I especially enjoyed this book because I had always wondered how a small group of authors who knew each other in the 1920s, many who spent time in the Paris of the period, became so important in teaching American literature in American high schools and colleges. In 1957 I know at one Atlanta university required reading for the American literature course was Farewll to Arms.

While devoting a lot of time to Hemingway's family, especially his mother and offering a lot of psychological speculation, the real strength of thie book is how chronologically it follows his works, their context, and those other authors and publishers who made them possible. The book also clearly explains Hemingwqy's willingness to invent his own biography, with help from the press as he moved through life. An excellent contribution to American literary history. ( )