Customer Reviews

Hemingway: A Biography

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Carlos Baker is generally known as the founding father of Hemingway biographical studies. His 1969 biography, "Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story" is the so-called "authorized" Hemingway bio and it was the first book of its kind to explore the author's life. All subsequent biographers owe a great deal to Baker and the seven years he spent producing "Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story."

Calling Baker's bio the definitive bio of Ernest Hemingway is difficult though for several reasons. First of all, being published in 1969, the book is now outdated to a great degree. Second of all, a slew of other biographies have been published since 1969 and some are very formidable. Baker's book, in my humble opinion, is probably the most tediously researched biography of Hemingway. His "Notes" section is just over 100 pages.

If I had to recommend one standard Hemingway biography, I would likely choose "Hemingway: A Biography" by Jeffrey Meyers. I have read many Hemingway biographies and in comparing them, the work of Meyers does stand out. He offers details not present in other bios and provides fine commentary on EH's literature. Meyers gets as close to definitive as I think one can come in a single book.

Jeffrey Meyers' eponymous biography of Ernest Hemingway is, as some have made it, a saltier companion to Carlos Baker's masterful 1969 definitive authorized biography. Meyers is not overly adoring of his subject and gives us a different view of Hemingway. Still, although Meyers is grittier than Baker and manages to dig deeper into Hemingway's complex and contradictory personality, he is not gritty enough nor does he dig deep enough to displace Baker as the biographer nonpareil.

And neither does he capture the reader's imagination. HEMINGWAY: A BIOGRAPHY presents Ernest Hemingway in surprisingly muted tones, especially considering the almost cartoonish excesses to which Hemingway could drive himself. This is a very competent and workmanlike biography. However, its pacing and voice are didactic and dry and its portrait of the artist lacks color. Like twenty other books about the man, HEMINGWAY: A BIOGRAPHY belongs on the shelf as part of a well-rounded collection, but can replace none of them.

Now being well into my fifties, being in good health, and financially sound I have had the opportunity to study my favorite author. I have already traveled to his old haunts in Italy, London, and Paris (Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore) but I needed more in the way of in a truly great biography.

So I decided to buy the biography of EH by J. Meyers after this book was recommended to me by a EH scholar in Paris.

Anyway, what I wanted was a book that would give me insight into what kind man EH was all about. Where did he get his passion and his energy? Did he have a temper? What did he drink? What hours did he keep? Why did his love relationships fail? When did his health go bad? Why was he so prone to accidents?

This book that gave me more than his life's history and I think you will have a good read, too. BTW, Key West and having a go at deep sea fishing is next of my list of things to do. This is a buy!

The Mexican beer, Dos Equis, has reportedly experienced over 20% growth since launching their hilarious marketing campaign featuring a mature, bearded man who "is often questioned by police just because they find him interesting" and who's "blood smells like cologne."

The inspiration for this contemporary advertising marvel is clearly Ernest Hemingway (who incidentally later in his life endorsed Ballatine Beer in the US). And Jeffrey Meyers' marvelous biography of the writer generally confirms that heroic, manly caricature; a hulking, hirsute stud who perspired pure testosterone while running with the bulls, boxing with local toughs, reeling in half-ton marlins in the Gulf stream, hunting lions and elephants in Africa, fighting the fascists in Spain and France/Germany, and bedding an endless string of beautiful women, who were dangerously mature when he was a young man and dangerously young when he was in his twilight years. (Here is a Hemingway quote, which may be my very favorite: "I [fornicated with] every woman I wanted to [fornicate with] and many I didn't, and would like think I [fornicated them] well.") He is, for sure, a model of envy and emulation for any red blooded but morally ambiguous young man.

There was so much about this book that I loved. Here are three simple endorsements.

First, Meyers' presents a complete and unadorned portrait of the master. In no way is Hemingway idolatrized, nor is he necessarily vilified. He was larger-than-life, largely because that is the life image he created for himself. He could be fun and self-effacing, the boisterous but interesting man toward whom the floor seemed to tilt during a cocktail party. But more often than not, especially with family, he could be a boorish, drunken liar, far from the congenial womanizer portrayed in the idealized Dos Equis commercials.

Second, Meyers does an admirable job of explaining how Hemingway's personal life influenced his fiction. Every character model from his novels and short stories is completely and convincingly explained. Indeed, I would say that this biography is required reading for a deeper, richer appreciation of all of Hemingway's writing.

Finally, Meyer writes with a certain clarity and simplicity that evokes the subject's influence on American literature. This biography is a real joy to read and easy to digest, just like so many of Hemingway's greatest works. It is recommended without hesitation to anyone.

I have loved Hemingway's stories for a long time, and wanted to learn a little about the man who made them. I did not exactly get what I wanted from Myer's book. I learned A LOT about him instead. This book is rich in detail and critical analysis of both Hemingway's life and his work.

It is NOT some adoring cartoonish portrait. It is Hemingway stripped raw, and you will feel like you knew him. Whether you like what you see is another thing. He had a fascinating and complex life, but he was full of character flaws and his life was full of sadness and broken relationships. Myers does a very good job of portraying both the greatness and the sadness of his life in equal measure.

My only criticism is Myer's style. He plunges right into each paragraph and section without a warmup to let you know what the topic will be, and I think the book could have been better organized. It groups events based on certain time periods or influences rather than going straight through in chronological fashion. That leads to confusion at points. Sometimes he refers to a person by their first name when they haven't been mentioned for 25 pages and you have to think about who the heck he is talking about. And he talks about other authors of the time period as if we know their writings already. I would also have loved more pictures so we can see the people being discussed, but in the age of the internet you can find them on your own.

Despite the length, and despite the fact it is was way more than I wanted, I could not stop reading it. I do not think the average reader will be disappointed to get as much detail as you get. You need it to get the real picture of a very complex person. I dogeared about 20-30 of the pages I will want to reread many times, or be able to refer to later. Much of the detail is that good.

All in all, I can confidently recommend this book to anyone wanting to know who Ernest Hemingway really was.

This is a comprehensive biography of the life of Ernest Hemingway. It explores his relationships, as well as the effect of the various places he's lived and travelled in has had on his writing. It is a weighty book, but worth sticking with for that deeper insight into Hemingway and his writing.

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Found this first edition at our annual library sale this year for $1. After reading the other review on Amazon I am anxious to read it.

I'm going to return this book because the printing was so poor. The photographs are unrecognizable and the type is smearing and difficult to read.

There is no place in #1 for a 0 or minus rating, but this volume is unacceptable.