THE LETTERS OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY

The latest volume in the canonical writer’s private correspondence.

This installment, which covers two years of Hemingway’s letters in the mid-1930s, offers extraordinary insights into the author’s personal and professional life. The book includes a remarkable range of textual material, including cables, postcards, assorted jottings, and unsent correspondence. We follow Hemingway’s passion for fishing, increasing involvement with leftist politics, and ongoing dedication to the craft of writing. His keen observational skills and rhythmic expressiveness are abundantly apparent in these letters, which often reflect the developing style of his fiction, as well as his experiments in blending fiction and nonfiction in Green Hills of Africa, which he worked on during this period. In her engaging introduction, editor Kale aptly points out that this volume “is a book about fish. It is about other things as well, of course: writing and art, friendship and fatherhood, the ongoing Great Depression and the rising threat of fascism in Europe. And fish—so many fish.” Hemingway’s accounts of fishing adventures—an activity that seems to have formed the spiritual center of his life during this period—are indeed numerous, strikingly detailed, and highly memorable. Another prominent topic involves the commercial dynamics of writing. The author frequently explains how he views his “serious” writing in relation to his journalism for publications such as Esquire, his awareness of the allure and perils of artistic complacency, and his delight and disgust with his burgeoning celebrity. Clearly emerging in this collection, too, is Hemingway’s difficult personality. The letters testify not just to his wit and charisma, but to his vanity, insecurity, and peevishness. The unfiltered revelation of this complexity makes for highly entertaining reading. Though the eclectic material arranged here may seem chaotic, the author’s torrential personality ultimately grants it a satisfying coherence.

A revealing and enchanting window into Hemingway’s life and work.