Ernest Hemingway

Rather than dismiss the romanticism of Hemingway’s sensibility, Kale embraces it, and the result is a refreshingly positive spin on the subject. Without denying Hemingway’s many failures, the author places the focus on the accomplishments, reminding us in the first place why so many readers remain enamored with him long after his image has been thoroughly dissected as a facade . . . ultimately the sheer fluidity of the presentation is what one appreciates most . . . Kale’s biography glides by rather than grinds on. In its compactness, it flows forward with an assured pace that never feels rushed . . . Given Hemingway’s own celebrated devotion to concision, the format suits its subject. This biography is a happy reminder that brief can be beautiful. * The Hemingway Review *
Sifting out the larger-than-life Hemingway in search of a faithful history of the Nobel Prize–winning novelist, Kale uses Hemingway’s life to illuminate his writings, examining them within the context of his critics. * American Literature *
A beautifully researched and critically balanced biography that covers Hemingways life, works, and the array of critical response to both with exceptional thoroughness and exacting subtlety. Kale delivers a fresh, contemporary statement on a subject too long blurred by unexamined bias. A must-own volume for serious readers, students, and anyone interested in Hemingway and the complex relationships amongst his life, works, and 20th-century American culture. * Hilary K. Justice, author of The Bones of the Others: The Hemingway Text from the Lost Manuscripts to the Posthumous Novels *
Verna Kales Ernest Hemingway is a formidable counter argument to those who erroneously believe the Hemingway oeuvre is memoir masquerading as fiction. * PopMatters *
Brief biographies of already familiar, intensely studied figures sometimes shine new light on their subjects by discerning patterns and themes that may become lost amid more detailed accounts. This is certainly the case with Verna Kale’s superb Ernest Hemingway . . . Contrary to Hemingway’s hale and hearty public persona (over which he ultimately lost control), his life was essentially tragic – pitiful and heartbreaking, really – and through her conciseness Kale makes the reader feel this bitter truth with particular intensity. This is a sad book, even among studies of Hemingway. And a hard book to put down . . . A welcome addition to the Critical Lives series, this short biography packs an incredible amount of information and insight into a small package and would be impossible to improve upon. * Cercles *