Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir

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First published in 1966, this adulatory memoir made news by revealing that Ernest Hemingway's 1961 death was a suicide. It also provided the mythmaking, Nobel Prize-winning author with an opportunity to promulgate his preferred public persona from beyond the grave. Chronicling their friendship over the final 14 years of Hemingway's life, A.E. Hotchner vividly captured the writer's appeal as a man and his genius as a storyteller in extensive direct quotes. He draws from contemporary notes, tape recordings, and (he reveals in the foreword to this edition published for the Hemingway centennial) disguised excerpts from personal letters that Hemingway's widow, Mary, refused him permission to use. In conversation, Hemingway sounds like one of his own fictional heroes: terse, witty, profane, manly. Hotchner, in his mid-20s when they first met in 1948 and, he freely admits, "struck with an affliction common to my generation: Hemingway Awe," seldom evaluates either the veracity of or the motivations behind the writer's anecdotes. He makes no claim to be objective, which adds to the emotional force of the painful final chapters showing a desolate, depressed Hemingway convinced he could no longer write. By no means the whole truth, Hotchner's loving portrait shows Hemingway to readers as he wanted to be seen and as his most ardent admirers saw him. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Coinciding with the release of Papa starring Anthony Hopkins and Meg Ryan-the New York Times bestseller and classic portrait of one of America's greatest writers

Between 1948 and 1961, Ernest Hemingway and A. E. Hotchner traveled together from New York to Paris to Spain, fished the waters off Cuba, hunted in Idaho, ran with the bulls in Pamplona-and once Hotchner even masqueraded as a matador and Hemingway's manager in an actual bullfight. Everywhere they went, they talked. For fourteen years, Hotchner and Hemingway shared their thoughts and as Hemingway reminisced about his childhood, recalled the Paris literary scene of the twenties, and recounted the real events that lay behind his fiction, Hotchner took it all down. His notes on the many occasions he spent with his friend Papa-in Venice and Rome, in Key West, on the Riviera, and in Ketchum, Idaho, where Hemingway died by his own hand in 1961-provide the material for this utterly profound, and truthfully compassionate best-selling memoir about the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. With a new introduction by the author and with never before published photographs from his personal collection, Papa Hemingway is a mesmerizing portrait.

Customer Reviews:

Literary Lion in Winter...........2007-08-29

Wild game hunter, war correspondent, bull fighting afficionado; these were the elements that comprised the public persona of Earnest Hemingway, unparalleled man of American letters. As time went on though, Hemingway added unfathomable amounts of liquor to the mix and he began to confuse his public persona with who he really was. Hotchner's memoir finds Hemingway near the end of his remarkable reign as macho wordsmith king extrordinaire--It begins somewhere before he wrote the Old Man and the Sea, won the Nobel Prize, and covers through his tragic psychological/physical decline and suicide in 1961. Hotchner spent a lot of time with Hemingway during these later years touring Europe and running with the bulls. Along the way Hem and Hotch rub shoulders with Hemingway pals Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, among others; but front and center are Hotchner's observations of the great man himself. It must have been hard for A.E.H. to write this as Hemingway slid into the paranoia/psychosis that eventually led him to fire that shotgun into his mouth in Ketchum, Idaho. As the memoir goes on, EH drinks more and more and struggles to maintain his art. Eventually, he imagines himself a target of the FBI, and at one point attempts to jump out of a plane transporting him to the Mayo Clinic for treatment. Through it all his last wife, Mary--as well as Hotchner and his many friends, stand by him. The reader,though, gets the feeling that while Hemingway was never easy to be around, the years of decline were especially difficult. Hotchner, a loyal friend and admirer, proves a more than able chronicler, always managing to mix just the right touch of compassion (that never becomes blind hero worship) with a keen objectivity that serves a good memoir best. In this book, Hotchner relates both the high and low points of the literary lion in winter.

Defeat not an option.......2007-08-29

It was this book, PAPA HEMINGWAY by A.E. Hotchner, that revealed to the world upon its publication in 1966 that Ernest Hemingway died in 1961 not of an accident while cleaning a gun but of an intentional self-inflicted gunshot. If that was all this book had to offer the world on Hemingway, it would not still be in print. He provides an up close and personal portrait of a man he admired and called a good friend, but a complicated personage all the same. This is not a critical, exhaustively researched biography weighing 10 pounds; it is memoir by someone who experienced life with the man firsthand, an account that comes across with honesty and enough detail for readers to draw their own critical conclusions.

