Hemingway

Carlos Baker's thorough profile of Ernest Hemingway, the American Nobel Laureate, journalist, war correspondent, and general legend, is the first telling of the Hemingway life and still stands as one of the best (perhaps put to second or third place after the publication of Michael S. Reynolds' stunning five-volume work on his life and Kenneth Lynn's fine bio/analysis from 1995). Baker brings both the life and the work of Hemingway alive in a way that makes the story flow and mix as Papa's art could not separate from his life nor vice versa. Any fan of Hemingway wanting more about the legend's life and the connections shown throughout his writing, this is a perfect place to start. Originally, I read this in grammar school (this was long before books were easily obtainable on the internet, etc., as even the local library selections could be limited especially for grammar school-age children due to the "adult themes", something that was taken seriously in the early Seventies) and while some was above me both since I had not read all of Hemingway (just a collection of mainly Nick Adams short stories) and some of the subject matter of Hemingway's work was beyond my years, it is a superior biography and one of the most balanced on the man many consider America's, if not the world's, greatest writer.