The Key West Reader: The Best of the Key Wests Writers 1830-1990 [Paperback]

George Murphy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1990

Over the past century, the island city of Key West has been home to many Pulitzer Prize Winners and other esteemed writers: Erenest Hemingway, Tennesse Williams, John Hersey, Tom McGuane, Phil Caputo, James Merrill, Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Wilbur, and Hunter S. Thompson, to name just a few.

Here, for the first time, an anthology which celebrates the literary heritage of Key West: the island seen through the eyes of twenty-five of its most renowned writers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Key West Reader is a spectacular collection... So many diverse writers sharing one thing in common, the Island of Key West, where each, in his or her own way, left their mark.

It is consistently readable and a constant source of fascination that this tiny island city could be the source of so many fine pieces opf writing...

Particularly notable is the rare essay "Who Killed the Vets," Ernest Hemingway's first-hand account of the 1935 hurricane (still the strongest in recorded history) which washed out Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad and killed thousands. -- Island Life

We have here a significant achievement... a moving tribute to the power of language and to a rare place in the geography of the American Consciousness - a very special confluence of geography, climate, and culture coalesced into language working at its hioghest levels. -- Les Standiford, Florida International University

About the Author

George Murphy for many years edited Tendril, a literary magazine. His other books include Rounding Ballast Key, The Poet's Choice: 100 American Poets Favorite Poems, The Editor's Choice: Best American Short Stories (Vols I-IV, Bantam), and (with Paul Mariani) Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry. He has been the recipient of Fellowshipsfrom Yaddo and Bread Loaf and was awarded the first Shaw Award from Boston College for Outstanding Contributions to American Literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Tortugas Pr; 1 edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962418412
• ISBN-13: 978-0962418419
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #914,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soul of Key West, May 22, 2008

By 

Marsh Muirhead "Author of 'Key West Explained... (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Key West Reader: The Best of the Key Wests Writers 1830-1990 (Paperback)

I recently purchased my third copy of this book, having bought it the first time in Key West when it was first published nearly twenty years ago. One copy finally fell apart from re-reading, the other was loaned out for the final time and not returned. This anthology captures the soul of Key West as revealed by many of its most famous writers: John Dos Passos, Elizabeth Bishop, Hunter S. Thompson, Robert Frost, Hemingway. Most of the selections are short and include poems, story excerpts, essays. Philip Caputo's description of the Gulf Stream, and the marlin that lurk within it, is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written on either of those subjects. Jim Harrison writes that "Porpoises dance for as long as they live ..." Bishop describes how "the norther churns/the pale-green sea until it turns/to lime milk sherbet." Sunken ships, lost souls, hurricanes. The collection, in so many ways, captures the troublesome and sad intersection of our desperate and failing lives with the timeless power and beauty of the natural world. A perfect bedside reader; a must for the literary traveler going to Key West.

Marsh Muirhead - Author of "Key West Explained - a guide for the traveler."

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic stories of Key West, February 10, 2011

By 

Willbard (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Key West Reader: The Best of the Key Wests Writers 1830-1990 (Paperback)

A great read of writers who have experianced living and visiting Key West, in their time. That said, read William Williamson's novels, Some Came First, Some Came Naked, Some Came After,to pick up, where they went away.