Hotchner was a young writer dispatched by a magazine in 1948 to find the by then world famous Hemingway in Cuba and negotiate an article. Hotchner's terror at the assignment turned into high surprise as Hemingway took to him and brought him right into his inner circle. Hotchner never talks about himself really, so we don't know what Hemingway saw in him, but it had to be something because Hemingway was not a man who trusted easily, who required exacting standards in his pals, who also included restaurateur Toots Shor, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper and Ava Gardner. Hemingway was at the top of his powers in 1948, living as he thought life should be lived and settled in with his fourth and last wife, Mary, who could stand up to him. On the pretense of editing work, he takes Hotchner along for European adventures, making fun while also disclosing memories of his earlier days, and most important, what inspired his classic novels. As they move into the 1950's together, Hotchner also catches evidence of Hemingway's battle with mortality. He has a tough road back to health after surviving a plane crash in Africa, and then, trying to work again, he is bowled over by the response to THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (the Pulitzer) and the Nobel Prize. Castro, with whom he thought he had an understanding, takes his home and sanctuary. He is briefly revived in the outdoors of Ketchum, Idaho, but depression and paranoia begin to tear at him. What now seems a brutal electric shock treatment at the Mayo Clinic, especially for a man who never believed in analysis or being penned up, who wanted to do his own fighting, preceded his death.

fantastic personal memoir of a giant of a man.......2007-04-26

One of my all time favorite books; the Hotch-Hemingway relationship is one of literature's most enduring testaments to friendship. Hothchner gives us a memorable picture of his good friend & one of America's premier authors. Looks at him favorably, not objectively.

Great Book.......2006-11-07

An interesting perspective on the life of one of the world's great authors. As an aspiring writer myself, I found that a lot of Hemingway's dialogues with Hotchner provided me with useful insight for my own writings.

being with Hemingway.......2006-05-17

After reading "Papa Hemingway" for the third time I felt compelled to contribute some comment. What makes this book unique is that in it Hemingway speaks and you somehow know the quoted dialogue is a faithful replication of what Hotchner heard.
While reading I felt as if I was in the back seat of the touring car Papa and Hotch used through Spain and The Riviera. I experienced the many bars they visited and got to meet the various friends and characters they encountered. A great read...and a great trip!

Twenty Days with Julian and Little Bunny by Papa (New York Review Books)

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just one caveat
the eternalness of youth
If Only My Babysitter Had Looked Like This...
Some things never change

Twenty Days with Julian and Little Bunny by Papa (New York Review Books)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1590170423
Release Date: 2003-05-31

Book Description

On July 28, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife Sophia and daughters Una and Rose left their house in Western Massachusetts to visit relatives near Boston. Hawthorne and his five-year-old son Julian stayed behind. How father and son got along over the next three weeks is the subject of this tender and funny extract from Hawthorne's notebooks.

"At about six o'clock I looked over the edge of my bed and saw that Julian was awake, peeping sideways at me." Each day starts early and is mostly given over to swimming and skipping stones, berry-picking and subduing armies of thistles. There are lots of questions ("It really does seem as if he has baited me with more questions, references, and observations, than mortal father ought to be expected to endure"), a visit to a Shaker community, domestic crises concerning a pet rabbit, and some poignant moments of loneliness ("I went to bed at about nine and longed for Phoebe"). And one evening Mr. Herman Melville comes by to enjoy a late-night discussion of eternity over cigars.

With an introduction by Paul Auster that paints a beautifully observed, intimate picture of the Hawthornes at home, this little-known, true-life story by a great American writer emerges from obscurity to shine a delightful light upon family life—then and now.

Customer Reviews:

just one caveat.......2005-04-09

Everything positive said about this book is true. But I would add this: Mr. Auster's introduction is excellent until he reaches a point where he starts divulging some of the best points in the diary. So buy the book and go straight to the diary. Then enjoy Auster's wonderful intro. Bravo to NYRB for publishing this as a stand alone book; what a great gift for a new parent!
CS

the eternalness of youth.......2004-07-27

I had previously thought of Nathaniel Hawthorne as serious, stuffy, reclusive - as indeed many contemporaries thought of him. However, _Twenty Days with Julian_ show another side of the man - and the eternal joy and wonder of childhood.

While his wife and daughters were away, Hawthorne spent three weeks alone with his son, Julian. Chronicling their activities, you get a clear sense of the time and of the person Hawthorne was. But what was most pleasant - and surprising - was how similar 4 year old Julian was to children today. A joyful read that would make an excellent Father's Day present.

