Hammett became successful toward the end of his Black Mask
days. The
novel publication of _The Maltese Falcon_ was the decisive
moment, but
that was 1930. Obviously, Hammett never earned enough to keep
himself
and Josie and the girls (especially when they were living
apart) *and*
be able to go to fights and keep the licquor flowing, so he
*had to* get
a regular job---this on top of an invalidity pension!
Hammett may've been very successful in terms of his
popularity among
Mask readers, but it didn't pay an awful lot. He was, I
suppose, the
biggest fish in a very small pool, and the money didn't start
coming in
until the novel sales took off, and then Hollywood got
interested.
ED
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