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School Library Journal
Reviewed on August 1, 2009
Gr 6-10 This engaging and detailed biography will be valued for its accessible style and honest portrayal of one of America's icons. Reef's account of Hemingway's life is riveting and unglamorized, acknowledging the subject's flaws and tenuous relationship with his stern, pious mother (who regularly banned books and challenged her son's seventh-grade assignment, "The Call of the Wild", for its coarseness). At 17, Hemingway volunteer...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Magazine
Reviewed on September 1, 2010
"Write what you know" is a common writer's mantra, and nobody practiced it as much as Ernest Hemingway, but his iconic prose style (short declarative sentences with lots of subtext) was just as responsible for his genius as his frequently autobiographical subject matter. "I am trying to make, before I get through, a picture of the whole world—or as much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always, rather than s...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2009
Reef demonstrates the connection between art and life when discussing Hemingway's masterpieces: <i>The Sun Also Rises</i>, <i>A Farewell to Ar...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on September 1, 2009
Biographer Catherine Reef (E. E. Cummings: A Poet’s Life; Sigmund Freud: Pioneer of the Mind ) succeeds once again in Ernest Hemingway: A Writer’s Life. Reef describes Hemingway’s experiences and struggles as a child growing up in rural Michigan. She then puts his adult life and work into a historical context, showing how his writing and political views were influenced by his participation in some of the most important conflicts of his day, World ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More