The Young Hemingway

By: Michael Reynolds

Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly

Michael Reynolds recreates the milieu that forged one of America's greatest and most influential writers. He reveals the fraught foundations of Hemingway's persona: his father's self-destructive battle with depression and his mother's fierce independence and spiritualism. He brings Hemingway through World War I, where he was frustrated by being too far away from the action and glory, despite his being wounded and nursed to health by Agnes Von Kurowsky - the older woman with whom he fell terribly in love.

©1986 Michael Reynolds (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"The Young Hemingway will entertain and surprise. Not only is it a significant contribution to Hemingway critical biography, but it should rank as one of the best nonfiction books of the year." (Los Angeles Times)

I resisted looking behind the curtain

I've read 'Farewell,' 'Tolls' and 'Sun Also Rises' on rotation for many years. As someone who grew up well after Hem was dead, I sought to preserve my image of the writer as I'd gathered it from his writing. A book like this was risky. If I saw too far behind the curtain, I thought maybe I'd lose respect and find out he was human. But anyway, you gotta do new things. I was immediately sucked into this book, both by the story and narration. It was much more fascinating and complex than I imagined. And helped me realize how human Hemingway was beneath the fame. I'm glad I read it, and it didn't alter how I feel about his fiction at all.