Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Reef, whose E. E. Cummings: A Poet's Life (2006) was a Best Books for Young Adults selection, offers another perceptive, captivating biography of one of the twentieth century's most influential writers. Hemingway said that he aimed to make a picture of the whole world or as much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always, rather than spreading it out thin. Reef skillfully takes on the challenge of boiling down Hemingway's dramatic, globe-trotting life into a clear, complex portrait. Seamlessly integrated throughout the text, the numerous direct quotes cited in appended source notes and contributed by friends, colleagues, and Hemingway himself both support and refute commonly held views of the writer. Readers will gain nuanced understanding from such excerpts as the cutting notes from Hemingway's mother when he failed to meet his family's expectations, as well as the heartbreaking, tender messages he sent his first wife as their marriage fell apart. Throughout, Reef writes with descriptive, even-handed prose that includes both praise and criticism that Hemingway's work has inspired and is particularly restrained in accounts of the writer's final, tragic months before his suicide. An extensive bibliography, a list of major works, and well-chosen black-and-white photos further support the text. Teens jaded by too much classroom analysis of The Old Man and the Sea and Hemingway's short stories will come away from Reef's thorough, skillfully constructed biography with fresh interest in and appreciation for this American legend.--Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In this Junior Library Guild selection, Reef, who has previously written over 40 nonfiction books for YA audiences, tackles one of the 20th century's most significant writers, proficiently weaving together key moments in Hemingway's career and personal life. YA listeners new to Hemingway will be enthralled not only by Reef's accounts of his literary accomplishments, travels, and adventures but also by her exploration of his darker side; more mature audiences, while sure to appreciate Reef's simple, direct writing style and Jill Shellabarger's (Sabrina) timeless narration, may be annoyed by the defining of such basic words and terms as jaundice, aficionado, and Madison Square Garden. Mainly for YA audiences.-Theresa Stoner, St. Joseph Cty. P.L., South Bend, IN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 volunteered for the Red Cross as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. Returning home wounded provided fodder for the short story "Soldier's Home" and made Hemingway realize he wouldn't stay home for long. Europe energized the budding writer and with the first of his four wives, he returned to Paris and Italy. Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, and Ezra Pound provided friendship and support for his writing. Hemingway was a romantic and unfaithful in marriage, and followed in his father's footsteps by committing suicide in 1961. Captioned black-and-white photos appear on nearly every page, chronicling Hemingway's family, friends, and the places he traveled. Some excerpts of his writing are integrated into the narrative, offering readers a good sense of the work's conception and structure.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Middle School, High School) "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 spreading it out thin." Reef herself has boiled down the essence of Hemingway in these pages, demonstrating the connection between art and life when discussing his masterpieces -- The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea -- but also balancing that treatment with chronicles of his formative youth, his roots as a journalist, his far-flung world travels (Italy, France, Spain, Africa), his equally far-flung domestic residences (Key West, Sun Valley), his friendships and feuds with various literati, his difficult relationship with his parents, the four wives that paraded in and out of his life, his suicide, and his legacy as one of the most significant writers of the twentieth century. Numerous photographs are included, and notes, a selected bibliography, and an index are appended. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