If Only My Babysitter Had Looked Like This..........2004-01-17

From July 28th until August 16th, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife Sophia took their daughters on a visit to her relatives, leaving her husband home to care for their 5 year-old son, Julian. Hawthorne kept a record of his time with the little boy in a journal, calling the episode "Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny by Papa". Anyone familiar with Hawthorne's exquisite, almost recondite writing style as exemplified by his novels and short stories will hardly recognize him in the guise of babysitter and chronicler of his jet-propelled kid's activities. Driven nearly to distraction by Julian's nonstop chatter and noisemaking (Hawthorne's wife had recently given birth to baby Rose, and the little boy was constantly being told to keep quiet), Hawthorne nevertheless decides to allow the child the freedom to be as noisy as he likes while the baby is away. This proves to be an exercise in forbearance for poor papa, as Julian proves to have no off switch, making it "impossible to read, write, think, or even sleep (in the daytime) so constant are his appeals..." Over the ensuing three weeks, the two take daily walks to fetch the milk, and to the lake where Julian fishes with furious, single-minded determination and catches absolutely nothing. Hawthorne struggles to figure out how his wife curls the kid's hair, and there are several unfortunate events - a bedwetting accident, a pants-peeing incident, the kid gets stung by a wasp, the pet bunny, Hindlegs, dies and is buried in the garden, much to Julian's amusement. (He hopes a Bunny Tree will spring up, covered all over in bunnies hanging by their ears.) Through it all, Hawthorne, in spite of his befuddlement with the finer points of child care, bears up gracefully, proving himself not only a gentle and loving father, but a genius at capturing the essence of childhood and the joy of witnessing,close at hand, his little boy's joie de vivre.

Some things never change.......2003-07-22

This is abrief book, but full of great writing. It's very interesting to see what has changed in 150 years - the food, the activities, the words, and what hasn't - how little kids behave.

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A physician's introspective story of his work in a refugee camp.......2007-08-06

During 12 visits between 1981 and 1993 Dr Louis Braile worked on the Thai-Cambodian border, first in a number of refugee camps and finally at a hospital at Mongkol Borei in northwestern Cambodia. Gentle, introspective and compassionate, his descriptions of his experiences are vivid and often poignant while quietly modest about the author's own dedication to long hours under grueling conditions. Dr Braile worked in virtually every area of medicine, in unsanitary and often unsafe conditions, and dealt with death on a daily basis. His fervent love for the Khmer people kept him returning again and again until the last camp closed and the last refugee went home. Curiously, his life while not at work was a pleasant contrast, as he gives the reader descriptions of meals and journeys through the Thai countryside and a bemused commentary on his encounters across cultural and linguistic barriers.

I worked briefly with "Papa Louis" in 1984 and found this book an open window into those long, dusty days helping patients struggle through disease and injury in bamboo-and-thatch hospitals. If you are one of the thousands of relief workers who worked in the Cambodian refugee camps, this book is a treasury of bittersweet memories.

A unique and candid memoir.......2005-03-18

We Shared The Peeled Orange: The Letters of 'Papa Louis" From The Thai-Cambodian Border Refugee Camps 1981-1993 arises from the letters of volunteer physician Dr. Louis E. Braile and offers the reader an autobiographically descriptive insight into the world of humanitarian relief work as provided by the American Refugee Committee in the refugee camps of such diverse countries as Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Sudan. Dr. Braile (who came to be known as "Papa Louis" completed twelve tours of duty on the Thai-Cambodian border through the American Refugee Committee between 1981 and 1993. His experiences ranged from treating a child suffering from malnutrition to teaching a young refugee basic medical care. Dr. Braile's letters depict hardships, frustrations, pains, and joys of working in a refugee camp in the midst of chaos. Up until his death in 2002, Dr. Braile remained an exemplar of dedication and sacrifice in behalf of peoples whose lives had been shattered by the forces of war, famine, poverty, and politics. We Shared The Peeled Orange is a unique and candid memoir, and a fitting memorable to a man who made a difference in the lives of thousands of desperate and all to often forgotten people.

Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smith (Capital Life)

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Inspiring, sweet stories
Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smit
You Won't Forget Him

Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smith (Capital Life)
David Bruce Smith , and The Author Of James Wilson, Founding Father. Neither David Bruce Smith Nor Charles E. Smith Is Charles Page Smith
Manufacturer: Capital Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 1892123347

Book Description

At first David Bruce wanted to write a traditional biography of his remarkable grandfather, a Russian Jew who immigrated as a child to America in 1911 and built a real estate empire here. But that format seemed to violate "Papa Charlie’s" impatience with verbosity. So David adopted the more accessible vignette style to pass along his grandfather’s singular humor, wisdom, and enthusiasm.

Now in this charming little book, readers will feel they are sitting at the knee of this kindly Jewish grandfather, listening to stories about his amazing life and to gentle advice for succeeding in your own. Along the way, you’ll learn about the importance of family devotion and the care of each of its members, responsibility for and generosity to community and to those who have less, good nutrition and a regular health regimen, devotion to religion, and some very savvy business tips - all spiced with memorable Yiddish expressions. If you never knew your own grandfather, or are missing him, this book will instruct, inspire, and soothe your ruffled feathers.

