Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish.

A city with all the personality of a paper cup. (On Los Angeles)

I'm all done with hating you. It's all washed out of me. I hate people hard, but I don't hate them very long.

One would think a writer would be happy here — if a writer is ever happy anywhere.

If you don't leave, I'll get somebody who will.

I do a great deal of research, especially in the apartments of tall blondes.

The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on.