When the film version of Dashiell Hammett's first and only Nick and Nora Charles novel, The Thin Man, became a hit for MGM, the studio begged him for more. The contract they offered was substantial enough (in the post-Depression late 1930s) that Hammett stopped drinking long enough to write two novellas, After the Thin Man (1935) and Another Thin Man (1938).
These stories, which remained unpublished for nearly three-quarters of a century, are only slightly more substantial than pure screenplay or play, consisting primarily of dialogue, sets, some descriptions and very little reflective prose. But his trademark tight, intriguing plots and sharp dialogue did the trick. Hammett had broken new ground with The Thin Man by mixing comedy with intrigue and social fiction with crime fiction, with a hedonistic hero who was also a disciplined detective.
Richard Layman and Julie M. Rivett do a very good job of describing how Hammett's original stories were changed and altered to suit the screen. They also include one more story outline, but it's a weak effort that clearly shows how fed up Hammett was by then; as he himself once said of Nick and Nora, "nobody ever invented a more insufferably smug pair of characters." Nevertheless, Thin Man fans will find these recovered stories welcome reading. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher