I was at the Hemingway Home (not "house" like normal people, but "home") a few months ago and I don't recall seeing a urinal or there being a mention of one. Some rooms were not available to visitors so who knows. Another tidbit is he took (or bought, not clear) bricks from an old site and built a brick fence surrounding his Key West property and now people take the bricks as souvenirs. The cat situation is interesting. They are all named and genetically go back to the first cat Hemingway had: snowball or snowflake or something with the word snow. The females are allowed to breed once and they are fixed. They have full access to the house and grounds. Some are assholes, which is to be expected.
At the end of the tour, they gloss very quickly about his suicide. Now personally, as a morbid person, I would have liked more information on his suicide and its hereditary feature through his family but the Home has to make a buck and drawn out stories of guns shots to the head probably won't do it.
I was working on opening a men's store and I was trying to think of a good, manly name for it. I thought I'd call it "Hemingway's" - a name that evoked rugged, adventuresome, manliness - but I thought I should become more knowledgeable about Mr. Hemingway before branding anything. Good thing. He was douchey.
Awesome post. If you had a Dirtbag wall of honor I'd hope Hemingway would be prominently displayed there. But the punching match between him and Orson Wells - is that legit? Did it happen or were you taking artistic license? Because I want to believe in it so badly and I need to know.
Also your new novel is sitting (precariously!) at the top of my to-be-read mountain and I look forward to it so much because your last book was AMAZING, truly.
Wow that story is one of the greatest things ever! Thank you so much for sharing it! And it just doubles down on the dirtbaggerey of Hemingway in the best way possible.
I agree that war crimes are a no-no. What's so ****bag about the last photo? I saw this on a Substack somewhere, probably subscribes here too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wM06z5lA74
Hemingway is fascinating to me. I'm not a fan of his writing (anyone who has read my own writing will not be surprised to hear me say that Hemingway is too spare for my tastes) and I'm certainly not a fan of him. He was undoubtedly one of the all-time dirtiest of dirtbags. But damn, the dude went through some INSANE trauma from childhood on, so it's not surprising that he turned out the way he did. I wish everyone had better access to decent mental healthcare back then. I wish everyone had better access to decent mental healthcare now, too.
Yeah, I had to put down his books. But then I thought, Dang-- if I close a book every time I find out the author is an anti semite my reading will be sorely limited. Hehehe.
Possibly my favorite Hemingway anecdote, related by Claud Cockburn when they were holed up at the Hotel Florida during the Spanish Civil War: “At breakfast one day in his room at the Florida hotel, which more or less overlooked the nearest part of the front, Mr. Ernest Hemingway was very comforting about the shelling. He had a big map laid out on the table, and he explained to an audience of generals, politicians, and correspondents that, for some ballistic reason, the shells could not hit the Florida. He could talk in a very military way and make it all sound very convincing. Everyone present was convinced and happy. Then a shell whooshed through the rooms above Mr. Hemingway’s —the first actually to hit the Florida— and the ceiling fell down on the breakfast table. To any lesser man than Mr. Hemingway the occurrence would’ve been humiliating. While we were all getting the plaster out of our hair, Mr. Hemingway looked slowly round at us, one after the other. ‘How do you like it now, gentlemen?’ he said, and by some astonishing trick of manner, conveyed the impression that this episode had actually, in some obscure way, confirmed instead of upsetting his theory—that his theory had been right when he expounded it, and this only demonstrated that the time had come to have a new one.” (Great substack, Allison Epstein...no relation as far as I know!)
I was at the Hemingway Home (not "house" like normal people, but "home") a few months ago and I don't recall seeing a urinal or there being a mention of one. Some rooms were not available to visitors so who knows. Another tidbit is he took (or bought, not clear) bricks from an old site and built a brick fence surrounding his Key West property and now people take the bricks as souvenirs. The cat situation is interesting. They are all named and genetically go back to the first cat Hemingway had: snowball or snowflake or something with the word snow. The females are allowed to breed once and they are fixed. They have full access to the house and grounds. Some are assholes, which is to be expected.
At the end of the tour, they gloss very quickly about his suicide. Now personally, as a morbid person, I would have liked more information on his suicide and its hereditary feature through his family but the Home has to make a buck and drawn out stories of guns shots to the head probably won't do it.
