Book Review: Ernest Hemingway: A Biography is touted as the first of Hemingway in 15 years, and the first by a woman. Here we have both access to new material and a more insightful and sympathetic view of Hemingway's mental illness. Mary Dearborn makes a strong case that he was both manic depressive, alcoholic, and gender dysphoric. Suicide and mental illness were prominent in his family. Dearborn is fair, thoughtful, sensitive, and a thorough researcher -- I had no complaints with this except for, at 700+ pages, the occasional cry of "too much!" But when a biographer is writing for the record, for scholars, the public, and posterity, she has to include even the tiny (but often telling) details. It's easy enough to breeze over those parts if the reader only wants the meat. There may not be many earth-shaking revelations here, but there is a good deal of setting the record straight based on new information, and it looks as if more may be trickling out over the coming years.
Ernest Hemingway: A Biography tries to focus on the creation of the writer: what made Hemingway, as an author, tick?There is no deep analysis of Hemingway's writings, nor does Dearborn dwell overlong on the semi-legendary events of his life. Instead she looks to see what influences formed him as a writer: his childhood, his newspaper work, the wives, the wars. Although Dearborn doesn't shy away from the sensational, even tawdry, parts of his life, she doesn't wallow in it either. There are, however, factors she mentions that I now won't be able to disregard as I read his books. The book gives especial attention to Hemingway's four wives, each new relationship starting before the previous one had ended: Hemingway hated to be alone. Dearborn lets us virtually see his life through the eyes and lives of his wives, showing how deep these relationships were. He also inspired great love and loyalty, even if he didn't always return it.
Hemingway was a serial monogamist, not a ladies' man. He was courageous. An alcoholic. He could be cruel to friends and those who helped him. Early in life he was often manic, but later in life his depression began to take over. Gertrude Stein was his son's godmother. Even early on acquaintances felt he was hiding a sensitive or vulnerable side by overacting the macho man. He was jealous of Fitzgerald's success. He had a lifelong tendency toward androgyny ("entangled with issues of gender, sexual identity, and sexuality."). Even in the 1930s (as today) critics attacked the man along with his work; as one said "Perhaps we really do know too much about Hemingway, or at least his public poses, to judge his work impartially." He probably suffered several traumatic brain injuries over his life, which were seriously aggravated by his alcoholism.
My negatives list for the book is short, minor, and typical of biographies these days. First, as about half of all biographers seem to do, Dearborn refers to her subject by his first name, as if he was a friend or family member. Second, she occasionally wildly speculates about events and motivations with no evidence whatsoever, as if sitting over coffee or perhaps chatting in a book club. Although neither of these are rare, neither do they seem suitable for an author attempting a definitive work. But quibbling aside, although a lengthy and detailed book, which required some dedicated pushing through, it was never dry or boring, just long. Mary Dearborn is equitable and unbiased, mixing the bad and the good in proper measure, and her analysis is perceptive and generally accurate. If you have the time, and are interested in a reappraisal of Hemingway, this is the book for you. I've been wanting to read Hemingway, and when I saw this I thought it might be a good place to start. We'll see. Given the the treasure chest of information I now have, I'm curious if Ernest Hemingway: A Biography will enrich my reading, or distract. [4½★]
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