This book starts with the premise that Hemingway's boat is a metaphor for his life of extreme ups and tragic downward spirals.

The main part starts with the purchase of the boat (named Pilar after the character in For Whom The Bell Tolls) in 1934 and continues until the end of Hemingway's life in 1961. There is a lot of followup, especially about the author's troubled youngest son, Gregory.

For those who don't know, Hemingway committed suicide and was a broken man at the end.

His son Gregory was arrested a few times for cross dressing and then he had surgery to change himself to a woman. He was in jail for indecent exposure when he dropped dead of a heart attack. Fifty years to the day that he dropped dead, he was also in jail and his mother died on the operating table after being upset about his arrest and arguing with her ex-husband.

anyone interested in Hemingway and in what became of his youngest son.

I liked the fact that the author is decidedly sympathetic to Hemingway. I agree that the legendary Ernest Hemingway has gotten a lot of unfair condemnation over the years. People make money piling on the evil stories about the man. This author put some effort into being fair, talking to lots of people who really knew the man and coming at him from a new angle.

sad for the whole business, especially poor Gregory.

This author did a fine job of finding and befriending two fellows who helped Hemingway in different ways in his boating pursuits. These guys seemed interesting and worth talking to. They had a normal person (well, what is that anyway?) perspective on the big guy.

if you want to read something that gives Ernest Hemingway the benefit of the doubt in a lot of instances, then this is the book for you.

The letters Ernest Hemingway wrote to sick youngsters show a side of him that I don't think most of the public is aware of. It is a tender, gentle side, that I think was there along with all the rest.

I was very interested to learn something new and that was the fact that the FBI was investigating and monitoring Ernest at the end of his life. He always believed that and it was a big reason why he got shock treatments at the Mayo Clinic. Now, in retrospect the doctors who did that horrific thing to him look like the delusional ones.

Hoover's FBI was up to no good, as usual, and clever Ernest knew it. I wish they hadn't given him the shock treatments.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost (Vintage)   from Amazon.Com!

Created Apr 02, 2014 at 9:37am • Submit your own review...