I was working on opening a men's store and I was trying to think of a good, manly name for it. I thought I'd call it "Hemingway's" - a name that evoked rugged, adventuresome, manliness - but I thought I should become more knowledgeable about Mr. Hemingway before branding anything. Good thing. He was douchey.
Awesome post. If you had a Dirtbag wall of honor I'd hope Hemingway would be prominently displayed there. But the punching match between him and Orson Wells - is that legit? Did it happen or were you taking artistic license? Because I want to believe in it so badly and I need to know.
Also your new novel is sitting (precariously!) at the top of my to-be-read mountain and I look forward to it so much because your last book was AMAZING, truly.
According to Orson Welles himself it was a real thing!! https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/16/what-orson-welles-really-thought-about-ernest-hemingway
Wow that story is one of the greatest things ever! Thank you so much for sharing it! And it just doubles down on the dirtbaggerey of Hemingway in the best way possible.
I agree that war crimes are a no-no. What's so ****bag about the last photo? I saw this on a Substack somewhere, probably subscribes here too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wM06z5lA74
the vibes of an American man wearing a beret in France are unpalatable to me every time, no exceptions. this may be a personal problem.
Not a good man or a nice man, but damn, he could write.
Medieval porcupine seriously looking like a Pokémon there!
Hemingway is fascinating to me. I'm not a fan of his writing (anyone who has read my own writing will not be surprised to hear me say that Hemingway is too spare for my tastes) and I'm certainly not a fan of him. He was undoubtedly one of the all-time dirtiest of dirtbags. But damn, the dude went through some INSANE trauma from childhood on, so it's not surprising that he turned out the way he did. I wish everyone had better access to decent mental healthcare back then. I wish everyone had better access to decent mental healthcare now, too.
Such a beautiful way to look at it 🫶🏼
Hemingway was also an antisemite. I think it was “The Sun Also Rises” where his hate is made known.
Oufffffff. May stick with never reading anything he wrote
Yeah, I had to put down his books. But then I thought, Dang-- if I close a book every time I find out the author is an anti semite my reading will be sorely limited. Hehehe.
lollllll
I’m dead ☠️☠️☠️ the hatred of his mother makes so much sense now
He worked for The Toronto Star (I'm from Toronto) and lived here briefly, most notably when his first child was born.
But he hated it here, he hated his editor and basically he took every opportunity to live abroad on The Star's dime.
How much of a dirtbag do you have to be to hate Canada?
Anyway, some info with a few pictures.
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Hemingway-in-Canada
Possibly my favorite Hemingway anecdote, related by Claud Cockburn when they were holed up at the Hotel Florida during the Spanish Civil War: “At breakfast one day in his room at the Florida hotel, which more or less overlooked the nearest part of the front, Mr. Ernest Hemingway was very comforting about the shelling. He had a big map laid out on the table, and he explained to an audience of generals, politicians, and correspondents that, for some ballistic reason, the shells could not hit the Florida. He could talk in a very military way and make it all sound very convincing. Everyone present was convinced and happy. Then a shell whooshed through the rooms above Mr. Hemingway’s —the first actually to hit the Florida— and the ceiling fell down on the breakfast table. To any lesser man than Mr. Hemingway the occurrence would’ve been humiliating. While we were all getting the plaster out of our hair, Mr. Hemingway looked slowly round at us, one after the other. ‘How do you like it now, gentlemen?’ he said, and by some astonishing trick of manner, conveyed the impression that this episode had actually, in some obscure way, confirmed instead of upsetting his theory—that his theory had been right when he expounded it, and this only demonstrated that the time had come to have a new one.” (Great substack, Allison Epstein...no relation as far as I know!)
The vibes were always off with Hemingway. And how do you kill an elephant?! The gentlest of giants.
I did learn one thing from my Casper, Wyoming High School English teacher about Earnie.
He was visiting Casper one time, flew in.
Had to be pulled back from walking into a spinning propeller.
Suicidal, she did.
She liked Steinbeck better. We liked Ginsberg. And Tom Wolfe, because it was 1969.
To each their own!! I'm not a Hemingway fan but I also believe Bram Stoker's Dracula is a perfect piece of literature so what do I know about talent.
I’m with you on Dracula being excellent! (Although, I prefer Phantom of the Opera, just definitely NOT the musical 🤬)