ARC: Hemingway in Love: his own story - A.E. Hotchner

THIS IS NOT IN STORES UNTIL OCTOBER 2015! THE PUBLISHER SENT ME AN ADVANCED READERS COPY. MY DISCUSSION OF THE BOOK WILL BE POSTED ONCE IT IS IN STORES!

Ernest Hemingway always held a few of his best stories back; kept them off the page as writer's insurance against a dry-up of ideas. But after surviving two back-to-back plane crashes, he resolved to share his most meaningful tale with his best friend, A.E. Hotchner. Over the course of almost a decade, Hemingway narrated the full story of his formative years, but the details were sensitive, apt to hurt the feelings of Ernest's wide, Mary, and arouse controversy among the involved parties who were still alive at the time. For half a century, Hotchner was obliged to keep these conversations to himself. Now, he tells the story as Hemingway told it to him. Hemingway in Love is the poignant and frank account of a legend living with his mistakes. It takes you from the Key West to the bohemian world of 1920s Paris, and from Cold War Cuba to bullfights in Spain. It places you across the table from Hemingway himself as he recalls days spent drinking with Fitzgerald and sparring with Gertrude Stein; as he reflects on the affair that destroyed his first marriage. This is the story of how Hemingway lost his great love, and the life he pursued after - one of sweeping adventure and quiet regret. 

Book Review:

A.E. Hotchner was lucky enough to be best friends with the literary legend that is Ernest Hemingway. He was able to ask the man himself some of the toughest and most sincere questions. Through all of the joy that they had together, which is wonderfully portrayed throughout the memoir, come the pains that come with all lives but especially those that end in the tragedy that is suicide. 

We learn more about Hemingway's struggle with depression and anxiety through Hotchner's point of view of seeing his best friend lose his sanity and himself. We learn of how Hemingway ruined his first marriage and lost the love of his life. Then we follow him as he leads a satisfactory life after that with loves that could barely compare to his first love, his first wife, the mother of his first child, Hadley. 

It is beautifully written with sincere emotion. No detail was left undeveloped, unexplained, or unrecognized. It truly is my favorite memoir at the moment. 

Pages: 154                                                                                                          Rate: 5/5