Clyde Wynant, the Thin Man: a wealthy, eccentric inventor, once a client of Nick.

Mimi Jorgenson: Clyde’s former wife, a showy blond.

Julia Wolf: Clyde Wynant’s secretary, who is murdered.

Dorothy Wynant: Mimi and Clyde’s daughter, a small, attractive blonde who dislikes her family and who asks Nick to locate her missing father.

Gilbert Wynant: Dorothy’s brother, an odd, extremely inquisitive young man.

Christian Jorgenson, formerly called Kelterman: Wynant’s former associate who, feeling unfairly treated, breaks with him. Although he already has a wife in Boston, Jorgenson bigamously marries Mimi to get his hands on the large divorce settlement Wynant provides for her. Temporarily suspected of Julia’s murder, he finally returns to his legal wife in Boston.

Herbert Macaulay: Clyde’s thieving attorney.

Shep Morelli: a gangster and former friend of Julia who thinks Nick knows what happened to her.

Arthur Nunheim: a former convict who identified Julia’s body.

Guild: a detective.

Quinn: Nick’s friend.

References

  1. ↑ The Novels of Dashiell Hammett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1965.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Art (2012-11-18). "Yet Another 'Thin Man'—and Thinner Than Usual". Articles.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  3. ↑ Hammett, Dashiell. "Return of the Thin Man". Bookreporter.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  4. ↑ "Book review: The Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett". The Scotsman. 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2013-10-23.

Editions

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