Hemingway: The Homecoming [Paperback]

Michael S. Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

The 1920s in Paris are the pivotal years in Hemingway's apprenticeship as a writer, whether sitting in cafes or at the feet of Gertrude Stein.

These are the heady times of the Nick Adams short stories, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and the writing of The Sun Also Rises. These are also the years of Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson, the birth of his first son, and his discovery of the bullfights at Pamplona. Photographs

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Reynolds was a professor of English at North Carolina State University and a finalist for the National Book Award for Young Hemingway. His other works include Hemingway: The Paris Years and Hemingway: The Homecoming.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393319814
• ISBN-13: 978-0393319811
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reynolds' great saga continues..., October 13, 2005

By 

J. Antani "raconteur" (los angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hemingway: The Homecoming (Paperback)

Michael Reynolds achieved the Mt. Everest of biographies with this five-parter about the complex, self-contradictory, vain, politically problematic and always fascinating Hemingway. The book concentrates on that period between the publication of "The Sun Also Rises" and the completion of his first draft of "A Farewell to Arms" three years later. It takes us from Hemingway's drafty art studio in Paris where he lived during and after his divorce from Hadley and the embarking on his marriage with Pauline Pfeiffer.

The pressure's on when, after the publication of "Men Without Women" in 1927, Hemingway needs to follow up "Sun..." with another equally brilliant novel. He frets with an idea about a son's journey from America to Europe with his father, a spy-for-hire. But then drops the idea. He marries Pauline, travels around France and Spain, writes a couple of more great short stories before launching into his tale of a wounded American soldier's love affair with an English nurse during WWI. Hemingway went from Paris to Key West to Pigotte, AK (where Pauline went home to deliver their new baby) to Montana, back to Oak Park to deal with a terrible family tragedy and back to Europe, all as he composed "Farewell." What's so wonderful about Reynolds telling it is how emotionally caught up in these events you get--after all, Hem's wife delivered him a new son AND his Oak Park family collapsed and needed Hem to build it back up, both WHILE WRITING THIS BOOK--a heroic feat on Hem's part of artistic discipline. There are sections of Reynolds' book that left me in tears, especially his gorgeous closing sections where you really feel Hemingway has arrived at the threshold of myth--he's left his Oak Park boyhood and his young apprenticeship in Paris with Stein, Pound, etc. behind and come into his own--as a writer, a personality and a genius.

A beautiful, evocative, heartfelt tour de force.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE THIRD VOLUME IN REYNOLDS BIOGRAPHY OF HEMINGWAY...A BRILLIANT WORK., December 11, 2011

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hemingway: The Homecoming (Paperback)

This is the third book in Michael Reynolds' five volume Hemingway biography and pretty much picks-up right where number two left off. Earnest Hemingway is setting of the cusp of greatness. This third book covers his break-up and divorce from Hadley and his meeting, courting and finally marriage to his second wife, Pauline. These were tumultuous years for Hemingway; shot years yes, but filled with life changing events.

We follow the author from Paris to Spain to Key West, to Montana; side trips here and there in an almost rootless state. We closely watch the writer via Reynolds' brilliant research, first publish `The Sun Also Rises," then through an abortive attempt at a novel which was never finished and through it all he, Hemingway, is able to produce what was to arguably become his most noteworthy novel - `A Farwell to Arms.' As pointed out by another reviewer here, the artistic and creative focus displayed by Hemingway during this period in his life is rather breathtaking. He was most certainly a man on a mission.

The five volumes Reynolds took over twenty years to write are, in my opinion, the best of all the seventy some odd biographies available to us...so far. I say so far, because it seems like a new one pops up just about every year. The only work I have read that comes close to Reynolds's is that of Carlos Baker and it must be remembered that Baker's work was only in one volume.

One of the primary aspects of this work that separates if from the rest is that it is not only a biography of an author, but also a literary biography. Reynolds was one of the foremost Hemingway academics; the man new his Hemingway literature, and he has blended literary critique with Hemingway's life along with an in-depth examination of the writing process. Reynolds left no stone unturned and spent years of his life sifting through volumes of paper, going so far as to check out old library cards and laundry slips it would seem. I seriously doubt if we will see the like again unless some vast catch of Hemingway documentation no one knows of is found.

This biography is extremely well written and flows beautifully. The author has off and on slipped into and copied Hemingway's writing style perfectly; doing so to make and emphasis points here and there. I personally loved this method of telling the Hemingway story.

The pressure to produce a winning book, the break-up of his first marriage, the birth of two children...by different wives, the suicide of his father, constant moving from place to place, the Paris literary scene, a change in religion and just the trials of everyday living make for some very dramatic reading. I found myself captivated from page one and cannot wait to start the next volume.

This volume ends with the completion of the almost final draft of "Farewell," and Hemingway returning to Paris before his next move to Key West and then Cuba. Overall this was a few short years in the life of Earnest Hemingway, but they were extremely important years; years in which the now famous Hemingway Myth were starting to jell and we will see that during the next decade this myth enhanced; by both author and public, and become quite solidified.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

5.0 out of 5 stars Hemingway, the developing artist, December 7, 2011

By 

F. D. Turnage, Jr. (ELON, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hemingway: The Homecoming (Paperback)

MR Reynolds has a great approach and style that is very readable! He brings the young Hemingway to life with all of his energy and passion for life.