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring, sweet stories.......2001-04-12

Conversations with Papa Charlie made me miss my grandfather and the stories he used to tell me. growing up in the Washington area, Charles E. Smith was a familiar name to me. I always thought it was a made up corporate entitity. It's nice to see that Chalres Smith was a real person, and not a heartless corporate giant. I recommend this book to all those who are looking for a little guidance in life, and for anyone who just wants to read some heartwarming stories.

Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smit.......2000-11-24

I DON'T THINK I'LL FORGET PAPA CHARLIE FOR A LONG TIME. HE HAS TRULY INSPIRED ME!!!!!

It is nice to know that there are businessmen who are not just---interested in making money. This wonderful memoir shows how the elegant Mr. Smith, a Russian immigrant who came to America at the age of 10, went from rags to riches---twice. His initial success was achieved as a builder of homes and small shopping centers in Brooklyn, New York shortly before the Depression. Feeling that a stock market disaster was imminent, he confided to his partner-cousin that he wanted to get out of the business. But his cousin believing Smith to be irrational, talked him into staying in the business through 1929; in 1930, the agreed, they would stop building. Unfortunately the Crash came and Smith lost all of his money, but not his spirit. The lesson he learned--one of many he passes on to the reader in "Papa Charlie"--is never to go against your intuition. Smith eventually re-constructed his wealth--the second time in Washington, DC twenty years later--but in the end retired suddenly at the age of 66 to spend the rest of his life as a philanthropist. In the 28 years he was to live, he raised money for numerous causes, and co-founded the Institute of Psychobiology in Israel. As his grandson-author, David Bruce Smith, reveals, Smith would also peruse the Washington Post each morning, looking for human interest stories that moved him. The reader learns about the poor woman for whom he bought a washing machine, the friends he helped during financial reversals, and the kind and compassionate way he treated his employees. Reading Conversations with Papa Charlie was a moving experience for me. I would recommend it for ANYONE. Smith's story makes you believe that Good Samaritans still exist.

You Won't Forget Him.......2000-10-18

Every day, we hear names of business giants such as Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller. But what we don't hear is the story of what makes or made these men who they were. How they lived. Who they loved. What inspired them.What they ate for breakfast.

Conversations With Papa Charlie gave me a real look behind the scenes at Charles E. Smith--one of the biggest names in real estate. I discovered who Charles E. Smith really was--his successes, his failures and lessons--not just for business but for life.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty interesting, but forgettable........2003-05-18

I'm not an expert on Hemingway and I haven't read more than just a couple of his books, but I thought this was a short, interesting book by one of Hemingway's sons, Gregory. He's not a writer and doesn't seem neither to try to become one nor to emulate his father's talents (although he tells us that he did try just both, when he was young). Instead, he gives more than a couple of interesting anecdotes. He puts some light on Hemingway's obsessions with his image and macho figure. At the time I read this book, a probably silly association came to my mind: Walt Whitman (another American hero from another age) and his supposed homosexuality -a complex statement that I, basicaly, disagree with. There're some aspects in Hemingway's postures in this book that made me think about his own unassumed conflicts with homosexual feelings and his image as a boxer and a 'viril' writer. Excellent pictures in the hard cover edition I've read.

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El Papa Dijo No
Guillermo Fesser , and Jose Luis Cano
Manufacturer: Temas De Hoy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Mama Was a Con Man, Papa Was a Christian

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Storytelling at its best....

Mama Was a Con Man, Papa Was a Christian
Harry Wayne Addison
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Storytelling at its best...........1998-12-09

A collection of stories that warms the heart. This would be a wonderful book for a parent or friend. The storytelling is amazing!

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PAPA a Personal Memoir
GREGORY H. HEMINGWAY
Manufacturer: HOUGHTON & MIFFLlIN Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HEO9RE

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Papa Hemingway : A Personal Memoir
HOTCHNER A.E.
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GRCRK8

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PAPA HEMINGWAY, A PERSONAL MEMOIR
A E HOTCHNER
Manufacturer: RANDOM HOUSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SIJRX0

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Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39 With Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians
Edmund C. Bray , and Martha Coleman Bray
Manufacturer: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0873512901

Book Description

In 1838 and 1839 French scientist Joseph N. Nicollet led two expeditions into the land between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. His findings were published in the first authentic map of the region, a document that influenced mapmakers in the United States for generations. This book contains translations of journals, letters, and notes produced during those expeditions, which visited landmarks like the Pipestone quarry in Minnesota and Fort Pierre, the Coteau des Prairies, and Devils Lake in the Dakotas. Nicollet met often with the Dakota people in the region, and his observations are a valuable record of their way of life.

Joseph N. Nicollet on the plains and prairies: The expeditions of 1838-39, with journals, letters, and notes on the Dakota Indians (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)

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Joseph N. Nicollet on the plains and prairies: The expeditions of 1838-39, with journals, letters, and notes on the Dakota Indians (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)
J. N Nicollet
Manufacturer: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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