Ernest Hemingway: A Biography

Carlos Baker's 1969 biography of Ernest Hemingway, the first full biography of Hemingway, set a high bar for the many Hemingway biographers to come, and in some ways it is still the gold standard. It is well written, meticulously researched and authoritative in many ways. Over the years, I have read is several times, have always enjoyed it and still admire it.Of course in the nearly 50 years since the first edition of Baker's work was published there has been much new scholarly research on Hemingway, especially on subjects such as his mother and her romantic relationship with another woman, his hair fetish and and gender fluidity role-playing with his wives and lovers. Mary V. Dearborn, who earned her doctorate at Columbia (Baker's was from Princeton, where he taught for many years) has incorporated this new research, while adding some significant findings of her own.Dr. Dearborn is the first woman to write a full biography of Hemingway, and without making too much of this, I think that Dearborn brings some perspective on Hemingway that his male biographers didn't have. In his 20s, 30s and into his 40s, Hemingway's image as a sportsman, outdoorsman, warrior and lover of life including good food and drink was admired by many men, including his male biographers. Dearborn doesn't seem quite so easily impressed. She is more willing to explore his many personality faults than did Dr. Baker, though Baker didn't shy away from them. She is also ruthless in presenting his psychological decline in his 50s and how he lost his way as a writer.Dearborn also seems much more willing to admit than Baker and other biographers that many things we thought we knew about Hemingway are at the very least subject to interpretation and debate. Quite often she present several different versions of what may have happened and simply lets the reader judge what might, or might not, be the truth. Sometimes, she's blunt about mistakes that others have made: For example, she states categorically that Hemingway's "famous" six-toed cats in Key West are a myth, that he didn't keep cats in large numbers until he moved to Cuba.For me, where the new biography most falls short is in Dearborn's literary judgments on both some of his individual works and on why he was, and will always be, such an important figure in 20th century literature. Without going into detail, essentially Dearborn seems to conclude that Hemingway's reputations relies mainly on his first major work, The Sun Also Rises, and a number of his short stories. Not only does she agree with others that books like The Torrents of Spring, Across the River and Into the Trees, Death in the Afternoon and almost all of his posthumously published work (except in some ways The Moveable Feast) are second-rate, or worse, she also emphasizes the flawed nature of A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, among other works. If you had never heard of Hemingway and came across this biography, you might be excused for not understanding why he was such an important figure in modern literature.Having said that, Dearborn's Ernest Hemingway: A Biography, is an important new contribution to the immense amount of work on Hemingway and his canon. It's clearly and, for the most part, gracefully written. It is full of new insights, and it will occupy a prominent place next to Carlos Baker's biography on my bookshelves.

I grew up not far from Ketchum, Idaho so the myth of Hemingway the writer and the man was known to me from a young age . Through the years, I've read what he's published, biographies both authoritative (and not); bios and autobiographies of his four wives; books written by (and about) his sons and his friends; and novels about wives, siblings and friends. So, I wasn't sure Dr. Deaborn's book would shed much light. Because she meticulously researched her writing, she brings to the fore details not before publicly reported. While those details don't change the narrative of Hemingway's life, they are of interest. I'm not one who applauds posthumous psychoanalysis. So Dr. Dearborn's exploration of Hemingway's supposed hair fetish and gender-role ambiguity as addressed mostly in "The Garden of Eden" and somewhat in other of his writing is for me a curiosity, not a definition of the man. It's important to remember that except for his news reporting, Hemingway wrote fiction. And fiction allows flights of fancy, and extensions into areas that ain't necessarily so. That aside, Dr. Dearborn's writing is compelling. Readers should not be daunted by the length of this book. Each chapter flows, and I was engaged in the story early on. That engagement never dimmed. Her writing and exploration of Hemingway's life is particularly strong in his early years, dims a bit by the time we get to wife #3 (Martha Gellhorn) and speeds quickly through his years with Mary Welsh. I know that Gellhorn's papers regarding those years are not available, but wondered why Dr. Dearborn didn't delve into Welsh's experiences since Welsh has written her own strong story of those years. But no one can fault Dr. Dearborn as an author. She is first rate. Only two small quibbles, neither of which are Dr. Deaborn's doing. Why the blurb makes much of Dr. Dearborn's gender as an author mystifies me -- the fact that she is the first woman to explore Hemingway's story isn't material to her standing as an author, biographer, and researcher of note. And finally, the photo on the book jacket is just awful. Surely there were thousands of other photos Knopf could have chosen; photos that would not glorify the gun culture that is so hotly debated today. One can only sigh. . .

Hemingway, led a Extraordinary Life , Lived to the limit,His writing is sublime.Mary Dearborn Book is a Must Read.

Fast delivery and the book is in perfect condition, as expected. I'm looking forward to reading this book, all the 738 pages.

Read a few on Hem, this is up there with the best of them

Excellent read. One of the best I've read on the great man..

VERY detailed and sometimes with irrelevant information at the expense of analysis and thematic strands. Would have benefitted from an appendixed timeline and a bibliography of Hemingway's publications.