Synopsis "American Legends: The Life of Ernest Hemingway"
*Includes pictures of important people and places. *Includes some of Hemingway's most famous quotes. *Analyzes the real life inspirations behind Hemingway's work and separates fact from fiction regarding Hemingway's life. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing." - Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Ernest Hemingway is famous across the world and has been remembered in his own country as an American icon widely considered one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century. Students are unlikely to leave high school without reading one of Hemingway's classics, especially The Sun Also Rises (1926), and they are usually introduced to rudimentary details about Hemingway's eclectic life and controversial death. Hemingway's literary career included several unquestioned classics, but a great deal of his fame and notoriety today comes from the fact that it has become impossible to separate his work from his life. In fact, Hemingway's service in World War I and his time as a war correspondent at places like Normandy during D-Day in World War II have also established him as the kind of masculine, adventurous man that Americans have long held out as cultural heroes. This is made even more ironic by the fact that Hemingway spent so much time overseas, both in Europe and Africa, to the extent that he became one of the most identifiable members of the "Lost Generation" of American expatriates, which included literary stars like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. It is possible today for people to be familiar with the basic outline of his life despite rarely coming into contact with his writing. Of course, Hemingway's life story is incomplete without discussion of his suicide, which naturally makes the man come across as even more enigmatic. As people continue to debate the exact physical and mental reasons behind Hemingway's suicide, it has helped ensure that a spotlight remains fixated on his life as a whole, and everything from the controversial relationships he had to the mysterious nature of his death continues to provide grist for literature and Hollywood today. American Legends: The Life of Ernest Hemingway profiles the life and career of one of America's most famous authors. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Hemingway like you never have before, in no time at all.
