Winner Take Nothing [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068417426X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684174266
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,643,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ernest Hemingway ranks as the most famous of twentieth-century American writers; like Mark Twain, Hemingway is one of those rare authors most people know about, whether they have read him or not. The difference is that Twain, with his white suit, ubiquitous cigar, and easy wit, survives in the public imagination as a basically, lovable figure, while the deeply imprinted image of Hemingway as rugged and macho has been much less universally admired, for all his fame. Hemingway has been regarded less as a writer dedicated to his craft than as a man of action who happened to be afflicted with genius. When he won the Nobel Prize in 1954, Time magazine reported the news under Heroes rather than Books and went on to describe the author as "a globe-trotting expert on bullfights, booze, women, wars, big game hunting, deep sea fishing, and courage." Hemingway did in fact address all those subjects in his books, and he acquired his expertise through well-reported acts of participation as well as of observation; by going to all the wars of his time, hunting and fishing for great beasts, marrying four times, occasionally getting into fistfights, drinking too much, and becoming, in the end, a worldwide celebrity recognizable for his signature beard and challenging physical pursuits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A guidebook to the imagination, March 28, 2001

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winner Take Nothing (Hardcover)

Ernest Hemingway, Winner Take Nothing (Scribner's, 1933)

Arguably Hemingway's finest book of short stories, Winner Take Nothing contains fourteen relatively short and always spare looks at various stages of life. What seem, upon first reading, to be nothing more than frameworks or outlines take on more meat upon reflection. Hemingway lets the reader fill in the small details, guiding his imagination rather than manipulating it. This does mean that the onus is on the reader more than usual with this book; Hemingway's work is meant to be thought-provoking rather than escapist. If you can make it to the end of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," the second story in the book, and reflect on it without feeling anything, then the book's probably not for you. Those who approach it with the proper mindset, however, will find it to be full of opportunities to plumb one's own imagination. ****

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gain nothing, lose nothing, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Winner Take Nothing (Hardcover)

This was the first Hemingway book I have read and I was surprised. I always imagined his books were boring and completely symbolibic to the point that you don't understand it. However I enjoyed this book and all the short stories involved in this. All the stories were interesting and connected the theme that the "winner takes nothing" in different situations. I enjoyed the fact that since he probably wrote this in Europe, Hemingway weaved French and sometimes German into the dialogue. Also in one story Fitzgerald is mentioned as a wild child. "Winner take nothing" is an easy book to understand and follow, and the stories are original.

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good, but not his best., November 17, 2011

By 

S. Girard (NH, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WINNER TAKE NOTHING (A Scribner classic) (Board book)

I had read a number of these stories elsewhere but, such is the way of the short story book. I would not suggest this as your first Hemingway, as it is not his best collection. I suggest "In Our Time" or "The Fifth Column" as better collections.

That said, if you love him and must read everything, pick this up, otherwise, skip it and go for something else. His work is full of good reads.