Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure [Paperback]

Michael Palin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2001

When Michael Palin was researching for his novel HEMINGWAY'S CHAIR his interest was stimulated by Hemingway's appetite for travel and 'Papa's' evocations of the places he knew. Hemingway remains a compelling figure, and Palin's goal was to revisit Hemingway's world. This book includes the American West ('wide lawns and narrow minds'), Idaho, Michigan ('fly fishing, hunting'), Europe in the First World (where Hemingway was wounded serving in the Ambulance Brigade), Cuba (where Hemingway wrote FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS), Paris in the Roaring Twenties and Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Sun Valley and Key West - where the Hemingway lookalike competition is an annual event.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Written while filming his TV series retracing the travels of America's literary titan, Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure is a masterpiece in its own right. And it's just as eye-delighting in book form, thanks to Basil Pao's wanderlust-arousing photography and vibrant design. The witty, literary Palin, a Monty Python alumnus-turned-professional adventurer, takes us on the journey of a lifetime--Papa's and his own. "Hemingway's world was close and uncomfortable and itchy and sweaty and frequently exhausting," writes Palin. "It was, I felt, the real thing. To experience it would require the ability to absorb a little punishment, it would demand an open mind and a degree of recklessness. But it could and should be done."

Palin visits the restless Hemingway's many residencies, drinks (less excessively) in the same charming Parisian bars, tries boxing and Cuban marlin fishing, but he's really trying to discover what made Hemingway tick--what inspired him to write. In Spain, Palin examines Hemingway's passion for the country and the character of the matador in Hemingway's work while studying with young matador apprentices in a dusty Madrid bullfighting school. In Africa, which inspired and almost killed Hemingway, Palin learns spear throwing from Masai warriors, flies in a small plane around Mount Kilimanjaro, and searches for the site where Hemingway's own plane crash-landed. At the end of the day, drinking Hemingway's preferred beer, brewed still in Nairobi, Palin muses, "Mortality, of one kind or another, always feels close at hand in Africa. Maybe that's why Hemingway liked it, student of death that he was."

Palin begins in Hemingway's Illinois birthplace and ends his journey standing on the spot in Papa's Idaho kitchen where he shot himself, having recently broken down in tears, unable to complete JFK's request for a few simple words commemorating his inauguration. This isn't just a lively travel or TV tie-in book; it's a thoughtful, emotional biography. --Michele Norton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Reading up on his favorite author to write his debut novel, Hemingway's Chair, Palin became intrigued by Hemingway's many travels. Here he takes readers along as he visits top Hemingway sites in Italy, France, Spain, Cuba, and more. There's also a three-part PBS series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks (September 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752837060
• ISBN-13: 978-0752837062
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,800,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Palin made me love Hemingway! (Well, LIKE him.), February 11, 2000

By 

John DiBello (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michael Palin's Hemingway's Adventure (Hardcover)

I didn't care much for Hemingway (yes, yes, I know he's the greatest writer of the twentieth century, or so everyone tells me)--so why would I pick up this book, you might ask? The man and his work never interested me much--UNTIL I read Michael Palin's new travel adventure! It took the ex-Monty Pythoner's love of Hemingway to get me interested in him. I picked this book up because I'd loved Palin's previous travel books, especially 'Around the World in Eighty Days.' Palin's off again on a journey with a specific theme--to follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway on his world travels throughout his life, from Oak Park in Illinois, to Spain and France and Africa, to Key West, Florida, with dozens of stops and Hemingway anecdotes, history, and literary appreciation along the way. Palin's a HUGE Hemingway fan (if you like this, check out Palin's novel 'Hemingway's Chair') and his love for the man and his work are absolutely infectious. Gorgeous colour photos by Palin's usual colleague Basil Pao make this an attractive gift book. In short, while I shrugged at Hemingway the writer in college lit classes, it took Palin to introduce me to Hemingway the MAN...and my appreciation for him has grown considerably. Sometimes it just takes a great literature teacher to awaken your interest in a writer...but I never thought one of my teachers would be a Python!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a strange, attractive and useful travel book!, May 12, 2000

By 

www.delalonde.com "www.chateauresidence.com" (Chateau-Bois-Briand, Nantes,Loire-Valley,France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michael Palin's Hemingway's Adventure (Hardcover)

Yes, this is a travel guide book. You should buy it if you are lucky enough to retire with some money. Enough to stay at the Ritz of Paris (this Palace Hotel bar was "liberated" by Hemingway and the US army), to go big-fishing at Key-West, starting from the suburbs of Chicago where Hemingway was born. Anecdots about Shakespeare & Company bookshop on the Seine river bank were quite instructive about Hemingway bad temper. It was a pleasure to read Whitman's point of view about Hemingway vanity. This book is the kind of book you would love to write. It's a pilgrimage's diary. Something annoyed me, however. Why Michael Palin is so proud to be pictured as the center of each Hemingway sanctuary? .... Well, forget this and buy the book. It stands up as a standard in itself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great traveling companion!, January 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Michael Palin's Hemingway's Adventure (Hardcover)

Michael Palin takes us to Hemmingway's haunts across Italy, Spain, Paris, Africa, Key West, Cuba as well as Illinois, Michigan and the American West. Along the way, he searches out people who knew Hemmingway, places he ate, drank, slept and wrote and adventures such as the running of the bulls at Pamplona, big game hunting in Africa and fishing in the Gulf Stream. Palin's observations and comments, woven together with quotes from Hemmingway's books and letters made this a travel book with something extra, especially for the Hemmingway fan. The photographs were very nice and really added a lot. I really enjoyed reading and looking at this book and would happily accompany Michael Palin anywhere!