The Thin Man by Dashiell HammettThe Goods: Sophisticated married couple dashes around New York getting soused, cracking wise, and solving crime. I should be so lucky.
Thoughts: Although Nick Charles is often lumped in with other private dicks of the era like Sam Spade, Lew Archer, and Philip Marlowe, he is not so much hard-boiled as he is happily pickled in gin, which is probably why I like him a little bit more than those dour tough guys. And let's not forget the lovely Nora, who in any other book would almost certainly be described as "long-suffering." But Nora just kind of doesn't care that she's married to a man who's content to be idly rich and drink martinis with his morning bacon. For that matter, Nora's pretty content to do the same.
Okay, in the real world, they'd be odious people - overgrown trust fund kids mindlessly and selfishly consuming - but in the book, it's all quite witty and charming.
Random aside: Dashiell Hammett and William Faulkner. Separated at birth?
You decide.
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