Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.

A day in the life of a young Manhattanite who is in love with his mother, gives birth to $1890 from his hip, and kills indiscriminately.

A young woman arrives in New York to visit a friend and lands in one hot spot after another as she fends off the perverted advances from every man she meets.