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“A man’s got to take a lot of punishment
to write a really funny book.”
Hemingway was recognized at an early age for his unique
literary voice and his terse style. In Our Time, a book of
short stories about youth in Illinois and his experience in
World War I, established his reputation with critics. The
Sun Also Rises, his depiction of the “Lost Generation”
became a bestseller.
But by his early 50s, Hemingway was in decline. A
lifetime of adventure had left him with numerous injuries.
He was overweight and drinking heavily. His writing had
declined as well.
Then, in 1950, in an amazing eight weeks, he penned
what would be his last book, based on a story he’d heard
about an old Cuban fisherman who fought a swordfish for
four days and four nights, only to have it eaten by sharks
on the way home. He called The Old Man and the Sea
“an epilogue to all my writing and what I learned…while
writing and trying to live.” It was a triumph. It won the
Pulitzer Prize in 1952 and helped bring him the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1954. |
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