Somebody should check out this Dashiell Hammett kid, I think he's got a few good books in him. OK, The Thin Man is great, but reading a book from even just 75 years ago there have been cultural shifts that make it hard, sometimes, to discern subtext. For example, when Nick and Nora have a cigarette in bed together, I don't think that's supposed to signify anything (or is it?). But what really struck me was how much Nick drinks. Was that normal? I mean, it was the era of the three-martini lunch, yes? But he drinks a lot.