The Glass Key
| The Glass Key | |
|---|---|
 1st edition |
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| Author(s) | Dashiell Hammett |
| Genre(s) | Crime |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication date | 1931 |
| Pages | 214 |
The Glass Key is a novel by Dashiell Hammett, said to be his favorite among his works. It was first published in 1931 (in London; the American edition followed 3 months later), and tells the story of gambler and racketeer Ned Beaumont, whose devotion to crooked political boss Paul Madvig leads him to investigate the murder of a local senator's son as a potential gang war brews. Hammett dedicated the novel to onetime lover Nell Martin.
There were two film adaptations (1935 and 1942) of the novel (plus one more in USSR/Estonia in 1985). The book was also a major influence on the Coen brothers film Miller's Crossing, a film about a gambler who is right hand man to a corrupt political boss and their involvement in a brewing gang war. A radio adaptation starring Orson Welles aired on March 10, 1939 as part of his Campbell Playhouse program.[1]
The Glass Key award (Swedish: Glasnyckeln) is named after the novel and is presented annually for the best crime novel by a Scandinavian author.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- A summary and brief review is available from Case Western Reserve University's Department of English.
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