Phoenix Public Library will celebrate The Big Read this September and October with a series of free events focused around this year's Big Read selection, "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. The Big Read kicks off with a free screening of the film version of Hammett's noir masterpiece 7 p.m.

By Oline H. Cogdill It has been called the greatest private-detective novel. While that sounds like hyperbole, few mysteries have rivaled Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" since it was published 78 years ago.

It has been called the greatest private detective novel. While that sounds like hyperbole, few mysteries have rivaled Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" since it was published 78 years ago.

By Carole Goldberg, The Hartford Courant, Conn. Mar. 2--Though a classic American novel is at its heart, the Big Read is about more than reading.